Why Black Woman is King in 2020
This week, theGrio's 'Dear Culture Podcast' talks about how Black women consistently shined this year and throughout the ages
Recently, we’ve seen tremendous leadership from Black women in sports, politics and social action during a time of multiple pandemics. From seeing the mass #JusticeForBreonnaTaylor movement highlighted in social media to top figures like Oprah Winfrey using her platform to advocate for the lives of Black women, it’s been a time of reaping justice and empowerment for the femmes in the Black community.
In the realm of Black art, Brandy Norwood’s album “B7” was released on July 31, the same day as Beyonce’s “Black is King.” With that in mind, Dear Culture podcast hosts Gerren Keith Gaynor and Mariel Turner (music-lovers especially in supporting Black artistry), ask the question this week: “Dear Culture, is it time to crown Black women as King?”
“Black is King, but it seems as though Black women are reigning supreme,” says Turner, theGrio‘s senior editor.
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From the pharaoh of Egypt, Hatshepsut, who ruled “relatively peacefully” to Queen Moremi fabled to have freed “the Yoruba tribe from oppression” in Nigeria, Black woman as king for Turner means, “we’re finally getting the recognition we deserve” and the space to be “powerful leaders.” Turner reminds us that although Black women are powerful, they are still “human” and should not be “depicted as superhuman” with superhuman strength.
Touching base with theGrio’s Entertainment Director, Cortney Wills, the podcast explores the release of Beyonce’s Black is King. Wills notes that though the visuals are “stunning” the songs aren’t “new.” The songs were first released on 2019’s “Lion King: The Gift,” although the visuals added “whole new meaning” from the artists that performed them, according to Wills. “Black is King” is an “important piece of art” to Wills and many others, because “it’s marvel[ous]” in references, representation, and overall execution.
Black is King gave “many examples of where we come from” in both tangible and imagined ways. Ultimately, what stuns Wills and the hosts of the Dear Culture podcast is the beautiful depiction of Black women—young and old and in different shades.
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