I am strong. I am Black. I am Beautiful. I am a Woman. These are the phrases Beyonce’s song “Sorry” in her album Lemonade roars at fans as she, an African American woman, shows how proud she is to be who she is. The music video for the song depicts a lot of cultural elements that tie together with the theme of being unapologetic for being who you are. Beyonce empowers women to love themselves no matter their shape, size, color, or appearance. In the beginning of the song, Beyoncé narrates a spoken-word poem, written by Warsan Shire, in which she asks her cheating spouse what he would say at her funeral after killing her with a broken heart. Beyoncé is then seen sitting on a bus called “Boy Bye” with fellow women, whose faces are painted in Ori-a sacred Yoruba tradition. The face paintings as well as the bus ride all symbolize Beyoncé’s spiritual journey after her “death,” which ultimately leads her to a better place where she is uplifted through sisterhood and unity. She’s then joined by professional tennis player Serena Williams, who flaunts her curves and edges in a black bodysuit so as to portray the sense of self love that Beyonce promotes. “ I’m really exciting. I smile a lot, I win a lot and I’m really sexy.”(Williams) Serena Williams herself, never fails to shut down haters with a lot of positive self love as people judge her rather harshly for not exemplifying stereotypical beauty standards in a woman. Beyonce then follows through with this idea of beauty standards by posing like a statue of African art in which her arms appear to be missing. In classical African art, women are often depicted without arms, so as to show off the beauty in their faces and hair, which are important aspects of the culture. Beyonce poses like royalty with an Eqyptian Queen Nefertiti inspired hairstyle, expressing the message to embrace African beauty or the beauty within instead of feeling pressured to follow Western standards. Through the entire music video, Beyonce wears many natural hairstyles as well as clothing with patterns to fully embody the African culture.The neck jewelry and beading draws she wears are all inspiration from Nigeria and the Maasai of Kenya. Beyonce slays and serves looks the whole time while expressing her l
ove for her culture, roots and identity.
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