Beyonce came to Super Bowl 50 to slay, and she delivered. She reduced Coldplay to her opening act when she and her posse of back-up dancers strutted onto the field. Bey started by singing her new single “Formation,” which in addition to being one of the best songs she’s put out in the last five years, it’s also (arguably) the most political. “Formation” is being called “Woke Beyonce” and “BeyonceSoBlack.” So, when she came to the field with her dancers, many of us enjoyed the imagery she evoked – the femme Black Panthers, complete with black berets. The costumes were meant to invoke militancy, or more significantly: black militancy. Beyonce and her dancers even raised their fists in the air in a “Black Power” salute. And that has Fox News in a tizzy. Rudy Giuliani is very, very upset.
Beyonce’s “Black Power” salute during the Super Bowl halftime show divided people with some praising her stance and others, like former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, slamming her.
“I think it was outrageous,” Giuliani said on Fox News Monday. “The halftime show I thought was ridiculous anyway. I don’t know what the heck it was. A bunch of people bouncing around and all strange things. It was terrible. This is football, not Hollywood, and I thought it was really outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers who are the people who protect her and protect us, and keep us alive. And what we should be doing in the African-American community, and all communities, is build up respect for police officers. And focus on the fact that when something does go wrong, okay. We’ll work on that. But the vast majority of police officers risk their lives to keep us safe.”
You know what I think is disgusting? The knee-jerk, purposeful way that conservatives consistently misconstrue the Black Lives Matter movement or any and all black-centered political movements. So Beyonce did a Black Power salute? So what? Why is this equated to “attacking cops”? What, did Beyonce NEED YOUR PERMISSION? I could maybe (MAYBE!) see his point if he was talking about her latest music video, which includes a shot of graffiti with the words “Stop Killing Us.” But even then, that is an entirely legitimate political statement considering cops keep killing black people.
Photos courtesy of Getty.
“I don’t know what the heck it was. A bunch of people bouncing around and all strange things. ”
As opposed to football, which is…a bunch of people bouncing around.
And all strange things.
I think he was confusing her for Coldplay/Chris Martin, who was just bouncing up and down on stage and all strange things, THAT was what was confusing. But since he’s a man and white to boot, he gets a “heck of a job” from Rude/Rube Giuliani.
-TheRealPinky
Pinky, we get that you don’t like coldplay. give it a rest.
@Bros Please take your own advice. I have nothing against Coldplay, just their lackluster, uninspired performance.
-TheRealPinky
ZZZZiiing!
I’m a white man but I don’t have a problem with black power …and i support ‘Black Lives Matter’ and think that white folks who want “All lives Matter” really don’t get it [of course all lives matter,but that’s not the point]….that’s so petty that white folks always have to horn in and make a point when its not their place, because you know , sometimes, sometimes it’s just not our place . Black Lives Matter is a timely and appropriate statement, so leave it alone…given what American society is, unfortunately, still about,… great pockets of racist hate across much of the states, still, even as we are well into 21st century. And some of them are cops with lots of power to oppress. As for SB halftime show, I liked Bruno, I think he’s talented and love the song…..however.I think Beyonce’s performance was embarrassingly bad, cringeworthy, I almost had to look away or laugh.. and Mr. Coldplay , although I have enjoyed some of their songs…its remarkable, really how you can pound out a few ethereal sounding chords, and run through the same simple progression for several minutes and people get all worked up…where’s the musicianship ? I don’t mean to be harsh but the world is full of musicians with so much more to offer,,,and they are unknown. Bruno stole the show, the other two are fluff….there are so many amazing black musicians and other inspiring folks that if I was black, I would want someone other than Beyonce speaking up for the black community or black movement, I don’t get the impression from her lyrics, that she is a person of great intelligence or thought, as great as her voice may be, There are far too few white people standing in support of their black brothers and sisters…and that is what is required for real change.
the black power salute and imagery went right over my head… maybe you have to be looking for that kind of thing…of course I can see it now…I thought Bey’s outfit was a nod to Michael Jackson, who, in my opinion was infinitely more talented than the “artists” headlining these days whether they be black or white.
Keep them pressed Bey!
Just listening to the lyrics again, she’s telling the ladies to get “information.” It’s a call out to get educated and be informed. Nice. I’m liking this track more and more.
-TheRealPinky
That went over my french head thank you! I love this song.
Oh, shut up Rudy. How is saying she’s proud to be black attacking police? same old, same old.
He’s really ridiculous. I’m not the biggest Bey fan but there is nothing wrong with what she did. He’s just a grumpy man with nothing much to say.
I think he’s just excited somebody’s asking his opinion about something as he’s not really relevant anymore.
@Kitten, I agree with you. Giuliani reached superstar status after he became our de facto leader immediately post 9/11. While I admire how he conducted himself in those days, his ego is out of control. Go away Rudy, we’ll applaud you again on the next anniversary.
Agreed, that was his line in the 90s–respect the police–they will save us and our city! See Amadou Diallo and Abner Louima. Everyone forgave him after 9/11 and then… he totally stagnated.
Here is what Rudy G says:
Beyonce, 9/11, black panthers, 9/11, respect cops who are killing you, 9/11, beyonce is bad, 9/11.
And why didn’t Springsteen get crucified for his song “41 Shots”? Even my racist, conservative brother continued to like him.
” a community they CHOSE to interact with and become abusive to”. She said no such thing, GNAT? Go back and read her post. Cops don’t get to choose who they “interact” with. They respond to calls as a mandatory part of their chosen occupation. Of course all of these men know that they might not make it home tonight. Of course they chose a career they knew came with a lot of risks. It’s almost like people are saying “well, if cops would just mind their own business, they wouldn’t get killed”. Look, I am fully aware that there are some men who think they rule the world because they carry a badge and a gun. My brother in law was not one of them. As far as Katrina goes, there were cops who lost their lives trying to rescue people out of the 9th Ward and the surrounding areas. The 9th Ward has a very high officer mortality rate. They are gunned down for sport. That is no better than gunning down a black man because he is black. All I am saying is it goes both ways.
@ Jib
Because people who had the biggest knee-jerk reaction to “American Skin” heard the “41 shots” thing and never bothered to actually educate themselves as to what the song was actually saying. It’s not a bleeding-heart liberal take-down of cops; it can’t really even be misconstrued that way, unless someone is reallyreally determined to do so.
Classic redirection. Take a legitimate issue and muddle and confuse it into another issue- completely missing the original point. Latent racism at its best.
Latent racism-what an excellent and accurate phrase. (I hadn’t heard it before actually.) But Fox News could fairly be called LatentRacismandStayScared.com
Rudy sounds like an idiot. Over all, the half time show was good, the video with its anti police is funny when she had the police escort her to the game n close the roads for her n entourage. Brilliant song? No, meaning yes. Not anything against her but singers like her who think their artists with lyrics as he fuck me so good I took his ass…. loses any momentum. I think she’s smarter n has more class to talk like a Kardashian. Looking forward to her new album. I did laugh at one comment : Does she ever wear pants anymore? Lol. New album, new look, the bikini look is so old.
She never mentioned police, that was never brought up. Giuliani is an idiot but well what are you going to do about that. I think Beyonce was great at the Super Bowl, the Black Panthers tribute/MJ was probably what bother all the conservatives.
In the meanwhile, Public Enemy is like, “Glad to see the torch passed”
That Giuliani found fault with her performance and could not leave it to breathe and be, says more about his trigger-happy, fear based, bigoted approach towards exercising authority over other people. Though many credit him for making the streets safer, honestly, bc of the improving economy bc of the internet boom, crime went down across the nation…I think NYC would have seen a drop in crime regardless.
Amadou Diallo happened on his watch, and he has the nerve to talk about how she’s supposed to be regarding the police and the public attitude. Giuliani was a bully and there still remains an element about him that seems to revel in taking down anyone who is brown.
As for Beyoncé, I am glad that she is forward with her statement on this. As a black person, I am not completely comfortable with the fetishized sexual imagery – the brothel, the gangsta ho, etc – but it is pop music and it is the arena/context Beyoncé operates in. It is not news she has used her body and sexual appeal to sell, so I allow it to pass… but I’m not so secure that this video is the important statement the world needs, but it certainly isn’t unwelcome from my POV.
You nailed it annaloo – Giuliani’s a bully. And there’s nothing worse than a bully with a little bit of power. I think the sun has set on his relevance. Maybe someone should break it to him.
I have absolutely no problem whatsoever with Beyoncé’s use of sexuality. I mean, of course it’s not always appropriate for all audiences. Compared to the celebration of the disturbingly passive “little good girls doing bad things *wink*wink*” thing that passes for entertainment nowadays, it’s a powerful sexuality she wields. Her message might sometimes need a bit of tweaking, but she’s NOT passive and she’s never a victim. That’s valuable to me, as a woman and a mother.
She and her drug pusher hubby both give millions to black lives matter, the cop-hating group.
Lol, so it’s called hating cops when you want them to stop shooting and abusing your people? Your world view is so fragile.
First, I don’t think Black Lives Matter is a “cop hating group.” There have been a couple of inappropriate things said by some members about killing policemen, but every group has radical members who say dumb things. I think they are trying to call attention to the use of excessive force against black citizens that has caused the illegal and unnecessary death of so many, and I think they should be supported.
Second, so what? Who she gives money to in private and what she did at the Super Bowl are two separate things.
“Drug pusher?” Really? Thats what you call a kid who grew up in the bleakest world imaginable, was forced on the streets by 12 and by 19 had extracted himself from that mess? It really bugs you that he (and Dre) are the most successful artist-entrepreneurs alive or dead, doesnt it? Sit down, dear.
BLM isn’t a cop hating group. That is part of the problem that got us here: citizens should be able to call out the behavior of bad cops without being portrayed as if they are against ALL cops. Good cops should be able to call out the behavior of bad cops without being portrayed as if they are going against the brotherhood.
If there had been ANY kind of accountability over the past decades, we wouldn’t be where we are today. I share in BLM’s outrage that our citizens are being killed regularly by over zealous police officers.
She called on the Police to get her and her entourage to the event safely, then is incredibly disrespectful to them with her ridiculous performance. Her arrogance and clueless behavior knows no bounds. She has no concept of the reality of the dangers of being a Police officer on a daily basis over many years of service.
Um, in her video for Formation, she is sitting atop a police car while it sinks under water. I think her message was pretty clear. It upsets me since my brother-in-law was a police officer in NOLA who was shot and killed in the line of duty. Also, doesn’t Beyoncé have a freaking police escort pretty much everywhere she goes? And lets be honest here, “my daddy Alabama, my mama Louisiana”… Bey knows nothing about either place since she was raised in a relatively privileged family in Texas. I appreciate her trying to bring awareness to a very real issue, but, imo she is responding to hate and racism with hate and racism. As far as “misunderstanding” BLM? “Pigs in a blanket, fry ’em like bacon”? Does that sound peaceful to you?
+1 my dad had his hand SEVERED and permanently lost, as a police officer responding to a robbery at someone’s home. Lost his career and fell into a deep depression. I work for a psychologist who does “fitness for duty” evaluations after traumatic events for police. It’s AWFUL. the things I read about that they have experienced and responded to over and over- these men are ruined for the rest of their lives. They have dealt with the most disgusting things and are now, mostly fathers with children still at home, completely mentally broken forEVER. I cannot stand the police hate. People love to run their mouths and jump on trendy bandwagons and have no idea about the reality
Your loved ones serving as police officers and being shot in the line of duty or having their hands severed is sad. Those things, however, have nothing to do with what BLM stands for. Nobody is saying police officers don’t see danger or that all police officers are bad. Perhaps the problem is that some officers see danger everywhere, even in people who are not posing a direct threat. Put aside your personal bias of police officers: don’t you think the whole system needs changing? You don’t think there’s a problem at all in this cop culture?
