“Black Parade” by Beyoncé
The best way to describe “Black Parade” is as it being Beyoncé’s celebration of her Blackness, i.e. her racial heritage. And the various statements and metaphors she makes alluding to such are based on two contexts. First is that she makes various efforts to identify with Africa – i.e. tracing her lineage back to the “Motherland” – and in the process points out various ways in which she is appreciative of traditional Black culture.
Secondly she is heralding her “Black parade” amidst the fact that her people have to deal with institutionalized racism, i.e. police brutality, which is the hot topic of the day in which this song was released. Accordingly the way the title of this song reads is as if Queen B has an army behind her. Or another way we can put all of this together is that in acknowledgement of their worthy ancestry, Beyoncé and likeminded individuals are not going to tolerate the likes of police brutality anymore.
“Follow my parade, oh, my parade”
Facts about “Black Parade”
Beyoncé dropped this song while concurrently launching an initiative called the Black Parade Route, which as described is a listing of small businesses owned by Black people in the United States. And its purpose is to increase patronage to these business entities.
Beyoncé released this song as a surprise single on June 19th, 2020. It was released in acknowledgement of a holiday, Juneteenth, whose origins trace back to the days of Black slavery in America.
Beyoncé produced “Black Parade” alongside Derek Dixie. And the two of them also co-wrote the song in conjunction with her husband Jay-Z and the following:
- Blu June
- Brittany Coney
- Caso
- Kaydence
- Worldwide Fresh
The labels that put this song out are Columbia Records and Parkwood Entertainment.
