Here we go again, Beyonce makes the slightest movement and people act like she created the heavens and the earth. I guess it isn’t bad enough that her songwriters have to come out and explain what her hit songs are really about. I mean I would too though if I wrote something beautiful and had to watch people talk about how someone else is a genius and speculate that it’s about someone else’s life. Now instead of songwriters, Beyonce has stolen the shine from the Beyhive.
Beyonce fans have donated approximately $82,000 towards the contaminated water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Piggy backing off of the issue that was at the time dominating the media as she has done more and more recently, Beyonce announced that she would donate a portion of the proceeds from her Formation tour to aid the residents of Flint, Michigan. She sure could afford to, she dropped an album and promoted a tour without any promotional money spent by tying herself into the issues that Black society were focused on at the time.
Earlier this year she used the Black Lives Matters movement to push her video for Formation which was visually powerful while lyrically a ratchet ghetto mess.
She has said not one word about the injustices that permeate society right now. Nothing about Black men and women dying at the hands of police regularly, the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, A hate fueled, racism filled election, yet she still manages to capitalize off them.
Some will praise her for her “donations”, some will even tell me that she cares because she bailed out some Baltimore protestors after the riot last year. SOME however, will understand that those “donations” get written off at the end of the year and she will get much of it back. Some ALSO will ignore that the fact that she used her fans money to “donate,” not her own. I’m sure the multi- millionaire just forgot to add her own money to aid the Flint residents.
Some will ignore the differences in the words DONATE and RAISE and as the Huffington Post says, Beyonce “made good on her promise to raise significant funds” to assist the residents of Flint, Michigan. Thanks to the generosity of the Beyhive, Beyonce did raise that money. In fact she turned over a check for $82,234 to the United Way of Genesee County earlier this week through her management company Parkwood Entertainment.
The $82,324 was raised through Beyonce’s fans who were given the option of supporting the Flint fund as they purchased their tickets.
I Myself am of the opinion that if Beyonce cared about what is happening in Flint she’d open her mouth and speak. Why is it okay for her to support them but ONLY with the money she gets from the people who come to her concert. Could you imagine if she did a PSA telling the Beyhive to donate directly to assist Flint? Can you imagine if INSTEAD of charging hundreds of dollars to see her perform and then asking for an additional donation of YOUR money she told you where to send it to support the residents in Flint, Michigan?
Here’s where you remind me that Beyonce is doing so much charity work right now that I should be ashamed to say these things. You’ll remind me that Bey also gifted 14 Detroit sophomores with $1000 upon their enrollment to college and tickets to her concert.
You’ll say she’s being a philanthropist, I say she’s an opportunist. The singer has a history of dropping major projects and announcing tours without spending any promotional money. I say she is using the causes important to the Black community to keep good publicity going without having to give one interview. Already people are buzzing about the joint album she and jay-Z are rumored to have recorded for release after the tour ends. Everyone praises this woman as if she’s cares so much about the Black community, why? Because she donates some time and money from her fans? This woman hasn’t done and interview in so long, none of us know anything about how this woman feels. Not even me, I don’t pretend to know what she thinks or feels. What I do know is that her marketing team is amazing.
Beyonce sings and dances but I swear some people act like she walks on water. Congratulations Beyhive you rock! You raised $82,234 for the residents of Flint Michigan, YOU did a great job.