Exactly Asiyah.
As for the ‘pigs in the blanket’ comment, I could piint you to ten different articles now with police officers and sherries gleefully saying how they’re happy black thugs keep getting shot and how they need to round them up and teach them a lesson.
So let’s call it even, unless you do want to delve into the nitty gritty of why ‘honorable’ police officers keep getting their reputations trashed by filmed evidence and their own conflicting lie-filled police reports.
Your family members chose to go into a field that had no guarantees for safety and blatantly told them they could end up making the ultimate sacrifice. For those good officers I’m sorry for their pain, loss and their family’s burden but I also think it’s suspect that that pain is supposed to outweigh the suffering of a community they CHOSE to interact with and become abusive to.
I am black from a family that looks like the United nations i felt uncomfortable. I have no problem with being proud of being black. I just thought there were to many stereotypes and the message was not one to bring people together it seemed more divisive. The black panther thing more a message of violence than peace.
My husband was a cop, and he agrees 100% with BLM. Many cops abuse their power and often their victims are minorities. Yes, there are good cops, but to refuse to look at what the bad cops do because a family member is a cop, or was killed as a cop, is shortsighted. Don’t you want the bad cops stopped, so they don’t give all the cops a bad name?? I know that as a teacher, when we have found out another teacher was messing around with a student, we all immediately wanted him out. He was painting us all with a terrible brush. Get rid of the bad apples!!
The good police officers are best supported by citizens vigorously weeding out the bad ones. That means never shutting up about abuses. Silence is what allows bad situations to continue.
This isn’t about what’s in her video, it’s about what she did at the Super Bowl. What RG said was ridiculous. What you are saying is illogical. People are supposed to be ok with the police killing innocent people because your brother in law was a policemen who was killed in the line of duty? People aren’t supposed to notice who died in New Orleans because your late brother in law lived in New Orleans? Did Beyoncé say anything about pigs in a blanket? I’m sorry for your loss, but you are projecting and connecting dots that don’t exist. And PinaColoda, nothing you said has the slightest relevance to this conversation. As a white person, I’m getting pretty fed up with other white people using loyalty to the police as a cover for racism. So black people shouldn’t mention the fact that black people keep getting KILLED for minor offenses or no offense by the police because you know some policemen who had hard lives? Just stop it.
Eternal side eye… My Brother in law DID NOT CHOOSE TO DIE. He CHOSE to respond to the murder of an elderly man shot by gang members in a drive by. Those thugs CHOSE to murder him so that they wouldn’t go to prison for killing innocent people. What a disgusting thing for you to say. Tell that to my 17 year old nephew who lost his father at 10 years old. Tell that to his wife who to this day can’t seem to move on and find love because she still mourns her husband who was murdered while trying to protect members of a community you say is “abused” by police.
Black lives matter. That phrase came about because black people were being killed by cops quite frequently. Think of how often you’ve seen on TV a white guy getting killed by cops for nothing. Never, right? I’m not saying some white guy shooting who gets gunned down. What about the black guy that was running from the cop and got shot and killed? And the videotape taken by a hidden bystander showed the cop planting the gun. If not for that person, that cop would have gotten away with it. When have you seen that happen to a white guy? What about the big black guy who was not resisting, got a stranglehold put on him and suffocated? All cause was big and black. Black lives matter started because nobody seemed to give a shit about black people dying unjustly. And f@ck all lives matter. Black people wouldnt have to say black lives matter if the public, cops,and media would act like black lives matter. But they don’t. And yes, some of the protestors got out of hand, but just like there are Some bad cops, there are some supporters of blm who went too far. I am very pro-law enforcement, without them, anarchy would rule. But the truth is, the bad apples exist in every group of people.
@Mimi- you need to step back. Nowhere in Eternal’s comment did she say your brother in law chose to die, she said he chose to go into an occupation where his safety was not guaranteed. He knew he was putting his life on the line just like firefighters, soldiers, and other aid workers do on a daily basis. I’m sorry for your family’s loss, but don’t use it as a shield against your racial prejudices.
@mimi im sorry for your loss.
Wow some of you are showing your true color here. BLM is not about hating cops; it’s about wanting to weed out the bad ones who abuse their powers and shoot down Black men as if they were prey in the woods. Today is the verdict for the cop who shot down a Brooklyn resident Akai Gurley (a Black Man) whose only crime was deciding to take the stairs because the elevator was taking too long. The cop wouldn’t even perform CPR to try and save his life. Gurley’s friend had to do it. Where’s your sympathy for Akai. Can you imagine walking down a flight of staisr and the next thing you know you have a bullet in your chest from the people who swore to serve and protect.
While I don’t necessarily like Beyoncé’s new song because of all the stereotypes in it and it’s not a good song to me I must agree with @GNAT. This is not about her video it’s about what former Mayor Rudy G. said about her halftime performance.
@mimi
Really confused about your comments.
Are you saying Beyonce has no knowledge or cultural influence from where her mother’s family comes from (Louisiana) or her father’s (Alabama)?
How do you know how well she knows either place? How do you know how much time she spent there.growing up? How do you know how much cultural influence was shared or taught?
I was born and raised in Illinois, but my parents are from Ohio and South Carolina, I know more about those states than I do my own, because that’s what was instilled in me, that’s where family was, that’s where we traveled to and thru and where holidays, summers and vacations were spent. This is not an unusual thing. Lol summers
How odd that people think they can tell a total stranger about what did or did not influence them, or how they don’t know a place.
That said, the video ‘Formation,’ is no anti-cop screed. I wish people would stop with the lies and smears. The polarization is so bad it seems that certain people when they hear about an unarmed kid’s death auto-side with the cop who killed and line up with fox news to demonize the dead black person. It’s b.s.
Beyonce’s video footage is about, among many things, Nola, Katrina and the floods which killed mostly black people if you’ll recall. It was entirely preventative, if you’ll recall – our government was neglectful and abandoned the citizens if you’ll recall and one of the most reprehensible truths to come out of Katrina was that when people we’re fleeing for their lives, pushing invalid families members and carrying babies across bridges to higher ground, they were turned around by police and some we’re shot and killed.
Big freedia, the bounce community of Louisiana, voodoo, corsets, 2nd line etc make an appearance in Beyonce’s video and so does the rising flood waters, which *symbolically* rise up and envelope BOTH the cop car (which represents inaction of civil entities to help the drowning people of Louisiana) and Beyonce. Beyonce representing the people, is the one who drowns, the cops/gov. are MIA. Most sane people see it for the metaphor it is.
@Marty
Thank you. Mimi, no where did I ever say your brother chose to or deserved to die. You’re ironically proving exactly why communications always break down when two ‘groups’ try to talk about this issue.
You can’t misrepresent what I’ve said in your anger to fit a narrative that allows you to ignore me.
You’re comparing apples and oranges. In the vast majority of cases, if not all, cop’s killers are held accountable and not simply accountable, the book is thrown at them – they never get the chance to kill another officer, it’s very clear police officers lives are valued. Even “hardened criminals” don’t want to go there.
Police officers belong to an extremely powerful institution and have the cover of that institution. With that kind of power should come accountability and officers who there to uphold the law should feel the full weight of the law when they mess up, the fact that they don’t creates a lot of bad feeling.
Why would it take so long to roll out body camera’s? How on earth is it possible for a department to claim critical footage mysteriously disappeared and for that be accepted?
Everytime a whistleblower comes forward or some footage pops up it’s blatantly clear that it isn’t even an issue of one rouge cop – for each headcase there are several other cops standing by doing virtually nothing to intervene or help the person being abused, the so called measures put in place to deal with corrupt cops are useless and don’t take into account that hello cops can and do lie too and will cover for each other.
THERE ARE racist, sociopathic officers and corrupt officers caught up in drug dealing, organized crime etc. Even a minority of these types can do a massive amount of damage, especially alongside indifferent colleagues. The type of response whistleblowers who speak out about this receive speaks ABSOLUTE VOLUMES about how much the police force as whole genuinely care about the issue.
Respectability politics never work. Didn’t work for MLK and its not going to work now. When you stop killing us then you get my respect.
@Marty, I am NOT a racist. I don’t care what color you skin is. A criminal is a criminal regardless of race. Eternal Side Eye basically said that my brother in law chose to interact with a certain type of community and paid the price for it. What? He chose to try to help people and lost his life in the process. I also find it suspect that nobody wants to respond to the imagery of Beyoncé sitting on a sinking cop car. I wonder why? Could it be that there is simply no other explanation for it other than to promote the hatred of police officers which in my opinion is the same thing as promoting the hate of blacks or any other race/creed of human being? Anyone who supports that imagery is part of the problem and is instigating the division we are seeing in this country.
ESE said no such thing. She said your brother in law chose a dangerous field, and he did. He knew going in that he could get killed at work. That doesn’t mean it’s not sad that he did, but you can hardly deny that he knew his job was dangerous and chose to do it anyway. Everyone is sorry for your loss, but please stop exploiting it to justify your illogical point of view.
I’m no expert, but the sinking cop car is, to me, a symbol of the authorities stepping back and doing nothing while black people died in Katrina. It has nothing to do with killing cops as far as I can see. Nobody here is promoting hatred towards the police. I respect the police enough to believe that the good ones want the bad ones gone as much as I do.
@mimi
I responded to you, feel free to scroll up.
That said, I need to ask…have you seen the video you’re railing against? You sound like fox news in all your posts. Which is shameful, since they’re known for lying and distorting and being racist on a daily basis, even against their own black anchors.
You keep saying (much like fox): ‘beyonce’s sitting on a sinking cop car!!’ ‘Beyonce’s drowning a cop car!!’ cars can’t drown, people drown – which is what Beyonce is portraying, and is what happened in Louisiana much to our government’s eternal shame.
If you WATCH the video the rising flood waters envelope and drown only Beyonce, who is sitting on top of the cop car with nowhere to go as the water gets higher. The cops are not in the car. BEYONCE (like the people of Louisiana) is the one who drowns. It’s a metaphor as I mentioned previously.
I would think fox news and racist devils everywhere would be happy.
What GNAT said: the sinking cop car is symbolism, nothing more. It’s not some call to arms for the black community to start attacking cops FFS.
I tried to stay off the topic of the video but here I go. I agree with what all posters said about the symbolism of the cop car. I don’t like the song because of the stereotypes and some of the lyrics and the sound. I know what trap music is. I listen to artist such as Waka Flocka Fame and Young Jeezy. Trap music has a lot to do with the sound produced by 808 drums and it’s been around since the 90’s originated in Atlanta.
She called herself a Bama and that word is a derogatory word that meant a fashion misfit, uncool, lacking style and common sense. The hot sauce reference is in reference to all Black people loving hot sauce. ( Chris Rock once called it the Black People’s salad dressing). In the movie “Undercover Brother” Black people are labeled as loving hot sauce and grape soda while hating mayonnaise. So while Bey is saying she dresses in whatever name brand she has hot sauce in her purse.
We can say that Bey is making a political statement but I don’t think Bey is genuine in what she is saying. All this time Bey and now you speak out. Bey is making this about her and what’s a better way to bring attention to yourself and new album than jumping on the political bandwagon. She said she loves her daughter’s hair and I love that statement simply because I was a bit put off by people talking about Blue’s hair. But when she said she loves her husband’s big nose I wasn’t buying it. Despite what her hardcore fans have said Bey has had a nose job. So you love your husband’s broad nose but you didn’t love your own.
@GNAT
Thank you.
