Black Lives Matter co-founder Johnetta Elzie jumped on Twitter Saturday night to heap praise on the visual for Beyoncé’s new album Lemonade, saying she connected with the music “on a personal, spiritual level.”
Beyoncé’s sixth studio album, Lemonade, was released Saturday in the form of a full-length visual presentation on HBO. The 12-song offering is a 45 minute medley of themes, which include a big helping of black nationalist feminism.
The film features the mothers of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, two black men whose deaths were used to launched the anti-police Black Lives Matter movement.
Mothers honoring their sons. The moments in #LEMONADE I can't stop thinking about. pic.twitter.com/zHTDaivVor
— Errin (@errin_jade) April 24, 2016
In response to the depiction of these two women, Black Lives Matter organizer Johnetta Elzie tweeted:
It's just so black. #lemonade
— Johnetta Elzie (@Nettaaaaaaaa) April 24, 2016
Mike and Trayvon's mothers made me feel complete. They looked so beautiful. #Lemonade
— Johnetta Elzie (@Nettaaaaaaaa) April 24, 2016
Elsewhere, as Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z’s music streaming service Tidal trended on Twitter, other black journalist, professors, and commentators celebrated Lemonade.
BET News host, CNN commentator, and Morehouse Professor Marc Lamont Hill tweeted incessantly about how much he loved Lemonade:
I'm generally a hater about stuff that everybody loves. But this shit was amazing. #LEMONADE
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) April 24, 2016
How can you watch this and not think Black people are beautiful?
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) April 24, 2016
Jamilah Lemieux, an Editor at Ebony Magazine, loved Lemonade:
A whole 60-minute love note to Black women, performed in front of the entire world. #LEMONADE
— Jamilah Lemieux🖤 (@JamilahLemieux) April 24, 2016
Blair L.M. Kelley, assistant dean and associate professor of history at North Carolina State University had this to say:
She created a whole album talking about what SHE wanted to talk about. Love, infidelity, intuition, anger, black women's lives… #Lemonade
— Blair LM Kelley (@profblmkelley) April 24, 2016
Saturday’s release of the visual adaptation of Lemonade coincided with its audio release on streaming music service Tidal, which recently announced that it will donate $1.5 million to Black Lives Matter and other political pressure groups.
Beyoncé is also set to launch the Formation World Tour, which begins April 27 in Miami.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.