Beyoncé Schooling Tina Lawson Is A Lesson We Can All Learn From

As we continue to quiver in the wake of Beychella; the history-making, culture-defining, world-shaking headline set performed by Queen Beyoncé over the first weekend of Coachella, might I propose a terrifying thought. What if that performance didn’t happen? What if, instead of an iconic celebration of black culture that the entire world needed to experience, Beyoncé gave us something else? No HBCU references, no marching band, no step team, no pledging to BDK.

In all honesty, I doubt it would’ve been Beyoncé’s Coachella any other way. She told the crowd mid-performance that she’d been dreaming of this particular show for a year while she was pregnant with the twins Sir and Rumi. The intricacy with which she embedded historic and cultural touch points into her performance are testament to that. But one person who had apprehensions about Bey’s direction was her mum, Tina Lawson.

Tina shared a picture of Beyoncé in her first outfit – a look that was inspired by Egyptian queen Nefertiti – alongside some commentary on her daughter’s performance to Instagram. ‘Saw this written above photo and commentary by: Alisa Adamson Profit and thought I would share it with you’, she wrote in the caption.

‘I told Beyonce that i was afraid that the predominately white audience at Coachella would be confused by all of the black culture and Black college culture because it was something that they might not get. Her brave response to me made me feel a-bit selfish and ashamed.’

She explained that Beyoncé told her: ‘I have worked very hard to get to the point where I have a true voice and At this point in my life and my career I have a responsibility to do whats best for the world and not what is most popular’.

Tina continued: ‘She said that her hope is that after the show young people would reseach this culture and see how cool it is, and young people black and white would listen to LIFT EVERY VOICE AND SING and see how amazing the words are for us all and bridge the gap. She also hopes that it will encourage young kids to enrol in our amazing Historicaly Black Colleges and Universities. I stand corrected’.

Powerful is an understatement. What Beyoncé had to say holds a sentiment that we should all take something away from. In the simplest of terms, what’s perceived as the easiest option isn’t always the best – I’m pretty sure we had that hammered home back in Primary School. But what Beyoncé told her mum and what Tina learned in the aftermath only echoes the message that Beyoncé, the first black woman to headline at Coachella, carried through her entire performance.

We can't afford to work on the assumption that because the majority might not directly relate or 'get it', the lesser known story shouldn't be told. Black history has taught us that nothing stands a chance of changing if things are left that way. And if it has to be through a series of cleverly crafted Beyoncé songs and a two-hour spectacle with a record breaking number of eyes on it that people are awoken to a part of society that is rarely accepted as mainstream, then I'm here for it.

Granted, some people will get it wrong. Some people won't bother to take a quick look into why Beyoncé and her band, team, choir, pledges, wore black and yellow (clue, it's not just because of the bumble bee reference) before ordering one of those trendy hoodies. But we have to hope that some people will do as was intended; actively come to appreciate and understand a really rich culture, enroll in some of the remaining HBCUs and continue to bridge the gap between the experiences of the white majority and the ethnic minority.

MORE: A Brief History Of The Destiny’s Child Costumes As Designed By Tina Lawson

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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.