Mimi
I did not say that. My words are printed right there for when the cloud of anger leaves you. People hate and reject BLM but look at what has happened in this one conversation? I only said that your brother chose to go into a dangerous field and even as a good cop his loss and your family’s suffering can not outweigh the suffering of HUNDREDS of other families.
You at least have the honor of knowing he is considered a hero in the public eye. Many families have only questions. Why did my sister not come home? Why did they wrestle my Father to the ground? Why is my son being labeled a thug when he was a child playing with a toy in the park?
You can’t just shut down communications and smear lies against the other person because they don’t automatically agree with you. That thin blue line btw, doesn’t just hurt us. There are countless anonymous and public books and interviews from good cops who either left the force freely ashamed of what they’d seen their fellow cops do. Or were forced out with threats to themselves and their families from their fellow officers.
Mimi, you say “A criminal is a criminal regardless of race”. Really? Who makes the laws who determines what is a crime?Who allows people to live in poverty and be constantly oppressed and denied a future causing them to resort to desperate measures for survival, not living but mere existence? Take a look at how criminals are treated based on race and watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHz2Hmq7soo
@V4REAL
This! ×1,000,000
Re-posting since I commented in the wrong section of this thread: ” a community they CHOSE to interact with and become abusive to”. She said no such thing, GNAT? Go back and read her post. Cops don’t get to choose who they “interact” with. They respond to calls as a mandatory part of their chosen occupation. Of course all of these men and women know that they might not make it home tonight. Of course they chose a career they knew came with a lot of risks. It’s almost like people are saying “well, if cops would just mind their own business, they wouldn’t get killed”. Look, I am fully aware that there are some men who think they rule the world because they carry a badge and a gun. My brother in law was not one of them. As far as Katrina goes, there were cops who lost their lives trying to rescue people out of the 9th Ward and the surrounding areas. The 9th Ward has a very high officer mortality rate. They are gunned down for sport. That is no better than gunning down a black man because he is black. All I am saying is it goes both ways.
No one is saying cops should just mind their own business. They are saying however, they chose a job with risks. Do you know what the main killer of police officers is? Car accidents. Do you know what the lowest cause of police deaths is? Being targeted by criminals. No one is saying it does not happen. But it is a very low risk. Sadly, someone will pay for that risk just as an officer can die in the midst of a car accident.
So here’s my comment again, the one you claim I said your brother chose to die:
“Your family members chose to go into a field that had no guarantees for safety and blatantly told them they could end up making the ultimate sacrifice. For those good officers I’m sorry for their pain, loss and their family’s burden but I also think it’s suspect that that pain is supposed to outweigh the suffering of a community they CHOSE to interact with and become abusive to.”
Cops don’t get to choose who they interact with, you’re right, but they do get to choose HOW they interact. The sins of previous officers can leave a stain on a community and damage relationships. Do you imagine the community that saw Eric Garner wrestled to the ground and strangled has much respect for police officers these days?
@Mimi But I think a lot of people are responding to you because you seem to have an issue with anyone who says anything bad about any cop. Listen my brother is a deputy sheriff in the deep south and he can tell you the issues he faces as a Black cop.
And you may be right in saying that cops don’t have a choice in what area they are assigned to respond to just like in the military. But it’s how they respond. IMO I think most cops fear Black men and the stereotypes that comes with them and that’s why they are so quick to pull a gun and fire. I have seen White men do things had it been a Black man they would have been shot on the spot. But as a cop they are trained to injure a person in a way that doesn’t take their lives. Why not aim for the shoulders, legs (missing arteries) or arms. No, they go straight for the chest or head knowing that it has a possibility of ending that person’s life. Why not use their tasers which could subdue a person. If they are not shooting at you, why shoot at them?
And too many times Black unarmed men have been shot. Please tell me what’s your take on Gurly. A man simply leaving his friend’s house from getting his hair braided that decided to take the stairs because the elevator was taking too long. Did he deserve to be shot? Check the stats on Black men unnecessarily shot by cops as opposed to White men. Google the Black man shot in SC simply because he took off his seatbelt while turning into a gas station. The White cop asked for his identification and as he reached in to grab it the cop shot him. Or what about the Black man who was pulled over and ran from the cop and was shot. The man ran due to warrants for child support but he wasn’t a threat to the White cop. His crime was running. Thank God both incidents were caught on the cops dash board cams. Well, no, one was caught on a bystanders cell phone video.
Do I believe there are good cops out there? Of course I do. I have dated two cops in my lifetime. I don’t dislike cops, just the bad ones.
@Mimi
I’m sure your brother in law was a fine officer, and his death was a tragedy. But it doesn’t “go both ways.” The people who shoot police officers simply because they are police officers are criminals. Police officers who kill people because they are jaywalking or selling cigarettes illegally are SUPPOSED to be protecting us. They’re supposed to obey the law. They are armed and they have authority to grab someone and arrest him, and if they abuse that power, the person ends up dead without a trial or conviction. Yes, they have terribly hard jobs, and I’m sure have to make instant life or death decisions all the time, and sometimes they get it wrong. But there has been a clear pattern of abuse of their power, and we need to stop denying it and fix it. The fact that criminals shoot police officers does not make it okay for them to kill people when they are arresting them. It’s not the same thing.
“As far as Katrina goes, there were cops who lost their lives trying to rescue people out of the 9th Ward and the surrounding areas”
Please stop. ONE officer was killed during Katrina. However FOUR were convicted of killing TWO unarmed black men, (one of whom was mentally disabled) and attempting to cover it up.
One of the things I remember most about Katrina was the racist, hyperbolic lies that were circulating about what was going on within the superdome and the stories white brits who had gotten caught up in it were retelling in magazines over here. They were amazed at the extremely blatant preferential treatment they received from the authorities compared to the black people alongside them.
@V4Real You said: “Why not aim for the shoulders, legs (missing arteries) or arms.”
This is a simple answer, you can ask your brother to confirm. But as an ex-cop I can tell you no police department trains anyone to shoot that way. It is center mass (chest). Once you pull your gun, it is your extensive training that comes into play. You are trained from day one to aim for center mass as most cops are not snipers and cannot accurately hit arms and legs in that situation. So you aim for the largest body area to stop the imminent danger.
Mimi, I like reading Celebitchy comments, but I think for some commenters facts or what was said don’t really matter any more if they assume -correctly or not- that someone has a different viewpoint regarding discrimination. A dangerous behaviour, in my opinion.
Just my observations…
Respect goes both ways
Bingo!
You got it.
“And what we should be doing in the African-American community…is build up respect for police officers.”
And you do that how, by the police wantonly killing people?
He’s still the ass he always was.
That ship has long since sailed for Rudy, he’s just too oblivious to admit it – or maybe he already knows and that’d the reason for all the tantrums.
Exactly, Birdix. This dog called in fake reports from fake numbers talking about the restraint that cops used against Diallo for at least a month. He was 100% on the side of the cops in the Abner Louima torture case and the case of Patrick Dorismond (who was in killed by a cop after a scuffle) not only did he effectively say that he deserved to be killed because he had a record (he was unarmed and scuffle started because Dorismond got mad when he was asked if he had pot), but to further ‘prove’ his ‘point’ by releasing his juvenile record to the public, which is illegal. And he opposed a Civilian Complaint Review Board monitoring and investigating claims of police harassment/brutality.
Two words: Bernard Kerik.
I can’t even start with the war of dog whistles he waged against David Dinkins, but I will say that a group of cops, invoking him, held up watermelons, all he did was smile.
So, I’m going say that his sense of right and wrong under the best of circumstances (ask his ex-wives) is derelict but where (certain-looking) cops are concerned, he simply doesn’t have one. But this, THIS is the guy who swings around ‘We’ regarding building respect? ‘We’ think he should remember that the best thing that ever happened to his career was that he happened to be standing around when 3000 people were murdered and it’s positively ghoulish that he’s still using it to cling to relevance.
What a jackass, always and forever.
I’m not really fond of the word, but it seems entirely appropriate here –
SLAY, BEY, SLAY.
Up yours, Giuliani.
Honestly I’m so over Beyoncé. Yes she has a great voice but she’s not alone there. Every performance feels like the same. Boring, boring, snooze, night night!
Oh & I didn’t even notice the black movement she was portraying during her performance. Guess I’m oblivious lol
She got what she wanted: attention. Other than that, she’s boring. Same moves, same fake blowing hair………….yawn…………..
Same here. Not surprising to see Gwyneth. They can be above the little people together.
It’s off, when each one came on the scene they were fresh and so talented. Now, each one has slipped into some generic identity of the under precious celeb.
You know who also does the same moves all the time?
Everyone.
Britney Soears, who was supposed to be the be all end all, was all manufactured repetitive (and “stolen”) nonsense. I put “stolen” in quotes because who doesn’t borrow from the greats and then Improve on it? Except she didn’t improve, just borrowed and mainstreamed it and got called a goddess. She always gets a pass.
Now, next time Beyoncé borrows another move from black culture, people who don’t know anything about black culture are going to say, “well, she didn’t invent it.” It’s the same attack, just presented differently.
She did some “new” stuff out there, but a lot of people weren’t paying attention because they’re conditioned to hate anything she does and yet, love Lady Gaga’s same old tricks.
This is not directed at any one person, but I’m just putting it out there. The only one who really tried to invent was MJ, and even he settled into a comfort zone after a while. The difference was, videos back then were unveilings and there wasn’t a nonstop bombardment and access to everything anyone’s ever done. They anticipation for the next thing (music, video) made it seem extraordinary when it was finally released. You can’t have that anymore.
What Bey and those women did out there was phenomenal, obviously in my opinion, for being brazen, bold, in your face, athletic, graceful, sexy, funny, fun, and empowered.
Anyway, enough of me.
-TheRealPinky
You might want to check out Bob Fosse doing the little prince. Because MJ lifted his entire Billy Jean schtick from that performance.
http://youtu.be/1LE_TYTxRxg
Exactly. It’s called “signature style” people.
These must have been the pissy ants whining about James Browns costuming and stage slide or MJs costuming and moonwalk or Tinas frill dresses and her shimmy. Lawd please save us from selective critics. Agendas. Agendas.
@TOF Nope. So they wore the same outfit and MJ had some similar lines or stances? What about my prior statement is false? You borrow and improve. MJ borrowed from Fosse and improved upon it. Good! Who wouldn’t? He borrowed the moonwalk from some inner-city street kids dancing. Then tagged it with landing and holding on his tiptoes. And then he made up new moves. And Fred Astaire called him after that Motown performance to compliment him. That’s real.
-TheRealPinky
Wow, @TOF – I will never look at MJ dancing in the same light again. 🙁 That totally was the same – same lines, same styling, etc. MJ just made it mainstream.
@theoriginaltiffany @santia
Well, thievery and appropriation always comes full circle, since the part Norwegian Bob Fosse got his start on the CHICAGO Vaudeville stage and is from a Vaudevillian family – known for black minstrel shows. Fosse grew up imitating blacks and we all know of his love for jazz, a black originated art form. So really now…who’s ‘stealing,’ from whom?
I think you misunderstand my point. I’m just saying that even MJ borrowed stuff from other artists. He was held up as an original artist, but is as guilty about borrowing as Brittney or Beyoncé. Period. Artist from artist. Fosse’s ethnic background has nothing to do with it. Neither does MJ’s.
I wasn’t making any point about race. Just originality.
“Guess I’m oblivious lol ”
Yep. Beyonce was clearly and very blatantly referencing the Black Panther movement of the 1970s, and Jesse Owens/black Olympians using sporting events to declare pride in their community and solidarity through turbulent, unjust times, all of which are significant portions of American history you should recognize whether you like her music or not.
Forgive me but I don’t expect a lesson in black history while watching a half time show. Also, I wasn’t born in the 70’s & I know for a fact that I did not learn about the black panthers in any of my history classes.
