A Breakdown of Beyonce's Formation (No Pun Intended)

               

When I first started teaching metaphysics and spirituality in 2009, one of my first projects was an eight-video defense of Jay-Z. At that time, it incensed me that critics were paining Jay-Z as a modern-day Satan, especially in-light of the hundreds-of-thousands of Americans who lost their homes as part of that decade’s predatory lending practices and the United States housing bubble collapse of 2006. That’s not to mention the 150,000 to 400,000 lives lost in the Iraq war and all of the other lives lost in all the wars perpetrated across the globe as part bolstering the for-profit, military industrial complex. So, in my opinion, Jay-Z just didn’t make the Top 10,000 on the list of people who should have been considered for the role of ‘the Millennial Satan’. So, how did Jay-Z get caught up in the conspiracy theories of quasi-Christian cultural critics and documentarians?

                A few years later, Kanye West’s head was on the chopping block. Flash-forward to Friday night! Beyoncé dropped an epic, near six-minute music video called “Formation”. Her song started with a well-deserved breath of fresh air in stating that the "Illuminati mess" is corny. Amidst the discussions about police brutality, whether Black lives should matter to anybody, and the humanitarian crisis in Flint, Beyoncé dropped a cultural atomic-bomb. Now, I am a Bey fan and as a sentinel in the Bey-hive, so I am admittedly protective of the Queen Bey. Therefore, after watching the magic happen for myself via my laptop and posting to spread the word on Facebook, I started sharpening my sword for any and all who would come for the Queen Bey.  And, Sunday’s Super Bowl 50 performance gave folks just the excuse they needed.

 

                Well, I will address the critics and their critiques throughout this article. But, let’s first break-down the video – “Formation”. At the start of the video, an effeminate, yet hauntingly powerful voice can be heard asking a question. “What happened after New Orleans?” One video-critic derided Bey for daring to even mention New Orleans in using the iconography as a back-drop for “Formation”. First and foremost, it is a five-minute music video. It is not a documentary. Beyoncé  is not a documentarian. She is an artist. So, one cannot expect Beyoncé to use her platform to address (in any great detail) the many injustices befalling Black people or any group. It’s a very unfair expectation.  

                What she did with the music-video was, however, very masterful! Anyone paying attention would almost immediately recognize that she was drawing a parallel in what happened in New Orleans and what is happening today in Flint, Michigan. There were about 100,000 residents left in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. There are nearly 100,000 residents in Flint, Michigan. The humanitarian disaster in New Orleans was not a direct result of the hurricane. The Army Corp of Engineers was responsible for building a new levee system, which was scheduled for completion years after Hurricane Katrina hit. The many delays in its construction were due to red-tape. To make matters worse, when the levees broke, the response to the disaster was slow and mired in political mess. Parallels can easily be drawn to Flint, where there is more government talk than action relative to handling this present-day humanitarian crisis.  

                However, the differences are two-fold this time around. With Katrina they were contending with unwanted flood-water. With Flint, we are contending with unusable drinking-water. With Katrina, people were waiting for the government to respond. With Flint, the people were moved to respond. So, the song is an anthem that inspires us to take collective-action toward resolving our own problems or else suffer the consequences. Bey sings, “You’d better get in-formation.” This is a double-entendre. It is intended to mean that we need to both inform ourselves and to form ourselves into an organized group. She continues, “Ladies, let me see some co-ordination.”

                This is why Beyoncé and her girls are depicted as dancing “in formation” throughout the generations. This is why they are dancing in a hallway lined with books. This is why both the natural sisters and the divas are represented. She is making a statement – that Black woman are everything and that no distinction should be made about one cultural expression being better than another. So, there are women from the 30s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s and present-day. There were depicted women with their natural hair and others with weaves. The video is intended to show that the Black woman is modern in every generation – that she can express pride in herself for “slaying” in the past, present and future.  This video is intended to send a message that all expressions of Black womanhood are acceptable.

