On Saturday, Beyoncé floored the world with her new video, "Formation." She dropped it, seemingly out of thin air, and blew our collective minds with an anthem that seems to distil the essence of American Blackness into 5 exquisite minutes of hip hop awesome. (For a breakdown and link to the video, read this piece by Awesomely Luvvie.)
On Sunday, Beyoncé stepped onto the field at the SuperBowl to perform "Formation." As Sarah Silverman said on Twitter, who the hell else can release a song one day, perform it at the SuperBowl the next day, and have us all already know the words? Queen Bey, that’s who.
After the performance (which was arguably better than the rest of the game and the commercials), Beyoncé announced her upcoming Formation tour. But that’s not the end of Beyoncé’s work this weekend.
If you look at the tour announcement on the LiveNation website, you’ll see this important detail:
True to her life's work of always giving back, fans will be given the opportunity to participate in Beyoncé's #BeyGOOD initiative supporting local United Way programs and the continued work surrounding the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. United Way of Genesee County has been at the forefront of distributing thousands of filtration pitchers, faucet mount filters, replacement cartridges and truckloads of water to underserved populations to address immediate needs in Flint Michigan. They are also partnering with the Community Foundation of Greater Flint to create a fund that will address long-term developmental, education, nutrition and health needs of the children affected by the Flint Water Crisis. Follow @beygood on Twitter for more information.
That’s right. Beyoncé is taking Flint into her own hands to make the water safe to drink, and to assure the future care of kids grievously injured by the failure of the state to keep them healthy. She’s not just donating a truckload of water. She’s donating to their future.
Beyoncé just might be a Black Bill Gates in the making. Slay.
