Last week, Beyoncé’s latest and hour long visual album LEMONADE premiered on HBO (later released on Tidal, iTunes, etc) and it felt like the world collectively lost their shit. The film weaves new songs from the album with poetry from Warsan Shire and many of the faces on screen are black women. And while I’ve been obsessed with everything about the visual album, I also realize that as a white person, it was neither created for me nor is my opinion relevant. So here are some of the many think pieces I’ve been reading for the last week:
- Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ featured a slew of amazing cameos — here’s a guide – Yohana Desta
- Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ Film Offers Stunning Visuals, Urgent Themes – Mosi Reeves
- What to read after watching Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ – Nichole Perkins
- Critic’s Notebook: Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ Is a Revolutionary Work of Black Feminism – Miriam Bale
- A Call and Response with Melissa Harris-Perry: The Pain and the Power of ‘Lemonade’ – Melissa Harris-Perry
- Beyoncé’s Lemonade and the Undeniable Power of a Black Woman’s Vulnerability – Dee Lockett , Ashley Weatherford and Lindsay Peoples
- ‘Lemonade’ Is Beyoncé’s Testimony of Being Black, Beautiful & Burdened – Janet Mock
- Beyoncé’s radical invitation: In “Lemonade,” a blueprint for black women working through pain – Priscilla Ward
- Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ Is What Happens When Black Women Control Their Art – Jamilah King
- Thank you Beyoncé for helping the world finally see the fullness of black women – Clutch Magazine
- Meet Ibeyi, the Scene-Stealing Twins From Beyoncé’s Album Lemonade – Monica Kim
- ‘Lemonade’ Is About Black Women Healing Themselves and Each Other – Morgan Jenkins
- Why Lemonade Is For Black Women – Dominique Matti
- Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ Is A Powerful Ode To Black Women Everywhere – Lilly Workneh
- Beyoncé’s Lemonade Is Black Woman Magic – Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley
- Beyoncé’s Lemonade is about much more than infidelity and Jay Z – Ijeoma Olou
- White commentary on Lemonade: No one asked us – Alex Brown
- Franchesca Ramsey of ‘The Nightly Show’ takes Piers Morgan to task for Beyoncé thoughts – Kathleen Wong
Since writing this, a few more things were published about Lemonade and I wanted to include them! So here are some more things to read:
- Moving Beyond Pain – bell hooks
- In 6 tweets, Janet Mock takes down a controversial critique of Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ – Charles Pulliam-Moore
- Black women and the sacred: With ‘Lemonade’, Beyoncé takes us to church – Yolanda Pierce, Ph.D
- Lemonade syllabus – compiled by Candice Benbow
Thank you so much for gathering these links!