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“You know yourself, that , when you cause all this conversation,” Beyoncé boasted in her hit “Formation.”
Well, this week proved that Bey was right about herself – in a way.
On December 1, she premiered the film on her recent Renaissance Tour, “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.” When news broke that the film would be shown in Israel, amid the country’s punitive attack on Gaza, some fans urged her to remove it from the country. When the film was released, a video emerged showing Israelis waving their flags to the tune of “”Break my soul» – while in Gaza, Palestinians were mercilessly attacked by Israeli bombs.
Many on social media were appalled. “Break My Soul… ironic, this is their fight song when they break the bones of thousands of children in the streets of Gaza,” said one X user. Another wrote: “Beyoncé has really taken her own advice to stay silent to heart and has remained silent while we are forced to watch Israelis celebrate the screening of their film on stolen land while the Palestinians are annihilated. »
Beyoncé’s defenders clapped back, saying that black stars deserve clemency, and that celebrities who aren’t intellectuals or activists should not be expected to do so. lead freedom movements and that other billionaires are not held to these standards.
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As of this writing, Beyoncé has not spoken publicly about what is happening in Gaza.
I really appreciate Beyoncé’s music and cultural production. But I can salute her while understanding that she is a capitalist blank slate, defending everything and nothing at the same time. And when it comes to talking about Israel and Gaza, her silence speaks volumes about the immense cultural power – and structural powerlessness – of black women.
Black women are often treated as both goddesses and social justice mules. We hear “listen to black women”, “vote like black women”. At the same time, black women are expected to do liberation work for all possible causes, while fighting against misogynoir, abuse, and lack of support and resources.
“Black musical traditions may have the potential for radicalism,” Angelica Jade Bastién wrote for Vulture, “but Beyoncé’s neutrality demonstrates that they are not inherently that way.” More than anything, “Renaissance”is proof that Beyoncé is a brand that stands for absolutely nothing beyond her own greatness.
I argue that silence in the face of oppression is not neutral. Beyoncé represents something: a particular strain of racial capitalism that is primarily concerned with selling the aesthetic of black liberation to mass consumption. There is a lot of money to be made in satisfying dominant white fantasies of “safe” liberation, although – perhaps especially if – these fantasies destabilize movements for real freedom and justice and preserve the status quo.
Facets of this liberal fantasy include “Black First-ism,” or being exploited by white-owned brands to be the first black person to do something. This was highlighted when Beyoncé was the first black woman to headline Coachella and when she was introduced by Tiffany as the first black woman to wear her famous yellow diamond, a rock from the bloody era of British colonialism in South Africa.
The liberal fantasy of progress requires performances that borrow from the aesthetics of Black and LGBTQ+ liberation. This allows black people to make millions from organizations with a history of anti-blackness, like the National Football League, or from colonial entities like Tiffany. In Beyoncé’s case, this allows her to quote Malcolm X on the dehumanization of black American women, while saying absolutely nothing about the terrifying dehumanization of Palestinians. This allows him to make a song called “America’s Got a Problem”, without mentioning the role of the United States in the bombing of the Palestinians.
It’s not like black celebrities haven’t spoken out. Beyoncé’s sister Solange posted “Free Palestine” on Instagram, and R&B singer Amerie spoke about Palestinian freedom on the platform. Singer the Weeknd announced he would provide 4 million emergency meals to Gazans. Rapper Redveil called for a ceasefire at a music festival and displayed the names of dead Gaza children during his set.
Meanwhile, Brand Beyoncé’s performative use of black radical aesthetics calls nothing into question. This poses no threat. This does not inspire people to mobilize to build real power or to help the oppressed. Above all, it does not inspire the public to marshal their love, solidarity, and courage to challenge American power and abuse.
Rather, its main goals are to champion individualism, inspire feel-good endorphins, and inspire us to whip out our credit cards at the checkout. The Beyoncé brand is part of the same system that wants us to shell out money for nonsense like the Juneteenth “It’s Freedom for Me” napkins at Walmart, but not to demand justice and liberation of state brutality. He likes his revolution to be profitable and not problematic.
But Bey has amassed enough power and money to break the pattern, right? She broke the internet with surprise visual albums and broke records with tours big enough to rock local economies. Is it too much to ask for a simple statement about state brutality against Palestinians? If liberation is his trademark, could such a stance really bring about the downfall of his empire?
In the absence of words from Beyoncé herself, that’s what we have to assume.
Perhaps it was this specter of black powerlessness that made the rhetoric about Bey’s silence on the Palestinians and the decision to screen his film in Israel so fierce. Her lack of real action reveals the superficiality of the black liberation aesthetic she profited from – a difficult pill to swallow when other artists and writers around the world are excluded for speaking out.
“Always remain courteous, the best revenge is your diary,” says Beyoncé in one of her most famous lines. Indeed, in the face of brutal oppression, it projects a clear message:Any black person who wants to be like B and secure the bag needs to get in formation and shut up.
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