Nor do I stay hip to what Bey is slangin in the media. Had I known, maybe I would have.
It’s not just black history, it’s American history. I didn’t learn about the Black Panthers in history class either (shame, we’d probably have more empathy for one another if we did), but yet, I still know who they were and what they represented. Amazing.
@KittenFarts, so you are saying you only know of something because you were born or alive in that decade. Really??? There are these things called “books,” and also “classes” which can teach you about things that happened before you were alive. Stunning, I know.
@ kittenfarts
God forbid you had to watch five minutes of black history. You poor thing. That’s a shame if you dont know who the black panthers were. History wasn’t just made by white people, although school curriculums seems to assume so.
Kittenfarts, I agree. Her same ol’ same act is boring now. Because I know what’s coming! Come out in an epic ball gown and just power sing the hell out of anything and I would have been on my feet!! Simply because it would have been unexpected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i41qWJ6QjPI
There you go. Unexpected, yet already done.
I read an article which said that Formation is more like this gen’s version of Young, Gifted, and Black. Seriously though, I wish ppl would understand that these songs of affirmation don’t come out of nowhere.
What happened to the 911 Giuliani. Think he’s senile now or something. I am by no means a Beyoncé worshipper, it was all about Bruno Mars for me, but….don’t think she had an agenda. Bill O’Reilly loves to come after her as well, but I sincerely doubt she gives two f’s about either of these yahoos.
It was a good week for him but this is who he is. There is a reason he is hated in New York. The country saw 911 Giuliani, this is the guy New York knows.
Yup yup yup
@K
“There is a reason he is hated in New York.”
….By who? Giuliani always gets his respect for cleaning up the city and essentially making it great again when it was seedy and crime-ridden in the ’80s, and he is revered for how he handled this city after 9/11. No one here flat out hates him. Some people might not agree with his politics, but your claim is definitely mistaken. Speak for yourself.
@daria he did do a lot of good but he is not well loved. He is held responsible for the rise of police brutality in the city and when he left he was and currently not well liked.
Yeah he reduced crime and that was great but I didn’t say anything untrue he is unpopular in New York.
Exactly, K. This is the Giuliani I grew up seeing.
“Bill O’Reilly loves to come after her as well, ”
Fox News has such a weird hard on for Beyonce.
She’s a young confident woman of color who doesn’t live her life according to their rules – they’re terrified of her.
@ Eternal Eye
You forgot the part about being at the top of the game. The only PoC that Fox likes to see rise to the top are those they can use as examples of their magnanimity. They pulled this same massacre move on Oprah when she came out in support of Obama in 08.
@Naya
Exactly. The ones who smile, nod their head, and say whatever ridiculous thing Fox is paying them to say.
See: Stacey Dash, Ben Carson, Allen West. And then people go look a black person said Beyoncé/Obama/Jada Pinkett/Spike Lee are misguided and racist. See, one black person said it so they must speak for everyone and it proves not all black people are “libtards” (or whatever ridiculous phrase they use). Also see the video people are sharing on fb where ONE guy (who just happens to be black) called Beyoncé’s half time performance a racist, anti police double standard SEE SEE, he thinks it so it must be true!! Ugh I HATE that noise.
I also find that strange!
It would be more convincing as a ‘political statement’ if they weren’t wearing leather hotpants.
I might be flamed for this but to me Beyonce jumps from bandwagon to bandwagon (feminism, black lives matter) and dumbs them down by using them as an excuse to parade around half naked.
She is such a famous and influential singer it’s a shame she doesn’t go all in uses her fame to really open issues to discussion.
Totally agree, Maum. She gives lip service to these causes to use them as an excuse to dress in revealing, “sexy” clothes that all look alike to me. It would be refreshing to see her in something other than a black leather leotard. I think it’s to distract that she’s not that great of a singer and an even worse dance. She flails her arms, whips her hair and stomps around like she’s tring to kill giant ants.
“It would be more convincing as a ‘political statement’ if they weren’t wearing….”
Substitute ‘hotpants’ with hijab, hobit, cross, makeup, a bra, a dress, or any other thing women choose to wear, and it’s easy to see how your argument is stereotypical and misogynistic, (not to mention shows a lack of understanding of what the words “feminist’ and ‘activist’ mean). It’s not a dress code, and the “she can’t be a feminist because immodesty” argument is in and of itself anti-feminist.
@Catwoman. The ‘dance’ they were doing can easily be recognised as a typical African dance or moves. Nothing remotely strange about them.
So as well as recognising the panther movement, they were paying homage to Black culture. These dance moves are copied/taken from African women dancing to Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti or King Sunny Ade….etc.
Fela Kuti has been a big influence on her and his music has inspired some of her songs and dances. Don’t worry, since it’s African culture, I do not expect you to get it.
But….she is performing a different kind of dance to do something different, something far broader than just appealing to the US. Confusing? yes, I can see why!
I’m in the UK and I only watched because she and Coldplay were going to be performing. So the NFL (?) got it right by picking 2 different kinds of musicians, doing different kinds of music to fulfill a broader audience template.
Have no fear though, I’m sure a lady in a long dress will turn up in 2017 to restore the ‘status quo’.
That is part of the point… you can be a feminist, be political, and wear leather hotpants. The people policing what we wear are fueling the problem.
I don’t think expressing a distaste for it or not appreciating it is policing it. Celebs like Beyonce and a plethora of others have taken the whole concept of celebrity to a new level. Hey, fans, social media and websites like this are a huge part of the problem feeding the monsters.
But apart from the odd lip service performance when and how is she actually a feminist or political?
And it’s not about ‘policing’ what singers wear. I just find it disappointing that female singers these days are all wearing sexy outfits/posing naked.
It’s sad to think Adele is considered ‘refreshing’ because she wears normal clothes and sings rather than shows her arse.
And I can’t begin with the whole ‘I find it empowering’ re nudity.
And speaking of policing I would argue it’s the other way round. All those singers are so uniform in their sexiness (or what they label sexiness) that I suspect most of them are strongly ‘encouraged’ to dress sexy to stay popular.
And she’s DANCING. It gets hot when doing physical activity like she and her dancers are doing. Is it un-feminist for gymnasts to only wear leotards when they perform their routines? Or runners to wear only a sports bra and bun-huggers?
And she’s always been feminist and political, it’s just not covered as much in the mainstream press (for example – all-female band, hairdresser school in Brooklyn) or that she and Jay Z prefer to keep the focus on the issue (e.g. Trayvon Martin rally, but leaving).
No Kelly, but saying that it ceases to be a convincing political statement because of the leather pants is policing what she’s wearing. That’s not merely expressing a dislike for the outfit.
Dismissing a woman’s feminism because she’s not dressed modestly (or other clothing/grooming choices) IS policing woman’s clothing choices, and it’s anti-feminist because you’re excluding a woman from equality based on physical appearance. And let’s not pretend male celebrities ever get their feminism or other forms of activism dismissed for posing shirtless, being naked, or having their wives post their manly butt selfies on instagram. As for the “rejecting modesty can’t be empowering” argument, just because you don’t personally find something empowering doesn’t mean it can’t be empowering for other women. You don’t speak for all women or comfort zones and wishes concerning their bodies. Not every woman wants to dress “classy and ladylike” like you do. (And since you brought up the encouragement argument, do you dress that way because you want to, or do you do it because our victim-blaming, slut-shaming society encouraged you to?)
I totally agree. She is so influential and has such an amazing platform that could be used to help create social change. Her support of causes always have this strong undertone of being self serving and not completely genuine. She could really be a major supporter of the black lives matter movement, but I can’t help but feel that this is just for album sales.
Except she and Jay-Z have quietly donated large amounts of money to causes such as BLM, the Flint water crisis, etc. Nothing self-serving about that. I think she’s pretty effective under the radar. I’ve heard of her bailing out protestors who were jailed in Ferguson and what not. I’m not the biggest Bey fan but this is so ridiculous. Also, people can support all sorts of social justice causes and wear leather hotpants. It doesn’t diminish anything.
Thank you, Tifzlan. Was coming to say the same thing.
Well she and Jay led the March through New York after the Trayvon verdict, and how do you know what she does with her money? She could have given millions to Planned Parenthood, Black Lives Matter, Flint, and any number of other organizations and done so privately because she did it out of true caring and not attention seeking or PR.
Yes she has influence but look she does this and people say it’s for album sales, she does it quietly and people say she doesn’t care. It’s a weird spot for celebrities to be in.
I have no idea if she cares about this stuff and frankly it’s none of my business, the video is bringing attention to it and that is positive. I don’t think she should be flames for stuff we have no way of knowing.
I didn’t know about her donations and that she and her husband were part of a March. Calm down hive! 😝
@Melly
To simply defend Beyonce doesn’t make you part of the hive. Calm down 🙂
@Melly
This is not a pile on, I just wanted to add to the conversation. After Katrina, Beyonce started quietly giving money to deal with the housing problem in Houston. By 2014, she had given a total of 7 million to just one housing complex. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/09/beyonce-hometown-houston_n_5570609.html
It took almost a decade for journalists to even hear about that one. We also know that she and Jay were paying legal fees for people arrested in Fergusson but only because someone in BLM leadership spoke about it.
I think its commendable that she is not one of those people who hold a press conference whenever she does this stuff. And I’m sure if she was the type to leak her “good works” all over the press, she would be attacked for being disingenous in her giving.
+1 THANK you @Asiyah. It’s this binary thinking that those who stand for the dumbing down of America, see Fox news and all of the Repub candidates, encourage.
EXamples: You can’t stand against police brutality AND support good cops.
You can’t be AGAINST white domestic terrorists who break the law AND be a conservative.
Yeah, I was too mesmerized by the waist-length blond wig Beyonce was wearing to notice the Black power salute that was supposedly going on.
If Beyonce had really want to shock and amaze people, she could have just worn an Afro.
So what you’re saying is you missed the whole point of the song because you can’t get past the way she wears her hair. Her not wearing an afro is enough to totally disregard the message of the song and performance. Got it.
You do know not all black people have afros right? I don’t see how her choice of weave diminishes her message, or changes her race. You only have to see the knee-jerk responses to her video/performance, to know that the world quite clearly still identifies her as a black woman. And the she clearly identifies as one.
well half of you in this thread were the target demographic of this song. you need to listen to what is she is saying which is that you can police what she wears and what she says and you can literally police her race – to death – but she is still proud to be black. she has been heavily criticized for not being black enough. now she is being criticized for being too black. i think that provocation is purposeful and meant to start a dialogue and sends a very strong political message.
she is proud of her family, the community she was raised in, her child and yes – even her body. black women are the most marginalized demographic in the US – perhaps in the world. she is a black woman who is saying i am powerful, i am rich, i am a wife, i am a mother, i am a businessperson, i am sexual, i am beautiful. i am all these things and more. i think the verbal message in this song and the visual message she creates with her costumes are very powerful and positive and feminist.
She used to wear a fro (doubt it was her hair tho). Back in the day…was it for Austin Powers? Something like that.
I think she’s a bandwagon jumper as well. Still shaking my head over the vegan food service thing. She’s all about the dough. That’s her #1.
@Pandy
Do you honestly believe that openly aligning with BLM wins her new fans?
Heres the thing; the biggest consumers of her work are white women (because they make up the biggest proportion of the market). Many of them took her in because they could erase her color in their minds. Now she is reminding them that she is “other”. And she is giving them a single that they cant even sing along to because how does a white woman say the lines, “I got hot sauce in my bag” or “I love my Jackson 5 nostrils” or “I just may be a BLACK Bill Gates in the making”.
This is the biggest anti-money move I have ever seen a pop star make frankly.
