Beyonce did not come to play (Pictures: Rex/@Beyonce/Instagram)

Beyonce’s performance was an empowering homage to black culture – and it is something I wished I witnessed as a young girl who did harmful things to her body to appear ‘more white.’

If you didn’t know already Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter performed the hell out of Coachella – so much so that I have joined in with the large majority of Twitter who have renamed the 19-year-old annual festival to Beychella.

Because why not? Forget all other previous or pending acts (sorry Cardi B, I half-mean it) because Beyonce slayed the stage – and she was ever so black about it.

From the minute it was announced that Queen Bey would be headlining Saturday’s edition of the festival I attempted to re-arrange my sleeping pattern so that I could wake up in time to watch the 36-year-old mother of three make history as the first black women to headline Coachella.




Still inwardly bitter that I was unable to join my friends in the California sun I watched from my home in London as the Queen of live performances managed to bring out a string of guests more epic than the last – Jay-Z and Solange – and reunite with her former girl group Destiny’s Child for a brief but magical moment.

But what really snatched my wig – I wasn’t actually wearing one in bed, but you get my drift – was the fact that she found the time to incorporate tributes to black culture in every single aspect of her performance.

Beyonce dressed as Queen Nefertiti, an African Queen (Picture: Getty Images)

Seriously, I was so busy anticipating a DC reunion, I wasn’t prepared for the significance.

I mean my basic self just wanted to get a peep of Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams standing by her side belting out my favourite DC3 songs to make my pre-adolescence self very happy.

But I got so much more.

Beyonce making a statement on stage should never catch a single soul by surprise especially ever since she released the political-charged music video for Formation in 2016 – but here I was with my eyes wide open on Sunday morning marvelling at the not-so-subtle tributes that flashed across my screen.

I quickly switched over to see what Twitter was saying and I saw a few grumpy bodies tweet ‘why are people celebrating blackness it’s just a performance’ to fans overjoyed with the set.

Beyonce paid homage to Black universities (Picture: Getty Images)

First of all, why can’t we just let people enjoy things? Second of all, no. Dismissing the significance of such a historic performance is not what we are going to do today.

As a little black girl growing up in Europe, like many other black girls, I did harmful things to my body to assimilate into white society and appear more European.

Watching Beyonce own her blackness and reclaiming culture is something I wish I saw as a kid who rarely spotted black pride celebrated so openly by a famous name.

Now, as a black woman living in a world that systematically favours whiteness over otherness – I have set aside some time and energy because as Bey says you have to ‘twirl on your haters.’

Beyonce showed a lot of love to ‘stepping culture’ (Picture: REX)

Here we go …



Beyonce began her set with the black national anthem, a song that is pretty unknown to many members of the globe, because they’ve never needed to sing an alternative anthem that was not riddled with debris left over from hundreds of years of slavery, colonisation and other forms of oppression.

When I heard Beyonce belt out the lines from the African-American penned anthem Lift Every Voice and Sing – all after transitioning from her Queen Nefertiti (historic African Queen) gown into her yellow HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) themed sweatshirt – I nodded to myself realising that Beyonce was traveling through Black history and taking pit stops all across the diaspora.

The shebang was mainly college-themed, as she riffed on HBCU halftime shows, had a marching band as her onstage musicians, she made reference to historically-black fraternities and sororities with a BK hoodie worn by the whole squad.

The Drunk In Love hitmaker played quotes from Civil Right activist Malcolm X that celebrated black women and had her band play melodies from Nigerian legendary anti-colonial singer Fela Kuti, who criticised the colonial masters in Africa and likened them to slave masters.

And if that wasn’t enough for the ‘why you gotta make it all about race?’ parade, Beyonce very literally wore symbols of black power and liberation on her body as she sang for a mainstream audience.

Elsewhere during her set Beyonce changed into a mesh sweatshirt – I want the merch for this please Bey – that featured a Nubian queen, a black panther, a Black Power fist and a black bee.


I did a little (very big) shimmy as I noticed it because the Nubian Queen Nefertiti represents an African Queen, the black panther showed a lot of love to the African strength and the black power fist showed love to black power.

Of course, I was able to appreciate the constant love Beyonce showed to ‘stepping culture’ – as seen in the marching band she used – despite being Black British and only experiencing African-American culture vicariously.

No matter what you think of Beyonce, you have to dash a little respect on her name for being unapologetic black and giving black members of the world periodic reminders that their existence deserves to be seen.

Growing up in the west as a member of society that is constantly reminded that whiteness is ‘normal’ and anything else is ‘other’ – watching Beyonce demand the world accepts her blackness is very significant.

And if you don’t agree, that’s okay, you can argue about it in the comment section as I re-watch the entire set again …

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