Beyoncé's Lemonade gives black women in Canada a lot to savour
It's an album that needs to be heard as well as seen... and reckoned with too.
On April 23, the Grammy-award winning musical superstar Beyoncé released Lemonade, what she calls a visual album — an hour-long video with 12 songs spanning genres from rock to reggae, and country to hip-hop.
Lemonade melds the personal with the political. Beyoncé tackles rumours of infidelity in her marriage to entrepeneur and hip-hop mogul Jay-Z and dives deep into themes of self-esteem, womanhood and police brutality.
Beyoncé had a lot of help bringing these themes to the screen — especially from other black women and girls. In a song called Sorry, U.S. tennis star, Serena Williams dances alongside Beyonc é. The singer's own daughter and mother make appearances, as does Canadian model Winnie Harlow and the mothers of slain black American men Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Mike Brown.
Since its release last Saturday, Lemonade has prompted countless reactions, from celebration, to conversation, to critique and controversy.
The Current asked three women to share what they're savouring — or not — in Beyoncé's Lemonade and why this work matters beyond the music charts.
Guests in this segment:
- OmiSoore Dryden, assistant professor of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies at Thorneloe University in Sudbury.
- Rania El Mugammar, artist and community organizer.
- Letecia Rose, equity educator and arts advocate.
This segment was produced by The Current's Pacinthe Mattar.