Clutch magazine's Sara Bivigou explains why she's been watching this music video for THEESatisfaction's new single all week. She says that instead of worrying about how black women are excluded, she can just watch them be.
[H]ampton’s music video feels radical because in watching it you are doing a rare thing, watching black women just be. In this video black women just are. They are not an idea. Or a plot point. Or a quota filled. They are not one thing. Or all things. They are not a place for projected anxieties or fantasies. They just are. They are black women. Smiling. Warm. Calm. Serious. Happy. Dressing each other up. Putting on gloves. Sharing necklaces. Fingertips to zippers. Hands to smooth creases out of shirts. Clashing colours and polka dots and so many patterns. Indulging in small acts that are empowering. Painted nails. Adjusted bra straps. The just right red shade of lipstick. A living room dance party. The mood just is. The feeling is of all feelings suspended inside one. Black women. Warm. Calm. Serious. Happy. Their presence is its own manifesto.
It is funny, maybe even a little ironic that the “QueenS” video was released slap bang in the middle of last week, a week that contained a lot of pointed talk concerning the scant representations of black women in popular media.
Read Sara Bivigou's entire piece at Clutch magazine.
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