Black Is King Celebration

Oshun in the orisha of love, the arts, friendship, fertility, marriage, partnership, romance and attraction. She is capable and willing to help in matters of femininity, sexuality, love, pleasure, wealth, and joy. She was brought to America from the West African regions of Nigeria and Benin during the slave trade as a part of the religious pantheon of Ifa. The religion was practiced by the slaves unbeknownst to the slave masters while they ominously forced the agenda of Christianity. Oshun is the embodiment of music, joy, laughter, dance, sensuality, and beauty. It is of no surprise to me this embodiment of Goddess graciousness is now being channeled in the artwork of the world’s most visible superstar: Beyonce.

Beyonce broke the internet in 2016 with her gut-wrenching visual album “Lemonade” when she was seen donning a golden yellow dress and walking the streets busting the windows out of cars and laughing. The media quickly concluded that this was an homage to the orisha Oshun, whose color is gold, and has a reputation of laughing when her difficult to summon yet cantankerous temper, has been aroused. Beyonce would later solidify the speculations of her dabbling in African Spirituality at the Grammys in 2017 with another golden ensemble and a tear-jerking rendition of her songs “Sandcastles” and “Love Drought”. The rumors began swirling once more in 2020 with the release of the Disney approved visual by Beyonce “Black is King”. Oshun rules and resides over the river and sweet waters. She loves shiny artifacts, and her animals are the leopard and peacock. In “Black is King” Beyonce is seen decadently sporting leopard print fashions and sipping tea in the midst of resplendent peacocks in “Mood 4 Eva”, wearing shiny Vegas inspired spectacles in “Find Your Way Back”, and belting melodies near a river in “Spirit”. It is apparent that Beyonce, her relationship to Oshun, and the impact it has had on her artistic message and life is of great importance to her. “Ankh charm on my gold chain, with my Oshun energy” and “I am the Nala, sister of Naruba, Osun, Queen Sheba, I am the mother” are two brilliant and eloquent Beyonce lyrics that are an ode to what the public has perceived all along: Oshun is a guiding force in both Beyonce’s artistry and life. Beyonce recently gave birth to twins. Oshun is the giver of twins, called the Ibeji in Yoruba, and she bore twins herself for her lover and husband Shango. With all Oshun’s magic and mysticism and Beyonce in all her brazen glory, it is not hard for one to see how interrelated the music mogul and deity are. Beyonce alludes to being a daughter of Oshun through performance. If you study her catalog, visuals, and personal life you can glean that Oshun claims her right back. 

If you asked ten different priest, priestesses, or practitioners of Ifa what they think about Beyonce’s recent religious discoveries you would get ten different answers. I am also a daughter of Oshun, and a practitioner of the religion since 2007. I had the pleasure of performing with Beyonce in her first viewing of her hit single “Run the World (Girls)” in 2011 at Oprah's Surprise Spectacular, and the 2011 Billboard Awards where Beyonce was honored as “Woman of the Millennium”. Beyonce was pregnant during these performances, heavily indulged in Oshun energy as she rules fertility, and on the precipice of discovering a new way to define herself. This definition would later be her being a daughter of Oshun herself, a title gifted to you through your ancestors. As someone who can testify to the benefits of the tradition and the bestowing of Oshun’s gift of her energy in your life, in my opinion, this is excellent. Ifa was the religion practiced by blacks before the narrative of Christianity was beaten and broken onto us. Beyonce spotlighting African spirituality in her artistry is her holding up Oshun’s mirror to black people to show them who they were before who they were told to be. It reflects our ancestors, and the beauty, wealth, and richness of being black. While it will take more than gold dresses and music videos for black people to understand the magnitude of Oshun and our African heritage, Beyonce’s message is nonetheless magnanimous. Black, truly, honestly and reverently, is King. 

Greetings gorgeous mermaids! I wrote this opinion piece in the Fall of 2020 for my Mass Communications class. In honor of the fifth Anniversary of Black is King and to celebrate the beauty of the short film on Disney Plus, I decided to post the essay. It is one of my favorite essays I've ever written! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! All my love! xoxo