If someone said they were no longer reading the news and taking a break from all social media you couldn’t blame them. There has been a distinct lack of good news; news that you retweet because you know it will put a smile on someone’s face, headlines that you send to your friend because it will bring joy to her day. Well, yesterday, Beyonce Giselle Knowles Carter gave us all that news. Sure, Donald Trump is tweeting his way to a war with Iranbut Beyonce isn't going to let him hog all the headlines.
In true Beyonce style, she announced her pregnancy by posting a simple, but of course, perfectly styled Instagram picture. The shoot from which the Instagram post was taken, is entitled ‘I Have Three Hearts’. The portraits are romantic, rococo, renaissance and religious in their referencing and iconography, with a very modern technicolour twist. Beyonce, part Virgin Mary, part Birth of Venus, part Mother Nature inhabits past, present and future visually. She leaves us in no doubt that she is celebrating pleasure, indulgence, beauty, fertility, womanhood and, above all, love. What more could the world need right now than love?
Naturally, the Beyhive went into a frenzy as soon as the picture was posted. Celebrity news sites scrambled to find details to create a compelling story, everyone else stopped and celebrated by sharing memes and hashtags (#BluePlusTwo and ‘there are more black people inside Beyonce right now than in Donald Trump’s cabinet being my personal favourites). Why? Because the queen of pop’s announcement that she was expecting twins, gave us all a brief moment of escapism from reality: from the destruction and disorder being caused by the fascist nature of America’s current political climate.
It is not just the sheer excitement that Beyonce growing her family that makes this pregnancy announcement special. It is her timing and her delivery. February marks Black History Month for our African American cousins. Throughout his campaign, President Trump belittled African Americans by referring to them as ‘the blacks’ and made it seem as though every black American was living in a ‘ghetto’.
And, since taking his seat in the Oval office, somehow, being the maniacal megalomaniac that he is, instead of celebrating the black community Donald Trump even managed to turn his presidential Black History Month speech into a self-referrential insult to the black community.
So, like the shero that she is, Beyonce responded by taking things into her own hands and lifted up the African American community by sharing her baby news. Beyonce understands the power and importance of the internet and the sub-culture of black twitter; instead of cutting tweets and depressing messages about Trump dominating the Twitter timeline and Facebook newsfeed, she made her news the focus and changed the tone of our social media conversations.
Furthermore, by releasing her baby news on the first day of February, Beyonce asserted her power as a black woman. She followed in the footsteps of black history makers by reminding everyone that African Americans have never needed anyone else to tell their stories. From the negro spirituals slaves sang to capture their experiences, to the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance to Hip Hop, African Americans have always told their stories on their own terms and in their own words. As with the release of Formation in February 2016, Beyonce is telling the world and, especially the black global community, that she understands her place, power and importance in black culture, but like those who went before her, she won’t compromise and retains complete control of her story.
As with everything Beyonce has done since folding Destiny’s Child, she is doing things on her own terms. At a time when the voices of minorities and women are being silenced and taken away by white men, Beyonce delivered a powerful feminist statement by posting her pregnant body on her social media channel. In doing so, she told women that we don’t and should not have to ask men for permission when it comes to our bodies and what we want to do with them. When it comes to pregnancy, women are in control.
Indeed, as with everything Beyonce does, there is always more than meets the eye. This is not a family portrait. Where is Jay Z? Why hasn’t he posted anything on his Instagram? Does anyone care? Beyonce certainly doesn’t seem to. Also, while we’re at it. I’ve examined the pictures with a fine tooth comb and it doesn’t look like Beyonce is wearing her wedding ring in any of them. And if the picture is entitled I Have Three Hearts, presumably she's referring to Blue Ivy and the twins - so why isn't Jay Z getting a mention?
At this point, it would be remiss to mention the conspiracy theories that dogged Beyonce’s first pregnancy. This time she is clear: the tabloids will get no scoops. She’s in the driving seat of her story.
This wasn’t just any celebrity announcement, it was a strategic move to show that while she may not be the loudest voice in this time of political instability, speaking at rallies like Gloria Steinem, marching alongside Madonna or resisting Donald Trump stage like Meryl, but she sees, hears and shares the concerns of her fans. We can be reassured that Beyonce is silently watching and any opportunity she has to empower others, especially women and black women, she will take.
Thank you Queen B. Thank you.
Beyonce & the Internet. Name a more iconic combination. I'll wait.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.