Niya Kolchagov, V5T

How are pride and perseverance in Black women portrayed in Beyoncé’s

“BROWN SKIN GIRL”, “Formation”, and “BLACK PARADE”?

Beyoncé is, and has been for a long time, one of the biggest pop and R&B icons the world has
ever seen; her 28 Grammy awards prove it. Beyoncé’s music has influenced the music industry
immensely. One of the many reasons why she is so universally loved, is because her music makes
people, especially women and people of colour, feel empowered, and inspired to make change.
With her great influence, Beyoncé has provoked movements and acts of change all over the
world. Some examples are the empowerment of women and girls to access education, supporting
sick children and homeless people, promoting global gender equality, and opposing police
brutality against Black people (Selby, 2018). Beyoncé’s song lyrics are known to make people of
colour everywhere feel proud of their roots and inspired to stay strong and keep fighting for
equality, even when it’s hard. This essay will dissertate the portraying of pride and perseverance
in three extremely successful songs by Beyoncé: “BROWN SKIN GIRL”, “Formation” and
“BLACK PARADE”.
Firstly, “BROWN SKIN GIRL” portrays the strength in Black women being perseverant and
proud of their skin colour in an elegant way. This strength is often mistaken for aggression and
hostility, which is known as the angry Black woman stereotype. This stereotype has been proven
to be untrue (Walley-Jean, 2009), but it is unfortunately still incredibly harmful to Black women,
because it causes people to attribute anger to Black women as a personality trait instead of a
normal emotional response. So, the stereotype can paint Black women as having an aggressive
personality, which is unattractive to employers and can lead to severe underrepresentation of
Black women in the workplace (Motro, Evans, Ellis, & Benson, 2022). Beyoncé’s “BROWN
SKIN GIRL” portrays strength in Black women as elegant and beautiful, instead of bitter and
malicious. This can be seen in the lyrics: “Same skin that was broken be the same skin taking
over”. Here, Beyoncé makes a reference to the slavery period, when slaves were whipped, which
left their skin broken and scarred (Nugroho, 2021). For Black women to endure that, and to then
rise from the ashes, “take over” and become successful must have taken an enormous amount of
perseverance. Beyoncé also mentions famous Black women like Naomi Campbell and Lupita
Nyong’o, who have been astonishingly graceful and in their journey towards international
success, and who are idols to many young Black girls who take pride in these women. Another
lyric that beautifully illustrates that pride, perseverance and elegance are not mutually exclusive,
is “Pigment like the earth, you be giving birth to everything alive, baby, know your worth”
(Beyoncé & P2J, 2019). The act of giving birth requires tremendous perseverance, but it’s also a
very feminine and graceful concept, and successfully giving birth is something that Black women
specifically, should be proud of, because they are more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes
than white women (CDC, 2019). Additionally, Beyoncé compares Black skin to pearls in the
chorus, which sends a message that being Black is beautiful and something to be proud of.
Secondly, “Formation” portrays the pride and perseverance of Black women in a way that
expresses power and determination. The song is written in an extremely confident and fierce tone,
which has inspired Black women in the United States, and all over the world (Wallace, 2017).
This tone conveys the message that Black women are truly capable and perseverant. “Formation”
connects with Black culture here because diligence is an important value of the culture. The song
also demonstrates a sense of solidarity within the Black community and the honouring of one’s
Blackness, which is highly valued in the culture as well (Towson University, 2022). These
Niya Kolchagov, V5T