She’s one of the most successful artists in the world, she’s a woman and she’s black. And she is living feminism, not discussing it. What is not feminist about her? The hotpants? She’s a performer, she’s not doing the weekly grocery run. Sure, she’s not holding lectures or writing feminist treatises, nor is she wearing turtlenecks. But isn’t that what a lot of women always complain about? The cliché of the Birkenstock wearing feminist? You can say many things about Beyoncé but not that she is not 100% in control of herself and her brand. She’s a highly successful (black) businesswoman, that’s a political statement in and of itself. It’s not her job to talk about it all the time, she’s living it.
**loud applause***
THIS.
Absolutely.
Well said!
Hear….hear!
Hear hear!
But she has and does repeatedly.
I think the better question is why a woman who has been a feminist for over 15 years publicly and only grown more confident in her message is constantly told her version of feminism isn’t good enough because she dares to look sexy or dares to be confident in her body.
Do people even realize how that sounds when they use that as a way to challenge her? That her black power salute would have been better if she had an Afro? Well shucks, guess me and my relaxed hair isn’t black enough.
@Maum I hate that you’re making me defend Beyonce here (I’m not a fan), but I do know Beyonce and Jay-Z attended a rally with the parents of Trayvon Martin. And according to journalist Dream Hampton, the Carters also supposedly sent thousands of dollars to bail Ferguson protesters out of jail. I think she truly believes Black Lives Matter and is not jumping on a bandwagon.
Put it in wrong place.
I agree completely. I remember Bey’s “feminist” performance where her dancers were positioned on their backs, legs spread into the camera. Not my view of female empowerment. And her homage to the Black Panther movement? More of an homage to violence. Who accomplished more? The Black Panthers or Martin Luther King, Jr? I work on a Trauma floor and let me tell you, police brutality (while not to be ignored) accounts for a minute fraction of the traumas experienced by young, minority males. These communities have GOT to stop destroying themselves.
@mattylove
This is yet another example of binary thinking. The kind that fox news encourages for their dumbed down masses. It goes like this.
Example: Black people need to stop complaining about police brutality and police unjustified murder against them, because…crime.
The false inference is that blacks and black crime victims don’t sufficiently fight hard enough against criminality, and for that reason, all of their complaints against rogue murdering/abusive cops and law enforcement (whose job, paid for by their taxes, it is to protect and serve them), are null and void. They literally should not be complaining, as long as some black person somewhere is committing crime.
My best friend is Italian American, and I don’t recall his family being made to feel they had less rights than other Americans, because they hadn’t personally cleaned up La Cosa Nostra, the Mafia or organized crime.
Does it make any sense at all? Nope, doesn’t have to. Do whites operate under the same rules? Please. Of course not.
For instance, no one is telling the white fox news viewers to stop their complaining about Obamacare because It’s hypocritical to worry about their children’s healthcare when they can’t seem to stop the subwayjareds and jerry sanduskys, the child porn, child sex trafficking and when a quick online search can ding all the subwayjareds in their neighborhoods and coaching their kids swimming team. I mean don’t they have much more pressing needs to focus on? <– sardonic.
Here's the fly in the ointment. I'm not a cop, I'm an ordinary citizen. I have no Batman cape. While I would love to be able to stop the El chapos, the drug and gang crime and end the cycle of poverty that leads to desperate stupid violence. I can't. I have a job and a family I'm trying to keep clear of that myself. Do you know who's supposed to do that? Law enforcement on every level. That's where my taxes go, anyway.
Just like I'm not taking down the drug king 'stringer bells,' in Chicago, I don't expect white fox news viewers to set up stings to catch all the subwayJareds plotting to rape 7 yr old boys and girls.
Yet and still, there's always a @mattylove to tell me it's my responsibility to end murders on the east side of Detroit, before I can complain about a roidy 250lb school cop throwing a 90lb little black girl into a wall as she sits quietly at her school desk.
But @Mattylove can complain about anything under the sun, because he believes he's not personally responsible for a group, or a race, or an ethnicity or a gender's criminality.
He's right. Neither am I.
But I do expect the civil servants that work for me, whose salary I pay – who are supposed to protect and serve, to do their job and NOT hire rogue untrained cowardly worthless cops who want to harm me.
If @mattylove were thinking ahead, he'd realize a well trained law enforcement officer who doesn't brutalize is a good thing for him as well. There have been plenty of white citizenry abused and killed by cops whose deaths were also unwarranted.
Yep. Beyonce jumping on a self serving bandwagon has no effect whatsoever on me. And no, the way she’s living feminism (big flashlight “feminism” on the background) is not feminism to me.
I’ll pass. Plus I don’t like her music.
BYE Rudy ✋🏾
Gotta admit though, I literally laughed out loud at “A bunch of people bouncing around and all strange things.” Too funny!
Yes – I genuinely laughed out loud at that comment. It really shows his age, doesn’t it? I can just picture my 90 year old nan being like “That Bey- Beyonce? Fiance? Whatever her name is, her routine was just a bunch of people bouncing around and all strange things”
Let’s not be ageist. Quite a lot of older people, including me, still enjoy contemporary music. I am not a big Beyoncé fan but Coldplay are far too boring for me. My earlier comment about Jay Z not feeling the need to perform in leather skimpies was deleted, but I think it shows a contrast in the way that singers of different genders tend to present themselves.
Because nobody wants to see Jay Z is leather skimpies (to state the obvious). Nobody is gonna objectify Jay Z. Beyonce could come out in a pantsuit and people would still be objectifying her so why shouldn’t she own that? Why can’t she have control of how her image is used or perceived? And if she wants to use her sexuality to push a political agenda, that’s her right and all the power to her.
Anne Tommy –
I’m not saying he’s showing his age because he disliked it – I’m saying he sounds like a stereotypical elderly person with the way that it was phrased.
And I don’t have an issue with her presenting herself like that. It’s a tight outfit, but nothing more is exposed than someone wearing a one piece bathing suit, or a gymnast style leotard.
That whole “and all strange things” sentence was like a new title of a book from JK Rowling. “Rudy G And The Bowl Of All Strange Things”. He missed the whole point. And if he didn’t get all het up last year when there were Left AND Right sharks, then what is his problem? A damn dancing shark is way more weird than dancing women.
Attitudy Rudy needs to have several seats.
Honestly the part that made me the most furious about what Giuliani said wasn’t included in this article. He said ” what we should be doing in the African-American community, and all communities, is build up respect for police officers. And focus on the fact that when something does go wrong, okay. We’ll work on that.” Something going wrong is cheating on a test, missing work constantly, etc. KILLING someone based on their race is not “something” going wrong. It is hate, it is murder. And “working on it” does not bring that person back to life. “Working on it” has got to be one of the biggest and most pathetic responses to what has happened.
Ppl need to except the fact they don’t know everything! Respect the police system that needs drastic revising? Allow our fellow human beings to be harassed and ridiculed? Allowing police officers to patrol areas they don’t live in? Let’s focus on the correct issue here!!!!!!!!
The police must grow up in the area they patrol. They must live in that community.
Do you think it’s fair that mothers have to teach their sons how to conduct themselves to police officers? Can you imagine a mothers fear of not allowing her son to play with you guns as a child???? Because godforbid he goes outside with it and gets fatally shot!
Imagine being a black mother? Imagine being in fear of your children? Imagine having the police talk at five years old?! Wrong wrong wrong!!!!!
Speak up! Demand change! And never ever shut up. Put yourself in others shoes! I’m beyond tired of the blindness. You must expand your heart and pay attention to what’s going on around you! This isn’t just black ppls fights, feminist fights…sh$t is really real! And it’s been that way. Think for yourself and don’t just get your information from the media!!! Make friends outside of your circle. Ask many questions and grow!
We will no longer allow anyone to carry all the burden of representing their entire kind on one persons shoulders. Can you have compassion for what black ppl go through? Can you imagine everywhere you go…you’re being judged like that? Stop the bs please
@DreamBig I completely agree with you. That’s why what Giuliani said makes me so mad.
I’m offended by the lack of diversity among her backup dancers.
😂😂😂😂😂
IKR??
Except the imagery she was trying to invoke wasn’t about “diversity,” it was about a movement, namely Black Lives Matter.
Lol, you know what. If you all keep trying with all these crazy complaints one day you’ll strike gold.
Where are the WHITE people in the BLACK POWER movement?!
The Eternal Side-Eye, you, your user name and your comments are my favourite!
Thank you Hawkeye!
I’m just saying, maybe they’re onto something.
If you outcrazy a crazy comment does that make the comment more sane? Would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood in South Chicago?
A number of his party’s presidential candidates have called for internment camps or denial of refugee status based on religion; there’s a mass shooting every few weeks; his party has repeatedly tried to deny health benefits to 911 responders; and Rudy is upset about Beyoncé’s Super Bowl performance? Deflect! Deflect! Deflect!
I’ve read somewhere that last year over 900 people were shot dead by the police. I am dreading such “protection”.
I’m pretty sure it was over 1200.
That can be very well true. It was one article last summer correlating victums of terrorism in US (17) and victums of police brutality. The discrepancy was striking . But I can’t find the link unfortunately.
Exactly. Pay no attention to the actual serious issues, let’s yell at a singer!
You know what ? If you take someone’s behaviour personally when in fact it was not directed at you, it probably means you need to do some deep thinking about the message.
So, Rudy, what exactly do you feel so guilty about that you’d take a gesture in a performance and turn it into an attack? Could it be you know she is right? We know she’s right so you’re not fooling us.
Ah, and there’s the rub isn’t it? If you feel personally attacked each time someone tries to argue for better policing then you’re happy with the Wild West system we currently have and don’t want to rock your safe little boat.
For the record I think all this hand wringing over the ‘blackness’ of that performance is just fox wanting to be outraged by something.
Black lives matter isn’t anti-cop. It’s anti cop shooting black people and there being no repercussions, and anti the system that props up that behavior-I don’t get why that’s so scary.
It’s scary to some because it is a demand for people taking responsibility for their own actions. Which is, basically, how that ole responsibility thing works.
Thank you! Why people don’t get that, I don’t know.
Let’s face it. All these black political and social movements terrify them. It’s the idea that they can not beat down and force control and respect and to see a Black Bill Gates in The Making proudly addressing this on a stage SHE was asked to return to?
It has to be killing them.
Because it involves a marginalized group refusing to sit down, shut up, and take what the elite class gives them.
It was political and it did have the trappings of Black Power…but it was packaged for entertainment. It shouldn’t be presented as a threat! I think this is so wrong. What people like Giuliani really mean is they want to control the cultural references an artist is allowed to make.
The Black Power movement didn’t come from nowhere. It was a response to police brutality. And like everyone’s said a million times, why is it a national joke when crazed militia people co-opt military culture but it’s this legitimate threat to national security when black Americans do it? Just say what it is: a legitimate threat to the white power structure/establishment. Let your racist freak flag fly, Giuliani. We all know what you’re saying. Stop the pretense of politics.
Even I know the history of the black power salute at prominent sporting events – hello, Olympics? And I’m British and white. Bit embarrassing to be the one that repeats the aftermath of the past, Rudy.
Yeah, I’m Austrian and white, and not in the least threatened by #BlackLivesMatter. Or by Beyonce doing a Black Power salute. How come a certain demographic reacts to every demand for equality, to every reminder that we’re not there yet by a long shot, by treating it as an attempt to put the (white) rest of the population down?
For example, #BlackLivesMatter is NOT a veiled #WhiteLivesDon’tMatter, as the (very thinly veiled) #AllLivesMatter would like us to believe. It means #BlackLivesMatterAsWell, and I really don’t understand what the frack is supposed to be wrong with that!
It takes a rather warped mindset to deliberately misconstrue that.
