Beyonce Does Blackface for L'Officiel Paris

I was listening to Power 105.1, a New York morning radio show hosted by Angela Yee, DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God, yesterday morning when I heard a rumour that Beyonce had done an editorial for a French Magazine (L'Officiel Paris) that was stirring up a lot of controversy because. *drumroll please, gasp* she had through it in black face.

Now for those of you who don't know, black side is a racist tradition that is deeply-rooted in the arrangement of bondage and the negative consequences that later resulted.

According to BlackFace.com, "The standard characters of blackface minstrelsy have played a substantial part in disseminating racist images, attitudes and perceptions worldwide. [White America's conceptions of Black entertainers were wrought by minstrelsy's mocking caricatures and for over one hundred years the impression that Blacks were racially and socially inferior was fostered by legions of both albumen and black performers in blackface.]"

Now I'm not going to get too deeply into the whole blackface issue, but I would care to express my view on Beyonce's recent experience with it.

In celebration of its ninetieth anniversary issue, L'Officiel Paris decided to feature Beyonce on the cross as a testimonial to the Nigerian human rights activist and musician, Fela Kuti. L'Officiel Paris called the open "a pass to her African roots" and said Beyonce's face "was voluntarily darkened" for the shoot.

My Opinion?
Not that bad. In fact, not bad at all. Yes, I love the story of my Black culture, and in fact have taken multiple Africana Studies courses at my university. Not that it makes me an expert on the pledge of African Americans in the United States but when I see at this editorial, I don't see anything malicious about it. I see only beauty. I see a strong, regal and beautiful Black woman. I see class. I see everything I think that the magazine intended to convey. A testimonial to the dish of a Nigerian queen. Furthermore, although I don't know Beyonce personally, I'd like to believe that she is more tender to the blackface issue than most are giving her credit for. I simply don't believe she would have agreed to be apart of something she thought would be degrading to her people. Last of all, from what I can see, only a little percentage of the images in the editorial are in blackface. Stop being so dramatic people! And there's my two cents. Enjoy the editorial :)



*The following images were taken during the picture shoot and are courtesy of Just Jared*

Video of the Picture Shoot: