Beyonce reminds us we are all divas, soldiers and survivors

Beyoncé reminds us we are all divas, soldiers and survivors
Roxanne Jones

By Roxanne Jones


Beyoncé makes history at Coachella 00:52

"Roxanne Jones, a founding editor of ESPN Magazine and former vice president at ESPN, has worked as a producer, reporter and editor at the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jones is co-author of "Say it Loud: An Illustrated History of the Black Athlete." She talks politics, sports and culture weekly on Philadelphia's Praise 107.9 FM. The views expressed here are solely hers."

(CNN)Beyoncé is always right on time, celebrating black womanhood and reminding us all just how amazing we are, how amazing we have always been, lest we forget while being worn down by so many daily battles for our dignity and equality. Through her music, hard work and activism, Beyoncé continues to show us that when we black women unite, we can accomplish anything -- whether on stage at America's top-grossing music festival, Coachella, crushing the competition at the box office with "Black Panther," having an impact on elections or taking the lead in Black Lives Matter and the fight for justice -- black women have always been and will always be a force. We are fierce, and therefore, we will be feared -- Beyoncé knows this. But her greatest gift is not just what she does on stage. It's the impact she has on women and girls when she's offstage, when no one is watching. The way she puffs up our confidence, makes us feel beautiful. She puts a sassy wiggle in our walk even when our backs are aching. She makes us smile. That is why we love her.

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For a few hours, when Beyoncé stepped on that stage as the first woman of color to headline Coachella -- with an HBCU-themed marching band, an army of dancers, and all the history and imagery of Malcolm X, Nina Simone and Queen Nefertiti -- she gave the mostly white festival crowd and more importantly, millions of her black fans watching from home, a few hours to look away from the horror show happening all around us daily. Black men arrested while sitting in a Starbucks, an unrelenting pattern of police shootings of unarmed black people, bombs dropped in Syria.

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Beyoncé's music has always been -- whether it's 10 years ago or today as we just experienced at Beychella -- a testimony to that sentiment and a tribute to black women: of our bodies, our talents, our intellect and our vulnerabilities. She sings about our heartbreaks but also our unyielding ability to believe in love in a world that shows us so much hate.

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Watching Beyoncé perform at Coachella gave me the same feeling I had with my nieces that afternoon. Society may tell us our bodies are objects to be abused, imprisoned, or targeted by police and slaughtered at will, but Beyoncé uses her body and her voice to reject those notions and urges us to fight for ourselves. Her message is gloriously, unapologetically for black women, but everyone who believes in freedom is invited to get in formation.


https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/18/opinions/beychella-reminds-us-beyonce-is-a-fighter-jones-opinion/index.html