Beyonce issued a strong political statement with her halftime show at Super Bowl 50 on Sunday with backing dancers dressed as members of armed rights group the Black Panthers.
The superstar brought the dancers on for her new single Formation which is being widely touted as a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.
At one point during the song, the supporting performers formed an 'X' on the field - thought to reference black rights campaigner Malcolm X - and then raised their arms in the air in a gesture referencing the black power salute by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
Following the show, several of the dancers were pictured giving the same salute around a piece of paper that reads 'justice 4 Mario Woods' - a black man shot dead by police in San Francisco last December. Afterwards Beyonce said that she 'wanted people to have love for themselves'.
The dancers, dressed head-to-toe in black, also donned the signature black beret of the political group that operated during the Sixties and Seventies. Beyonce was widely expected to make a political statement during the halftime show which was headlined by Coldplay and also featured Bruno Mars.
Anticipation had been building for her performance after she unexpectedly dropped the music video for the song on Saturday. The video, the most political Beyonce has released, showed scenes of white police lining up against a black teenager and graffiti that reads 'stop shooting us'.
Another part of the video shows Beyonce in a flooded New Orleans, recalling scenes after Hurricane Katrina in which George Bush was accused of 'not caring about black people' by rapper Kanye West after relief was slow in reaching the area.
Within minutes of the video's release, Twitter was awash with reactions to the fiercely political lyrics and scenes - and a cameo role from the singer's four-year-old daughter with Jay Z, Blue Ivy.
Several fans hit out at Beyonce over the music video and advocated boycotting the Super Bowl, accusing her of spreading an anti-cop message which only serves to further divide communities. Writing on the singer's Facebook page yesterday, Kristen Wickham said: 'As the wife of a police officer, I am offended by this entire video. Rise above and stay above the strife.
'For a girl who grew up in a privileged, wealthy family, she has no business pandering to those who didn't. She has no idea what struggle is.
'I have unliked you and your husband's pages, deleted all of your songs from my collection and will never buy another thing associated with either of you.'
Meanwhile Rebekah Simpson added: 'Planning to boycott the Super Bowl Halftime show. All Lives Matter! I am offended by your song "Formation" and its implication that there is a vast conspiracy in law enforcement against a particular race.
Meanwhile on the field on Sunday night, Peyton Manning's Super Bowl dream came true as the Denver Broncos clinched the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Manning won his second Super Bowl after the Broncos triumphed 24-10 over Cam Newton's Carolina Panthers. The Broncos dominated the game and never looked like giving away the lead after surging ahead early on. Manning, 39, is almost certain to retire after a career that has seen him named MVP five times and regarded as one of the NFL's best quarterbacks ever.
source : dailymail.co.uk
0 comments
Post a Comment