Beyonce Music Reviews: Beauty is Poison: Beyonce Does Blackface .

Beauty is Poison: 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 rumor 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 done it in black face.

Now for those of you who don't know, black english is a racist tradition that is deeply-rooted in the system of slavery and the negative consequences that later resulted. According to BlackFace.com, "The stock characters of blackface minstrelsy have played a strong use in disseminating racist images, attitudes and perceptions worldwide. [White America's conceptions of Black entertainers were shaped by minstrelsy's mocking caricatures and for over one hundred years the belief that Blacks were racially and socially inferior was fostered by legions of both white and black performers in blackface.]" Now I'm not going to get too deep into the whole blackface issue, but I would want to show my spirit on Beyonce's recent experience with it. In celebration of its 90th anniversary issue, L'Officiel Paris decided to feature Beyonce on the top as a tribute to the Nigerian human rights activist and musician, Fela Kuti. L'Officiel Paris called the subject "a return 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 know the history 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 predicament of African Americans in the United States but when I look 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 consider that the magazine intended to convey. A tribute to the beauty of a Nigerian queen. Furthermore, although I don't know Beyonce personally, I'd like to think that she is more sensitive to the blackface issue than most are giving her credit for. I just don't think 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 small piece 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 film shoot and are courtesy of Just Jared*

Video of the Photo Shoot: