The whitest black woman in the industry Beyonce channels her inner African Queen in a recent photo shoot she did for a French fashion magazine. While people such as myself like the African inspired war paint, many people are up in arms over the look calling it black face racism. I find this confusing being that Beyonce is a black woman. Beyonce says the inspiration for her face paint was to honor Nigerian musician and human rights activist Fela Kuti, who you may all know was a successful Broadway play co-produced by Bey's husband Jay Z. The look has caused a few debates on a few websites and if you remember Will.I.Am. suffered similar debates when he showed up in blackface at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.
Via L’Official:
The Fashion magazine is about to celebrate its 90th birthday. To celebrate this anniversary, the festivities start with the March issue, with Beyoncé on the cover. She agreed to pose for an incredible fashion shoot, with the theme of African Queen, paying a tribute to the legendary Fela Kuti. Far from the glamorous Sasha Fierce, the beauty posed for the magazine with amazing fashion designers clothes, but also in a dress created by her mother. [It is] A return to her African roots, as you can see on the picture, on which her face was voluntarily darkened. All the pictures will be available in the collector edition, on sell at the end of this month.
Not many people are buying this as you can read in the statement below...
As a fan of Fela Kuti, a man who was passionate about the freedom of Blacks/Africans throughout the Diaspora, I’m not quite sure as to how blackface pays tribute to him. While my adoration for Beyonce’s talent and work ethic are unparallel, I’m not quite sure as to why she would agree to do a photo shoot that associates her with one of the most deeply rooted racist images in American history. Nor do I understand the L’Officiel Paris’ rationale that to revel in one’s “African roots,” they have to be “far away from glamorous” and fierce.
Nevertheless, Beyonce is just the tip of the black-faced iceberg since designers throughout the fashion world have taken the potentially racist symbol and turned it into the hottest thing on and off the catwalk. French Vogue was among the first to initiate the blackface trend when they featured a 14 page editorial of Dutch model Lara Stone in blackface. Not to be outdone, Paris-based Mongolian designer Tsolmandakh Munkhuu photographed her models in black paint from head to toe for the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography.
There are many more examples of this trend. But with the frequent use of this image on both the catwalk and in fashion editorial, it makes one wonder if this is a form of art or racism?
The tradition of blackface began as theatrical makeup used in minstrel shows that would “blacken” an actor’s face using shoe paint, burnt cork and greasepaint. The practice became synonymous with racism because it used by white actors to entertain white audiences with stereotypical caricatures of blacks. This once beloved art form has played a significant role in cementing globally racist imagery and perceptions about black people.
The current tone of blackface may seem to be less malevolent today; still, the fashion industry has shown their insensitivity because this imagery is still considered in the black community to be just as insidious and hurtful as it was in the past. Blackface is not fashion forward or edgy and in my opinion, it is just flat out offensive. Black folks must have a zero tolerance policy for any manifestation of blackface, period – Via Atlanta Post
Avalon's tohughts: Instead of debating Beyonce's new look, how about we focus on more important issues like healthcare, the recent budget cuts to Planet Parenthood, social security cuts, the funding of two wars, black men with degrees are getting passed over for jobs due to the color of their skin, and whites who never stepped foot in a University are getting jobs people who are more qualified should be getting. Even with a black President we're still dealing with racism and until we deal with the issues in this country, we're still going to have trouble moving forward.
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