That’s What Beauty Is

Beyoncé was also a black queen. I saw in her Diana Ross but also Lena Horne, and I thought: So that’s what beauty is. That’s what it means to be hot. That’s what it means to step in the forefront.

I also immediately wanted to protect her, like she was my bud. Years after I first saw her perform with Michelle [Williams] and Kelly [Rowland] at the House of Blues in Chicago, when she stepped out for her first solo album, I remember thinking, Oh man, I hope this is good. I was nervous for her because I loved Destiny’s Child, every iteration of it, and didn’t want any of their success or power to go away. Of course, it didn’t; it grew.

In a way, we’re all on the same journey with Beyoncé. I remember seeing her be so confident and also coming into her womanhood. In my 20s, I moved to L.A., where I was trying to find my own confidence and womanhood. That’s when I was really listening to her music and relating to her journey in terms of exploring who I was as a woman, as a person, as a black woman. And now, especially where I am in my career and looking at her, I understand that idea of having to go through a baptism where you bless yourself with the water and you ordain yourself a new woman. Only then can you step forward.

I appreciate also that she knows the journey is never crystal clear. It’s not always smooth. It’s not always a direct path. Sometimes there are things that you do that you regret. Sometimes you take a step back, and then you take a step forward. As I’ve gone through the challenges in my life, I’ve been looking at the challenges of her life, and she gives you permission to stumble a little bit but then make something beautiful out of that stumble. She proves you can survive like a phoenix no matter what the world throws at you.

I fell in love with my fiancé when the self-titled Beyoncé album hit. I wanted the things she talked about in that album, to feel that passion and connection to someone.

Lemonade is the album that lifts us up, all of us. She talks about surviving heartbreak and betrayal. There’s just something so human about it and so brave. It’s also the album that represents community, where she included all these women that she admires, like Serena Williams. She showed how she survived that time of her life as a black woman, finding people in her circle to look to when she was struggling and looking for someone to say, “OK, that person is strong so I can be strong.” When you hear the song “Sorry” for the first time, you’re blown away by Warsan Shire’s poetry. She’s putting people in the public eye you ordinarily wouldn’t know about or care about. But because Beyoncé is uttering this person’s words, this brown woman’s words, we all go out and look for her and find her.

Beyoncé used Lemonade to shine a light not just on herself but on a community of women of color, to tell their stories and to share their journeys. And she may not have won a Grammy for best album for Lemonade, but that won’t make people listen to it any less. If I hadn’t won an Emmy for the Thanksgiving episode of Master of None, that wouldn’t make people feel any less connected to it. Black women have always been the backbone of everything. Black women have never sat back.

Beyoncé shows that we’re all made of the same stuff; we are all in the same boat. She makes it her business to say, “I’m a mother, a wife, I’m an activist, I’m a daughter, I’m a friend.” We’re all friends in this life even if we’re different. And no matter how big or small your voice is, she reminds us that we have to stand tall because our ancestors did. So who are we not to do it as well? It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what your means are.

Look at how she holds up her love for Houston. I’m from Chicago and both cities have their issues, but we know there is beauty in these cities that other people may look down on. But to attach Beyoncé to Houston makes people hold the city and that community in a special place versus saying, “Oh that city over there.” To speak to our cities is to remind people there that you can stand where I stand.

For gay people, Beyoncé represents a light at the end of the tunnel. She may not be gay, but like Cher and Madonna she’s a gay ally and icon in the community because she knows what it means to not be like everybody else and to be unafraid of that truth. There are people all over the world – gay, straight, trans, black, white – that she speaks to because she can cross all barriers. In that way she’s descended from Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson. They were proud African-Americans who continued to speak to black audiences, but they couldn’t help but bleed over to other audiences because there was something so pure and special about them. Plus there’s the specificity of Beyoncé’s work – her music and her heart – that’s propelled her.

As a writer who writes about my life, I know firsthand it’s specificity that brings you a broader audience. The more specific you are, the more willing you are to bare your soul, the more audiences endear themselves to you, feel like they know you and cheer for you. That’s when things shift in your career. She’s done that multiple times.

I grew up on Whitney and Michael and Prince. We may have lost them, but Beyoncé is not afraid to take the baton of their talent, of their impact. I remember watching Being Bobby Brown, and Whitney was in the car and they started talking about Beyoncé. Whitney, in a way, was giving her stamp of approval . She was kind of saying, “Beyoncé can take it from here.” Whenever I look at Beyoncé, I’m always reminded of that. Whitney gave her a sign to go ahead – a touch that said, “You got it from here.”