 

                Visually, she is saying it’s all beautiful. This is juxtaposed against all that could be considered ugly in the environment. So, amidst the blight, you see beauty in every generation. The girls in denim are dancing in an 80’s era parking-lot, in a scene that has an eerie “Rodney King Beating” feel. Still slaying! The natural sisters are dancing in an empty pool, which represents a reality devoid of substantive culture, but still slaying. Again, critics will take exception with Beyoncé  stating that she is a culture-vulture. But, look at the love-hate relationship some of us have with our professed cultural moorings. We don’t want anyone to embrace our small group’s expression of culture unless they do it in a way that we sanction. So, over time, the water of that cultural expression dries up.

Yet, because being natural is more than a “conscious” thing, it survives any attempt to corral it (again, that’s what the swimming pool is all about). This is why Blue Ivy can be depicted as wearing natural hair, while Bey is in braided extensions. Still, the ladies in the pool are wearing a tone that could be considered a “gold” or “Earth-tone” outfit. So, the scene is intended to depict that they are slaying in their own zone never-the-less. It’s an empty pool and no real game is being played, but they are slaying never-the-less. Also, notice that the pool is black and white. Hmmm???

                I digress. It is the prerogative of the Black woman to don any form of dress she deems appropriate for the moment. She is the humanities primordial mother and is the original blueprint on which all of us are based. So, consequently, there can be no cultural appropriation by the Black woman. After actress Bo Derek appeared in the film “10” in 1979, people forgot that hair-braiding originated among Black people. With one film, she had appropriated that whole cultural motif. Well, it is the same with all things Black. No one associates ancient India with Blacks or ancient Egypt with Blacks or ancient Asia with Blacks or the ancient Hebrews with Blacks or the ancient temples and monuments in South or Central America with having a Black influence. And, yet, Black was at the root of all of it. So, it is mind-boggling that a Black artist can be accused of cultural appropriation when we are essentially using motifs that our ancestors created to begin with.

                Then, there is the child who is dancing, in contrast to the cops who are in military formation. This is indicative of the child-like behavior being displayed on both sides – that the cops would be so childish, as to think that a little boy (who is only concerned with his cultural expression) is any kind of threat to their militarized formation and mindset. Then, there are the five brothers who flank Beyonce. They represent the power and might that backs her; that it takes a unified force to allow for her freedom of expression. In ancient Egypt, there are depictions of five Gods standing with the Goddess. The Goddess gives life, while the Gods take action to protect the life she creates.

 

                The colors red and white are heavily featured throughout the video. Red and white are colors associated with the God Shango. So, this is not surprising in the least, especially since Shango is the God of lightning, thunder, fire, drums and dance. In fact, Ifa symbolism is heavily featured in the music video, as colors and symbolism that are representations of Oba, Yemaya and Obatala can all be found in the work. Also, these deities are known to fight on behalf of Blacks and those oppressed by the scourge of White slavery. Our ancestral spiritual traditions include these African deities and the symbolism associated with them. It would be hard to make a video that is an expression of our cultural heritage and leave out these influences. So, even if they are only an unconscious addition, it still fits. I like to think these deities always have a hand in creating moments like this. But, that’s just me.

                There are two things about the music video and this moment (the music-video’s release and the Super Bowl performance) that really stand out to me. First, it is interesting that the moment really resonated with viewers. What perfect timing! Beyonce had a greater impact on the Super Bowl with that one performance than both the game itself and the ensuing controversy with Cam Newton. And, second, she predicted the video would spark conversation. Some of her critics would argue that she needs to tone it down. Others would question whether the lyrics were a compliment to the imagery. I think that’s just being ‘beyond hyper-critical’. Art is supposed to make this kind of statement. This is a teaching-moment as much as anything else. Beyonce was able to galvanize the energy of the people with the music video, all while sparking controversy, making money, promoting her tour and looking good doing it. Frankly put, to argue against that kind of success if asinine.  But, hey! What do I know?

J. Will Power