Ladies, thank you both for being well informed.
You’re right. The All Lives Matter or my personal ‘fave’ Blue Lives Matter are more concerned with keeping all the structures in society the same because they’re in a position of power. So what if other ethnicities are terrified of the police? Gotta make sure those blue lives matter the most.
The Black Panthers were notoriously anti-police. That’s what Giuliani was driving at.
The black panthers weren’t anti police they were anti police brutality.
The Black Panthers were formed in response to police brutality. The police brutality came first.
I think the crime wave in “bad neighbourhoods” came first. As if poverty is an excuse to do/sell drugs or mug people
What’s up, have you ever read Humans of New York? He’s doing a series now on prison inmates, most of them for drug related crimes. Reading some of their stories, it’s pretty eye opening to see the effects of extreme poverty, and what it drove some of them to do.
@whats up
No, I believe telling a group of people they were worthless in numerous ways came first.
When a child goes to school and there are mushrooms literally growing from the water damage on the school’s walls and books ten years out of date that child does not grow up to think he has a corporate job and a six figure income waiting for him. He thinks the civilized world has abandoned him and that it will roll over and bury him like he has seen it do to dozens before if he doesn’t find a way to survive.
So guess when crime comes into the picture? You guessed it. When that child needs food to function, a place to sleep, and anything – even as shallow as stolen shoes – to feel like they’re special somehow.
So when you worry about people being mugged ask yourself how much of a damn you give when you’re voting for people who take money from schools and alienate the poor?
.
@what’sup That’s not what happened. The police were going into these neighborhoods criminalizing and harassing law abiding citizens. You’re assuming because they were black neighborhoods there was criminal activity going on. That’s not always the case. That kind of thinking is one of the reasons the black panthers were created.
Crime in poor neighborhoods is always more prevalent than in not-poor neighborhoods. Doesn’t matter what the racial composition is. Because duh, why would someone with a steady income need to rob anyone or deal drugs? When there’s no other way to make money, of course people turn to crime. Are they supposed to lay down and die instead?
And because of racism, the poor in those inner city neighborhoods were/are majority black. It’s a vicious cycle, made worse by the fact that police departments are often propped up by the fines they levy. It’s easier to go after poor people for fines, as they’re less likely to know their rights, less likely to go to lawyers, and less likely to have society care when people in authority abuse them.
Why is it offensive that a people who were oppressed, talked down to, enslaved, treated like less than dogs, most certainly less than human for hundreads of years find the need to have a mantra, system, or things that uplifts them to remind ourselves of who we really are so the history will not repeat itself, to lift our heads above the water . Our young children are not aware Oh what really happened due to the untruths, denial, outright lies about how things work and the way they are now. If encouraging herself while we are lifting up others as well bothers you then be bothered but taking your confusion and using it to spread discord about a cause that is worthy to be heard just prove why we still have to talk about race issues . This is just my opinion tho…. what do I know ? Lol. And in doing this from my phone so excuse the errors please.
This is what I truly find interesting when people, some unknowingly and with best intent, try to say they don’t see race.
Yes, in theory we have a ‘new’ world that wants everyone to be equal and yet we also have old structures that snap and rage the second a pic steps out of line. Too loud? Too proud? Too smart? Not willing to bow your head down and answer questions humbly?
Now, now. You’re supposed to be equal but still know you’re inferior without anyone having to tell you.
I use to think that, now I realize how naive I was. I just thought if we ignore color, all will be good. But now I realize people will never do that and shouldn’t, as your race is part of who you are. But I think I thought doing that would mean everyone would be treated equally. But now I see how naive that was.
@Snowflake
I have no doubt in my mind your intentions were good. I think we as a society had to try one method, see it not work to come to this point, which I believe is healthier.
We do want to all be equal and treated the same, but unfortunately many individuals still won’t let us or worse yet take us having individual pride (BLM, Black History Month) as being some sort of rejection of others. No one should have to erase their identity to fit into the uniformity of whiteness or told that doing so is the only way to achieve peace.
We’re on a better road now, bumpy as it is.
I stopped being a Beyonce fan since years ago. But her latest song is AMAZING. For us, the rest of the world, it is incomprehensible the violence between cops and young defavorized people in the USA. Good for her for using her plateform to denounce it !
Literally who?
This new message from Beyonce seems like more of a career move than a genuine reflection of her life/heart. I feel like she knows that this message will get the biggest reaction and gain her some new respect. She and Jay also probably didn’t much like being called plutocrats by Mumford and Sons. As for Giuliani, and most things, if he didn’t like it he shouldn’t have brought more attention to it- thereby ensuring it would prompt further attention and discourse.
I can’t understand the pearl-clutching over whether Beyonce is just ‘cashing in’ with a calculated ‘career move’ rather than a genuine reflection of her identity. The song is risky, especially coming from a black artist whose legacy is fluffy, unoffensive and accessible pop, because ‘Formation’ does speak so unapologetically to black identity and culture.
I just can’t see someone like Beyonce risking it all on something so edgy which a lot of people would and will tear her apart for – ‘ooh, stereotypes! ooh, it doesn’t speak to me as a white person! ooh, where’s the chorus? ooh, black power salutes!’ – as a career move. Her music has become much more mature in both her embrace of feminism and black rights as she’s grown older. I can’t understand why people feel like anything outside of the fluffy ‘Crazy in Love’ territory is a just tactical career move.
Amen.
Well I don’t think we should forget that Jay-Z famously wore a “5 Percent Nation” medallion not long ago. I won’t even mention the beliefs that this group are espousing. It can be googled.
Ew. 0_o
I did, so weird. I’m pretty tolerant of people’s bonkers beliefs though, because I’ve yet to encounter a religion that doesn’t look completely nuts up close.
I had to look that up. That was….interesting. And nobody will comment on it.
I take it none of you listened to hip hop in the 90s? None of this is anything new.
Is Beyoncé raising awareness for the black lives matter movement or is she cashing in on it? She out there doing the hard work? Or is she getting a “co writing credit” (snicker) on a song that incorporates a lot of stereotypes about blackness. When was the last time Beyoncé went to Red Lobster? Bought Jordan’s at the mall? Her “negro nose” that she’s already had a nose job on? It all feels insincere to me. Hollywood packaging and a watered down production of a serious political movement. And I’m saying his as someone who generally loves Beyoncé.
“Is Beyoncé raising awareness for the black lives matter movement or is she cashing in on it?”
My guess is that it’s probably a bit of both, but does it even matter? If she’s drawing attention to an important issue and getting people talking, isn’t that a positive in and of itself?
Not to detract from your greater point, which I think is a worthy one. I just meant to say that perhaps the end justifies the means in this scenario.
They donated 1.5 million to Black Lives Matter. I would say Jay and Bey are down for the cause.
She was talking about her HUSBAND’s “negro nose” and black features that people always talk negatively about. Not her own.
The lyric actually says “I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils” and just before that she’s talking about her background… So what makes you think she’s talking about Jay Zs nose? Either way, she had a nose job to change her own nose so to me that statement rings hollow.
There’s no reason she can’t be using the possessive to refer to Jay-Z’s nose, and the existence of many, many internet memes mocking Jay-Z’s nose (and a lot of bitter comments along the lines of ‘I bet Bey is mad that Blue Ivy got Jay-Z’s nose’) suggests that it’s not a far-fetched reading. Right before that she’s talking about how she loves Blue’s hair; there is more continuity, not less, if she’s talking about Jay-Z’s nose rather than her own in that line. It is also a play on the double meaning of ‘baby’ – in the first line she’s referring to her literal baby, and in the next she’s talking about her lover. In both she’s talking about the black features of her loved ones.
I’m sad that you think Beyonce’s nose job means that her statement of loving black features is hollow. Many black women relax their hair to make it look more like white women’s hair; does that mean their opinions on black hair and its vilification in the media (see Zendaya’s dreads at the Oscars, etc.) are hollow? You have no idea why she decided to have surgery on her nose; it might have been something she was made to feel very insecure about in the past and in the early stages of her career, and now regrets that decision with her more public acceptance of her identity as a black woman.
I’m gonna say judge by the actions not the motivation.
That seems to work pretty well.
@amanda
So where has it been confirmed that Beyonce had a nose job? I don’t have a PhD in Beyonce so I went way back to the ‘say my name’ Destiny Child video and it’s the same nose she has today.
I think what people are seeing is the overplayed contouring makeup artists do. In all her candids and without makeup, she’s got the same nose.
The Black Panthers are notorious for their hatred of police. I just wish Beyonce would use her platform to bring everyone together, not add further to the divide. I am sure the black community would not be amused if they saw a bunch of KKK people accompanying a singer on a national stage just to make a statement.
God, if you don’t understand the difference between the KKK and the Black Panthers then…
then, why am i wasting my time with you lol
Like, this is the same Stacey Dash, “WHY IS THERE A BLACK HISTORY MONTH AND THE BET CHANNEL,” BS that people spew to make some sort of “””point””” when in fact, all it does is show that you have little to no understanding of history to understand why black centric things were established in the first place
This person doesn’t WANT TO understand. Willful ignorance. Must be nice.
The problem with that comparison is that the Black Panthers and the KKK are not even remotely the same. The KKK started as a hate group and remains a hate group. The Black Panthers was started to empower and protect blacks. The former is still in existence while the latter disbanded 25 years ago.
That isn’t to say that there was no corruption within the BPP, but the difference between the principles and agendas of each organization are vastly different.
The Black Panthers were anti-police brutality and suffered brutality and torture from the FBI. They pretty much ceased to exist after 1980.
Also, there have been little to no repercussions against members of the KKK, despite the numerous criminal acts they’ve done from theit formation till now. There are members of the black Panthers that were/are still on the most wanted list, who a) fled the country and can never return or b) were jailed and then released after losing DECADES of their lives. Not the same.
Go read a history book that wasn’t published in Texas.
@ mazzie
LOL, just like the same Texas textbook that listed Black slaves as immigrant “workers”.
Ummm…. Black Panthers were are group formed due to police brutality on black people.
KKK is a hate group formed by racists who hate people with just for having dark skin or not sharing the same religion.
Not even close!
And to add to the other responses. You know what the biggest thing BPP was known for? The free breakfast program. That’s right. They gave free breakfast to poor black kids before they went to school so they could learn and not be hungry.
Even if the BPP was anti-police(they weren’t) how in the hell does that equate to a white supremacist group that tortured, raped, and murdered people for decades?
Dear god that analogy isn’t even close to being real. First Black Panthers didn’t go around killing random white people because they are white, or really anyone. Did the black panthers Kill anyone because I don’t think they did. They didn’t burn crosses on lawns or rape children because or their race.
They were angry because of police brutality and didn’t subscribe to the peaceful protest of Martin Luther King, at least that is my understanding. But at no point was I as a random white person in any danger of a black panther which a black person can’t say about the KKK.
Others already covered this so I guess the only thing for me to say is: research your opinions.
If you’d done a little research you’d have realized how and why the Black Panther movement was created and how it’s absolutely nothing like the KKK. Stop thinking Black People fighting for themselves is somehow an insult to white people.
Black Panthers came up in a time when police were lawless and abusive towards the black community simply because they could get away with it. That was THEN. If such a movement arose today when the police are carrying military grade weapons I can only imagine how aggressive and militant the Black Panthers would have been.
It would be good and dandy for people to come together and unite and all that but that is not what’s happening in this country. Beyonce can use her platform for that but good look convincing the people who continue to minimize the feelings and experiences of minorities that we should come together.
I’m glad I didn’t catch that that was a black Panthers salute. See, Beyonce not everybody is as attentive as you think to your ridiculousness! Lol
Giuliani was on Fox and they are obsessed with the Black Panthers. He wasn’t the only old white guy in that segment pretending that Beyoncé was signalling them or something.
I don’t understand how Fox is allowed to be so blatantly racist all the time. They pretend to be a news station but it is obviously propaganda from the most right wing part of the Republican Party.
Fox News when carried by Canadian providers is classed as “entertainment” not “news” – but that distinction would be lost on viewers.
It considered entertainment in this country too (literally despite its name it bills itself as an entertainment program). Yes, Fox Newd is a dog whistle to the paranoid and racist. Don’t ever let anyone tell you they don’t know where Donald Trump supporters have come from when Fox has been in the business of riling them up for years.
Ugh, Rudy is just another old white man trying to scare other old white people. This fear of black people (and, even better, a black woman) standing up and demanding to be treated with the same respect old white men get is just bizarre (and racist, and hateful, and ignorant). Go Beyonce!
I’m seeing way too many comments about weave in these Beyoncé threads. Reminds me of high school (I went to a pretty mixed one) but the white peoples first and favorite insult to the black girls was weave this weave that. Are black women supposed to feel less than if we wear one? And one last point all black natural women aren’t down for the cause and all black women who want to wear a perm or weave aren’t trying to be white/hate themselves. Get that through your thick skulls.
And the funny thing is, now white women wear weave/extensions/ wigs. Ironic, eh? Signed whie chick
Ugh Giuliani is making me defend Beyonce so early in the AM.
Just because she did an homage to black power and the panthers does not make her anti-police. Jeez. A LOT of white people were really mad. Jeez. It’s all about fighting against brutality and oppression. Our founding fathers formed a militia based on similar principals. Trying to force a change against injustice. Calm down Rudy!
She is so fake. Anything to stir up controversy to sell some records.
This. She’s such a narcissistic, opportunistic poseur, just like her husband. Remember when he was trying to capitalize on the Occupy Wall Street Movement?
I’m all for the BLM message and for the historical black radical movement, but to think Beyonce gives a shit beyond herself is just laughable!
Thanks for sharing, Facist Giulani. You can take a seat now.
*Sigh*
Well the internet will forever police what every one does these days. And if the person is Beyoncé, it must be evil because she’s the devil incarnate.
– If she ever takes the clothes off her back to give to a homeless person and it is captured in a photo, she’s doing it to boost album sales. Mind you, she doesn’t even have an album out! Last time she dropped an album she did so with absolutely no promotion, but well, that’s also terrible because it’s Beyoncé.
– If she sheds light to a dreadful situation in new orleans, black lives matter, whoever she must be doing it because Solange told her to, and because she’s fake and wants to boost album sales
– if she doesn’t and goes about her business, and just release pop songs and keeps using the same formula that clearly WORKS, she doesn’t care about anybody else but herself, and doesn’t care about black people
– if she donates money and bails people out of prison in secret and without press, she probably didn’t do it, because come on, it’s beyonce and she’s selfish
– If she’s pregnant it must be fake – if there’s an actual picture, it’s photoshopped
– if she’s married she must be a beard, or it’s an arrangement/business
– If she shows up and does an interview, she’s dumb
– if she’s avoiding interviews, its because she thinks she’s too good to deign to do interviews,
– if she speaks, she’s illiterate
– if she doesn’t, she’s a bitch
– if she smiles, it’s fake
– if she doesn’t, she’s miserable
– If she dances, it’s tired and same old
– If she wears leotards, she’s being vulgar
– if she shares pictures, she’s so vain
– if she doesn’t, she thinks she’s royalty
– if she buys diamond encrusted shoes she’s a terrible person
– if they prove she didn’t then why would she the shoes are so tacky
GOOD LORD, THIS WOMAN IS HATED! I cant imagine someone being that evil, as we seem to paint her! Unbelievable! Do some of you realize how you sound?
I’m not even a fan anymore, I like her songs and I appreciate her work ethic and sometimes she annoys me with some of her antics BUT. Come on! This is absurd…
Honestly, if I were in her shoes, I’d be constantly depressed and would have probably given up a long time ago. And then we wonder why celebrities wind up dead in hotel rooms.
Thank you for this! You hit the nail on the head…
She’s young, gifted and black (and a woman, and beautiful and so many other things) so they hate her…
Racists and sexists are so transparent, my god.
This comment is EVERYTHING.
I think there are legitimate things to criticize Beyonce over, but some of the stuff folks bash her about is ridiculous.
Thankfully, she is also loved. Her music sells, she wins awards, she sets trends, and her tour will sell out in minutes (maybe even seconds). Beyoncé will get the last laugh.
Damnit! Where is a LIKE button when you need one??
Hmmm I think what you describe Beyoncé dealing with may be something that many celebrities deal with (damned if you do, damned if you don’t sort of thing). I don’t know that it’s specific to Beyoncé. And, aside from that, one can be critical of her music or message without “hating” her. She’s a public persona and her music is for public consumption. People are allowed to form opinions and dislike something without being called a hater.
I used the word HateD* because this is what happens in every single post of hers, I didn’t call out HateRs. To me there’s a difference. I could have written she’s very much disliked. I say it because the comments are usually over the top when the post is about her.
And people like to justify whatever they say with “I’m not a hater, stop calling me that just because i don’t like so and so”. It’s besides the point. I could have said anything else, really, people would still take offense with it, and not discuss what I said on my comment.
Beyonce can’t win for trying. Anything she does gets hated on.
She could have used this platform to promote peace between black and white communities but no…had to make it about race all over again. This in all essence is promoting a race war.
Thank you! I so agree!
Since you can’t tell the difference from a group formed in protest and a terrorist group, your agreement isn’t surprising.
If a white person views black empowerment as a means to divide, then that’s entirely on them.
BTW, that attitude is absolutely in line with MRA dudes who are threatened by feminism. Same f*cking music, different song.
It bears repeating that there are plenty of white people like myself who see the black community lifting each other up and supporting and empowering one another as a huge positive. In fact, it blows my mind that people could see it as anything other than a wonderful thing.
So you if a black person views white empowerment as divisive, that’s also on them? People call “the white community lifting each other up and empowering one another” racism.
Why are black people allowed to collectively attempt to work specifically for their interests as a group, while white people are not even allowed to acknowledge they even have collective interests, let alone work for them?
(cue- white people are the majority answer, ok, so when will it be the day white people are allowed to have a collective interest? When they’re 50% of the population, 40%, 30%? 1%?
Sorry but that is rediculous, and really I say this as a white person if you feel she was coming at you and this was an attack or an affront against you then you need to look in the mirror.
She wasn’t trying to divide races, cause a race war- why would she white people are a large part of her demographic and she is a smart business woman she isn’t going to risk her brand. She is just saying be proud of who you are. Which is a message everyone can hear and appreciate. For Beyoncé she happens to be a proud black woman, this is fantastic and should be celebrated.
Honestly the people feeling like its dividing or an attack need to look at their own hearts because the person causing the issue and the divide isn’t Beyoncé, or black lives matter etc.
All Beyoncé did was sing a song saying be proud of who you are and strive to do whatever you want because you can and let the only thing stopping you be you.
Your version of ‘peace’ is silence.
You want what people TOLD us would bring racial equality.
Don’t bring it up, don’t mention it, don’t make white people uncomfortable, don’t worry, work hard, they’ll respect you eventuslly, don’t stand out, don’t be too black.
Sad to say TOPGirl, that version of peace is a dying ember. It was lies that didn’t lead to anywhere but where we are today. Abandoning our boackness didn’t makenus equal or appreciated. It made us pets. Tokens.
So no, we’re just never going to have that version of ‘peace’. No one asks you to tone down your whiteness, do not ask others to tone down what they attempted to beat from us.
Do people not get that our race is engrained in everything we do? We are always ultimately defined by it, because PoC are never allowed to just exist, we always have to be identified in some way by how we look.
Beyoncé is owning her blackness and helping others do the same. She is embracing what makes her other and I support this fully. Too bad so many others are too deep in their ignorance to do the same, Eternal.
Well said.
Well-said, Eternal Side Eye.
Come through ESE. Come through! I also wish I could reply to CLINIQUA upthread. Her comment is buoying me as well.
“No one asks you to tone down your whiteness, ” Is that a joke, absolutely no assertions of white identity are allowed in modern America. None. Black self-aggrandizement and narcissism is fawned over by every white progressive in the country on the other hand.
Yeah thats too bad that Beyonce didn’t reduce herself to a minstrel show while we all ate nachos at halftime. Good forbid she sang about being black and proud for an event where most of the athletes were black and the majority of viewers were white. We don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable about her singing she actually likes her black nose! Cam Newton dealt with similar criticism all week = that he had the gall to be an unapologetically confident black man. People need to do some self inventory why they get so threatened by another persons self assurance and are threatened by it.
Wtf?! Because she had a performance with black people?? Do you feel that way when white people!e perform with white people? Are you afraid they’re going to take over and run everything? On wait, never mind, they already do. I’m white and if you’re scared cause you see black people performing, you got some racist issues sweetheart.
By the way, when did it stop being about race? You need to talk to my husband who was told last year he wasn’t white enough to use the bathroom at his job, he wasn’t pure white, only part. Just cause you’re lucky enough to be born white, that does not mean there is no racism, just that it doesn’t happen to you.
Clearly to some, whenever black people express an emotion that isn’t gravest humility, it’s fomenting racial hatred.
Old man yells at cloud
Anytime I see great dancing , especially in a group, I get chills. It always excites me and I wish I was up there with them, because it looks like such fun. Tough, but fun. Whether it looks like the same old, same old, I always the respect the time and talent involved.
And the first thing that went thru my head when Beyonce and her dancers started up was, “Hmmm,,, Janet Jackson Rhythm Nation”.
That’s all I thought of. I didn’t get the whole political thing . Didn’t realize they were in and “X” formation. And I couldn’t understand a word of what she was singing.
Of course, after I looked at the video, it became clearer.
Whew, thank goodness he commented. I’ve been waiting by the internet since Sunday night to know what Rudy Giuliani thought about Beyonce! (sarcasm font).
Oh Rudy, keep tarnishing that legacy with your comments, that rage and fear you feel isn’t going away anytime soon.
Also the police force you keep worshipping WILL be corrected. Either by force or through willing cooperation but that travesty we call a system to protect can not stand as it is. I do not feel safe around the police simply because I am not one of the targets of their abuse on a given day.
Honestly the part that made me the most furious about what Giuliani said wasn’t included in this article. He said ” what we should be doing in the African-American community, and all communities, is build up respect for police officers. And focus on the fact that when something does go wrong, okay. We’ll work on that.” Something going wrong is cheating on a test, missing work constantly, etc. KILLING someone based on their race is not “something” going wrong. It is hate, it is murder. And “working on it” does not bring that person back to life. “Working on it” has got to be one of the biggest and most pathetic responses to what has happened.
By the way, I always look forward to your comments! I wish your responses were what the media was saying.
Thank you!
And yes I agree, there is a real system of imbalance here and it’s ludicrous to me that Rudy and others keep pretending otherwise.
No one is saying all lives don’t matter or police lives don’t matter. They are looking at a scientific factually proven flaw in our system of policing and responding to the source of that issue. If you walk into a situation with the belief that the ‘enemies’ life is less valuable than your own you are already setting up a power struggle where the other person will always lose.
The average individual can not pull over someone and arrest them for ‘disrespect’ but police can, have, and have found themselves with blood on their hands when those arrested die in their custody.
Rudy and his ilk don’t care about that though. Their children aren’t getting gunned down in the streets or wrestled to the ground so it’s easy to stand up, smile, and be patriotic. Lately I can’t remember if I ever respected that man when I see the ugliness that spews from him.
“If you walk into a situation with the belief that the ‘enemies’ life is less valuable than your own you are already setting up a power struggle where the other person will always lose.” Absolutely brilliant true observation. And that statement about the power and attitude of armed police is what people should be alarmed, scared and angry about. Not Beyoncé, not #blacklivesmatter, nor a tribute to the Black Panthers. people need to support and celebrate the points she made with her performance. if there is ever to be any TRUE equality, attitudes and structures have to change. And one of the best ways to do that is what Beyoncé did at the Super Bowl. To talk about her pride, her power as. a black woman (not to play the who’s got it worse game, but to be black is to be at a disadvantage in this country. To be a woman is a disadvantage. Put the two together and that makes for some really tough obstacles) and then to inspire others, to remind everyone that the fight for equality is very much real and current with the black panther tribute… Huge.
That my friend, is why you’re apart of the problem! We need to end the theme of “elders” being in control. Out with the old, in with the new! Evolve with the times or remain in the twilight zone🙄
PS get your head out of your bum. And think before you speak! Educate yourself as well✌️
I think we are giving Beyoncé way too much credit here. She’s trying to sell records. That’s it. I haven’t like her last few albums. Not my style. I enjoyed her when she was more pop music.
I will say my husband was like oh my gosh black panthers outfits?! He wasn’t impressed. I think his biggest problem was that black panthers were all about violence is the answer, and violence against cops. There are MILLIONS and MILLIONS of cops that are amazing, great people. He found it very ironic that even Beyoncé had police escorts like she was the freaking president of the United States. Lol. Anyway, why not promote peace? Instead she chose symbols of violence. Sucks.
Yes to everything you said 1,000 times!
Well there would be peace if cops stop killing innocent black men. Maybe they should work on that.
Why don’t we ask amadou diallo’s family what they thought of beyonce’s performance? Or Sean bell? Eric garner?
🙂
He needs to remember he lives in a country that allows groups like the KKK to exist and have meetings. Hmmm wonder what they talk about in those meetings?
I am disappointed that the Formation Tour is not doing a show in New Orleans. I mean really Beyonce?
Rudy, shut up & please crawl back into your crypt. I’m beyond sick of these crazy right wingers and their myopic tunnel-visioned denial. The world is changing, for the better; they’re losing control & it drives them nuts.
Losing control? Comical….
Just watched the half time show (I’m in the UK) and thought it was great. Coldplay were a nice departure from standard pop, Bruno was brilliantly funny and Bey brought it. It tied together well and was appropriate for the situation.
How utterly gorgeous is the dancer on Beyonce’s right in the first picture though?! Stunning.
Rudy has a thing for Beyonce’ and it’s a bit creepy. I bet he watches all her video late at nights with a bottle of lotion.
lol! Mike Huckabee was another one who was obsessed with Beyoncé–I think it drove him crazy that she was an extremely wealthy black woman who was open about her sexuality.
As an African-American woman from NYC, New Yorkers cant stand Rudy, while he pulled the City together after 9/11, he should have done more for the emergency first responders that contracted various illnesses and cancers from breathing in the World Trade Center dust. I have heard from more than one responders, they silently blame Rudy. 2nd – All the way back to 1997 with the Abner Louima case (the man sodomized by police officers with a broom stick) , Rudy knew there was a problem with the way NYPD officers are being trained. I was going out with a NJ cop at that time and I remember my then-boyfriend shocked that fellow brother in arms would do that to a civilian. Then there is the 15 year old story of 4 black and hispanic teenagers that went to jail for raping a jogger in Central Park. The NYPD stated that these kids were the right culprits. Decades later it was discovered that these kids were questioned without an adult present for 10+ hours and coerced into confessing. Recent DNA evidence found the sole perpetrator but he cant be tried for the crime bc of statute of limitations. Finally. I am paralegal. A few months ago while waiting for a bus at nighttime, I was called a “black bitch” by an officer when I asked the officer to turn down her police vehicle high beams bc I could not see past the NYPD vehicle (it was nighttime) and I didnt want to step into traffic and not see that a vehicle was passing. Not only did she not turned down her high beams, she cursed me out. Did my request warrant such vitroil from a public servant?
Even Rudy’s kids support Obama for President when Rudy was thinking about running. http://techcrunch.com/2007/08/06/facebook-embarrassment-for-rudy-giuliani/
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,47646,00.html
Smh, hateful man. Bad things come when those in power choose to ignore problems in favor of a narrative.
So, you speak for all New Yorkers? Interesting…
This adds fuel to the fire. I live In a mostly white area and cops beat and kill white people too.
unfortunately for you, the numbers don’t support your theory. Why is it so hard to admit that there is a problem with police violence against minority groups? We don’t take any joy or pride in it. It is a fact of our lives and it is exhausting to live with and infuriating to have that painful fact dismissed.
But I guess if we spend all our time trying to convince you that it is happening, then we don’t have any time to do anything about it.
Errr… I enjoyed the halftime show. I thought everyone did a good job. Chris Martin looked like he was having fun. Bruno Mars was totally entertaining. Beyonce is talented and can dance a lot better than I can.
I guess I missed something.
(runs and hides)
I am not sure who this performance helped – except of course for herself. I am white and I don’t feel that this performance make me feel like I was losing “power” as noted above. What the whole thing did is make me sad. For sure there is a huge racial divide in the US. In all honesty I don’t think it can ever be “fixed” I see no end to it. This whole performance was race baiting. It did not show power nor did it show her embracing her “blackness”. If Beyoncé believes that all races should be included and equal then have Latino, Asian and middle eastern dancers. Beyoncé and the old white men who pick the Oscars are exactly the same they want no one but their own race included. Sad. As well if Beyoncé is truly embracing her blackness then why the blond hair and why nose surgery. The black lives matter movement could not have a worse spokesperson. I do believe that things need to change but this only hurts it in no way helps.
You know who I’m always looking for when I go to Asian Cultural Celebrations?
Black people.
I look far and wide and just get really angry when in the midst of a celebration honoring the history and progression of the Asian people I don’t see a single exhibit dedicated to featuring Black or Latino individuals.
I mean, I know it’s a celebration put forth to help them give a special honor to their past and present but they want to be equal right? Why can’t they put some of their ethnicity aside to include all of us so we can all feel special on their unique holiday?
I just think them wanting to preserve that one special event means they don’t really want to be equal with all of us. It’s ironic too because in spite of ‘loving’ their Asian heritage a few of them love to dye their hair blond. We all know anyone who dyes their hair blond who isn’t white is ashamed of their heritage. Frankly those Asian individuals who get plastic surgery and dye their hair are lesser than their counterparts who make different decisions.
to the Eternal Side-Eye, i love your comments that was perfect. thank you for summing it up.
Yes, Susan, we know you’re white and conservative. You don’t have to explain any of that. Beyonce has included white people and people of other races in her performances many times before, so to compare one instance where that’s not the case to the oscarssowhite situation makes no sense. Her pointing out the struggles of one group specifically isn’t racism. You know what is racist? Using physical appearance choices to dismiss someone’s activism just because they’re non white. Because we all know that you wouldn’t do that to a white celebrity or activist who dyed their hair. And I’m sorry that people not ignoring racism gives you the White Sads. #pray4susan.
@Susan
None of the members of Cold Play band are Black , neither are the musicians he had accompany him on stage , did that make you sad too ??
i note no one here has called Chris Martin out for segregation or not doing his part for diversity ……….Interesting
For someone with so much black pride she does a hell of a job bleaching her skin and dying her hair blonde.
1. Black women aren’t forbidden to make cosmetic choices.
2. She doesn’t bleach her skin. She was lighter as a child than she is now.
3. Didn’t see ‘whites only’ on the box of blond hair dye. Whoops.
What I think is how she uses this (her hair, for example) to separate herself of her band of natural hair dancers. It reminded me how she used some of these tricks when she was in Destiny’s child. I enjoy some of her music, but I would not give her my money.
This controversy was basically drummed up by Beyonce’s PR, because no one really cared. Rudy must be on the fan-the-fake-flames-of-outrage payroll, and Bey must have switched over to the Kardashian PR firm.
Whole lotta wrong in that sentence.
Easier to claim its all invented than to spare a thought as to why it’s a controversy huh? Well here’s an example. Several police departments and white individuals on Facebook publicly stated they’d be boycotting the halftime show because they heard Beyonce would be performing some type of cop killer anthem BEFORE her performance aired.
You can look that up or you can just imagine she individually hired all of those police groups to smear her name for…publicity? money? How does this illuminati scheme work again?
Wait, what? How the feck did Formation become a cop-killer anthem? No don’t answer that. You and I know what’s going on here. Beyonce has power. They hate that. Hence all the hand-wringing and ‘controversy.’
Black folk can’t celebrate their blackness or address the issues that oppress us without it devolving into cries of ‘reverse racism,’ and ‘divisiveness’ and other bullshit dog-whistle statements.
Glad she has no more effs to give. Glad this video is exposing all the racists for who they are.
IMO–she’s the real deal. For those objecting to the content, it’s her show, she has artistic control. The network can decide what is or is not too controversial. First and foremost she is a professional entertainer and her act may be interpreted in many ways. Unless she provided specific talking point as to the political relevance of the show I don’t think she cares what the pundits think–she’s not interested in their interpretation just their attention. Part of her message is and has always been about embracing personal power. She works her ass off and shows up beyond prepared every time. If people are offended by the “message,” maybe they should refocus on her talent, professionalism, discipline, work-ethic and ability to entertain. That’s what she was there to do.
WIth all due respect : No one holds a gun to anyone’s head to watch Beyoncé. There are 88,992,092,443,212,123 other things to look at in this world. If you do not like her, change the channel. There is still choice.
Ugh what a mess.
I work at a police station so I’m obviously quite biased. HOWEVER, I absolutely believe that police officers should be held liable and accountable for their actions when necessary. That being said, I love those men and women like my own family and when anti police sentiment is expressed at them (while completely innocent of any wrongdoing), it bums me out.
I’m very very far from a Beyoncé fan. With the exception of Single Ladies which for years was everywhere in pop culture I doubt I could name a single song of hers. However I will buy more than one copy of this single, hell maybe the album as well. My little contribution won’t make even a minute difference to her sales but I will get a warm fuzzy knowing it’ll upset so many people. ESPECIALLY all those people who would never think of themselves as racist but quite clearly are.
If working class people talk about a tiny increase to the minimum wage to enable them to keep a roof above their kids head after working 60 hours a week it’s OMIGOD CLASS WAR
If woman so much as mention the abominable rate of gendered violence in the world it’s OMIGOD MAN HATERS
If black people express any self love or point out any facet of institutionalised racism it’s OMIGOD RACE WAR
FFS people, stop thinking your delicate feels are more important than actual oppression and expecting the oppressed to beg for your approval for the language or tone they use in highlighting and/or fighting that oppression.
so bey can’t do her thing without this guy’s criticism but football is ok?
Didn’t her doing this have something to do with the Black Panthers getting their start in Oakland in 1966 near where this year’s Superbowl was held? 50 years, Superbowl 50. Or was this just coincidence?
Well I know what my Halloween costume is going to be this year… Sexy Black Panther.
All I could think of when I saw Beyonce on stage was a line from Mindy Kaling’s “Why not me?” – something like “In Hollywood, a dark-skinned woman’s natural hair color is honey blonde.” Random I know.
Sooooo… lemme get this straight: pop star does song you don’t like = ranting about the “outrage” on Fox, but cops killing black people (yeah, even SOME cops killing SOME black people) = someone did “something bad” and we’ll work on it.
Just STFU up forever, old man.
Oh…. and even as a white woman, pretty sure Rudy Giuliani is my least trusted source ever of what we need to be doing in the African-American community.
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