[SŁOWNICZEK]

overwhelming impact – ogromny wpływ

release – wydawać

gravitate to sth – być przyciąganym do czegoś

step in the forefront – wyjść przed szereg

bud – kumpela

every iteration of it – w każdym wydaniu

come into one’s womanhood – stawać się kobietą

ordain yourself a new woman – mianować siebie nową kobietą

stumble – potykać się

lift up – podnosić na duchu

betrayal – zdrada

blow away – powalić na kolana

utter – artykułować

backbone – fundament/podstawa

sit back – spoczywać na laurach

stand tall – wykazywać pewność siebie

hold up – podtrzymywać

have issues – borykać się z problemami

look down on sb – patrzeć na kogoś z góry

gay ally – osoba przyjazna środowiskom LGBT

descend from – tutaj: kontynuować tradycje wcześniejszych artystów

bleed over – tutaj: zarażać entuzjazmem innych

propel – napędzać

bare your soul – obnażyć swoją duszę

endear to sb – obdarzyć kogoś sympatią

take the baton – przejąć pałeczkę

give sb/sth a stamp of approval – wyrazić aprobatę

Task 1 (Poziom B1)

Listen to the recording and answer the following questions:

1. What drew Lena Waithe to Beyoncé?

2. Why did she want Beyoncé to succeed?

3. Why does Lena think she has a lot in common with Beyoncé?

4. Why is she not worried about Lemonade not having won a Grammy for best album?

5. In Lena’s opinion, why does Beyoncé mean so much to minorities in America, especially black women?

6. What does Beyoncé share with Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson?

Task 2

Watch the video and answer the following questions:

1. When and where was Beyoncé born?

2. Which famous R&B trio did she belong to?

3. Which songs established the trio international fame?

4. When did Beyoncé debut as a solo artist?

5. How many Grammy Awards did she receive for her solo album?

6. What other career did Beyoncé successfully follow?

7. What is the song “Single Ladies” famous for?

8. Whom did she marry?

Task 3

Describe the issue presented in the article. Use the expressions listed below. They will help you give structure to the text analysis.

Key words:

Beyoncé

womanhood

proud African-Americans

gay ally and icon

Collocations with positive meaning:

black queen

the backbone of everything

special place

stamp of approval

Collocations with negative meaning:

overwhelming impact

heartbreak and betrayal

women of color

Action verb phrases:

step in the forefront

take a step back/forward

lift somebody up

cross barriers

speak to black audiences

Record your text analysis on a voice recorder or practice delivering your presentation in a group setting.

Examples:

Lena Waithe was in junior high when…

Years after she first saw her perform…

Lena remembers seeing her be so confident and…

Lemonade is the album that…

Task 4

Translate the sentences below using the suggested word or phrase. (See Key)

(made … stuff … boat) Beyoncé pokazuje, że wszyscy jesteśmy ulepieni z tego samego; wszyscy płyniemy tą samą łodzią.

(even if) Wszyscy jesteśmy przyjaciółmi w tym życiu, nawet jeśli się różnimy.

(matter … means) Nie ma znaczenia, kim jesteś, skąd pochodzisz ani jakimi środkami dysponujesz.

(represents) Dla gejów Beyoncé jest jak światełko w tunelu.

(means … unafraid) Ona wie, co to znaczy nie być jak wszyscy inni i nie bać się tej prawdy.

You can use your translations in your presentation of the topic (in Task 6).

Task 5

Continue the translation using the suggested word or phrase. Remember: It’s not about translating these sentences perfectly – there are a number of possible ways to translate each sentence. This task aims to teach you TO THINK IN ENGLISH. By working on your translation of a sentence, you can change it to get closer to the sense of the original (see Key).

W tym znaczeniu she’s descended from Whitney Houston i Michaela Jacksona.

Byli dumnymi Afroamerykanami, którzy continued to speak do czarnej publiczności.

Było w nich coś tak pure i wyjątkowego.

Beyoncé nie boi się to take the baton of ich talentu, ich wpływu.

Whitney in a way wyrażała wobec niej aprobatę.

Whitney dała jej znak, by szła naprzód – a touch that said: „Dalej sama sobie poradzisz”.

You can use your translations in your presentation of the topic (in Task 6).

Task 6

Now it’s time to put forward your views on the issues. Record your speech on a voice recorder or practice presenting your opinion in a group setting. Consider the issues raised in the text from these viewpoints:

Personal: Lena Waithe

Lena remembers thinking…

She could see something of Beyoncé in…

Social: African-Americans

In a way, all are black people are on the same journey with Beyoncé…

Beyoncé shows that we’re all made of the same stuff…

Artistic: Beyoncé

She’s descended from Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson…

Beyoncé is not afraid to take the baton of their talent…

Fot. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Refinery29, youtube.com