qualities are reflected in the lyrics: “I dream it, I work hard, I grind ‘til I own it”. This lyric
describes the perseverant work ethic that Beyoncé shares with the Black community. The lyric “I
might just be a black Bill Gates in the making” points out Beyoncé’s success and power as a
Black woman, which is a result of her hard work. As for solidarity, the lyric “Okay, ladies, now
let’s get in formation” refers to the way that Black people, especially women, have always shared
a mutual understanding, and have each other’s backs. (Gay & Tate, 1998). This lyric is a call for
these women to join the Black Lives Matter movements, and to continue proving white
supremacists wrong. Furthermore, the honouring of one’s Blackness has manifested in the lyric:
“I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros” (Beyoncé & Mike WiLL Made-It, 2016), which
refers to Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy. The lyric shows Beyoncé’s adoration for natural Black
hair, and Blackness in general.
Lastly, “BLACK PARADE” portrays Black women’s pride and perseverance in a majestic and
grounded way. The song was released on Juneteenth, which is an American holiday that
celebrates the abolishment of slavery in the United States (BBC, 2021). “BLACK PARADE”
honours the ancestors of the Black community, who sacrificed their lives in the battle for racial
equality. It also honours Black history, culture, and the ‘motherland’, which refers to the
continent of Africa. These elements provide the song with a grounded quality; the elements show
that Beyoncé knows and remembers her history. They also show that Beyoncé takes pride in her
heritage because she honours her Black identity. The majestic aspect of the song is visible in how
it embodies femininity with a strong sense of power; Black culture has persevered through the
ages, which is incredibly powerful (Holmes, 2017), and the glory of which is also visible in the
lyrics: “I can’t forget my history, her-story, motherland drip on me, motherland, motherland, drip
on me”. Here, Beyoncé commemorates her ancestry and her motherland. The lyric embodies
femininity with the play on words: “history and her-story”. It alludes to the story of her female
ancestors, who were unbelievably resilient women. The pride Beyoncé takes in her background
and the solidarity she has with her community, becomes evident in the lyrics: Yeah, yeah, I’m for
us, all black, all chrome, black-owned” and “Now here we come on our thrones, sittin’ high,
follow my parade, oh, black parade” (Dixie & Beyoncé, 2020). Beyoncé will always stand with
her people, and she’s not afraid to show it. The ‘parade’ symbolises Black history and how the
community has endured oppression for many centuries. Still, they continue to keep their heads up
and persevere, which shows unimaginable strength.
In conclusion, pride and perseverance are portrayed in these songs in various ways; with
elegance, expressing power and determination, and in a majestic and grounded way. Something
these songs all have in common is an ambience of strength. In “BROWN SKIN GIRL”, that
strength is given a graceful quality. In “Formation”, it takes more of a bold, fierce shape, and in
“BLACK PARADE”, it’s been put in a down-to-earth but still glorious light. These three songs
really create an image of what the Black experience is like; remembering a history of oppression,
discrimination, and violence, but also acknowledging and honouring the strength of predecessors,
as they prevailed. Like Beyoncé makes clear in her lyrics, the modern Black experience is about
persisting, and the continuation of the fight for equality. When you look further into the songs
than just the common themes, there is an abundance of deep-rooted pride and a story of great
perseverance to be found in the lyrics. Considering this, it’s no wonder that these songs are
empowering to millions of Black women.
Wordcount (excluding bibliography): 1268 words
Niya Kolchagov, V5T

Bibliography
BBC. (2021, June 18). Juneteenth: What is the newest US holiday and how is it celebrated?
Retrieved from BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57515192
Beyoncé, & P2J (2019). BROWN SKIN GIRL [Recorded by Beyoncé]. United States of
America.
Beyoncé, & Mike WiLL Made-It (2016). Formation [Recorded by Beyoncé]. United States of
America.
CDC. (2019, September 6). Racial and Ethnic Disparities Continue in Pregnancy-Related
Deaths. Retrieved from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p0905-racial-ethnic-disparities-pregnancy-deaths.html
Derek Dixie & Beyoncé (2020). BLACK PARADE [Recorded by Beyoncé]. United States of
America.
Gay, C., & Tate, K. (1998). Doubly Bound: The Impact of Gender and Race on the Politics of
Black Women. Political Psychology, 181-183.
Holmes, C. (2017, February 23). Why Black History Month Matters. Retrieved from Center for
Faith and Culture: https://cfc.sebts.edu/faith-and-culture/black-history-month-matters/
Motro, D., Evans, J. B., Ellis, A. P., & Benson, L., III (2022, January 31). The “Angry Black
Woman” Stereotype at Work. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review:
https://bg.hbr.org/2022/01/the-angry-black-woman-stereotype-at-work
Nugroho, B. (2021). A Comparative Study: Anxiety as an Impact of Slavery in Toni Morrison’s
Beloved and William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! Journal of English Studies, 22.
Selby, D. (2018, August 16). Beyoncé Is An 'Irreplaceable' Force for Inspiring Change.
Retrieved from Global Citizen: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/beyonce-force-for-
change/
Towson University. (2022, January 29). Black Identity. Retrieved from Towson University:
https://www.towson.edu/counseling/culturalidentity/blackidentity.html
Wallace, A. (2017). A Critical View of Beyonce's “Formation”. Black Camera, 4-5.
Walley-Jean, J. C. (2009). Debunking the Myth of the “Angry Black Woman”: An Exploration of
Anger in Young African American Women. Black Women, Gender and Families, 68-86.
Additional sources
- https://genius.com/Blue-ivy-saint-jhn-beyonce-and-wizkid-brown-skin-girl-lyrics
- https://genius.com/Beyonce-formation-lyrics
- https://genius.com/Beyonce-black-parade-lyrics