this is the last time I talk about this lady like this I swear! (livestream)

In regards to Beyonce, it’s what James Baldwin said: “And you must decide all over again whether you want to be famous or whether you want to write. And the two things, in spite of all the evidence, have nothing whatever in common.” Most artists choose fame over focusing solely on their craft.

I have that fear of wealth too. I watched my aunt come up on a ridiculous amount of money & it turned her into a monster. I’ve never seen the empathy leave someone’s eyes so rapidly. It’s like a virus took over her body.

"I like to talk about the things I like, I don't... Ok, there's some ranty videos, Ok, I'm lyin' I'm lyin'" - We should normalize a comprehensive rant from time to time. IT'S GOOD to vent.

29:30 it's so weird to say we all participate in capitolism and compare civilian participation in capitalism to a celebrity's. Esspecially a celebrity of Beyoncé's caliber. We all may participate in capitalism but let's look at how the rich vs poor experience during the pandemic to see how participation in capitalism is different for any category or combination of intersections. What worries and pressures are different for different degrees of capitalist participation and how much you will have will primarily be determined by how much capitol you have (obligatory caveats acknowledged) . What's hanging in the balance for celebrities under capitalism is not what's hanging in the balance for the working poor and underemployed even though "we all participate in capitalism". Celebrities have certain degrees of freedom of movement within capitalism and society as well as power to change every day life. I dont have as much capitol as to give away houses for free as Beyoncé does but "we both participate in capitalism". I cant afford to turn down low paying jobs with high turn over rates because im half a paycheck away from starvation, beyonce does not have that kind of pressure, has never faced that kind of pressure, will never face that kind of pressure and can pick and choose opportunities I will never be offered in 10 lifetimes, even though "we both participate in capitalism". She can command any price for her labour, while I have to take what I can get because I dont have the bargaining power of some of my peers let alone beyonce. you see where I'm going with the degrees in which we all may technically be participating in capitalism as celebrities but experience it differently and your mileage within capitalism varies depending on your status and class? aligning your participation in capitalism to Beyoncé's is like saying you have as many hours in a day as oprah. True in a literal sense, but also the resources Oprah has at her disposal dwarfs mine and makes it so that she can get a months worth of work accomplished in the same 24 hours we both literally share.

Saying "we all participate in capitalism" is akin to getting angry at a socialist for having a 9-5. While well intentioned, it's a completely lazy argument. Even those who hate the current system need to survive. It's fair to dislike people with extreme wealth who seem to give not one iota about the dumpster fire of wealth disparity taking place, and worse, capitalize off of social movements just make more money that they don't need.

Mic turns on around 2:00 Intro around 3:40

I have a friend who teaches college theater students. The day after the Grammys Beyonce was up for Renaissance, his students were saying "It's so great a member of our generation is speaking about queer artists." He told them "You know Beyonce was in a girl group called Destiny's Child in the late 90s right?" CRICKETS. I was horrified. I hope he played them "Say My Name" on repeat. Let me not get into when a fellow Gen X-er and I went to a gay party in Brooklyn and the DJ started playing Missy and the dance floor cleared. We were the only ones getting down to "Work It"

whenever Hamilton came out and everyone was like wow this is the first hop hop musical i was always like actually Carmen A Hip Hopera exists. i think i saw it on MTV

I take issue with the matter of “not broadcasting” when you donate money if you are someone who has the kind of social capital that Beyoncé does. In this situation, raising awareness carries just as much if not more value than monetary donations given that Israel has been blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. This is the exact kind of situation where BEYGood could’ve been utilised. And for people who are claiming that she only speaks on Black American issues they are being extremely insincere because what was BIK? What was the post about #EndSARS? On top of that she not only offered scholarships to young Black Americans but to young Black people on the African continent. So the idea that we shouldn’t have to expect her to speak on Palestine 🇵🇸 because she “only speaks on American issues” is an outright lie. It’s fair for us to feel surprised when the silence is so disjointed from the way she’s branded herself. The comment on losing visibility vis-a-vis Sinead O’Connor is fair. However, as you rightly pointed out as the CEO of Parkwood Entertainment she has established more control over her image, her public advocacy and her artistry. If she can get to the point where she reportedly doesn’t care about the commercial success of her music but cares more about the substance of her work and that it communicates; then wouldn’t it stand to reason that she is far less vulnerable than someone like Sinead was at the time or even how she was when she didn’t own the rights to her art? Beyoncé has survived America’s white majority trying to boycott her because of using Black Radical imagery. Yes this particular case has international implications but how much more transgressive is it than all the other things she’s spoken out on and survived professionally? This is not just any artist we’re speaking about. This is Beyoncé, a global cultural icon with over two decades of experience and longevity. She is entrenched in the fabric of our culture. This arguably could’ve been the one time an artist could’ve spoken out without severe consequences because of the relative power they have in comparison to their fellow artists. Companies and individuals want to work with HER it’s usually not the other way around. So we need to honestly and thoughtfully interrogate if she would truly suffer the same level of “black listing” as those of her peers who have chosen to speak out. Would losing brand deals even make a dent in her popularity or success considering that her biggest revenue stream is music and not athleisure or perfumes? Was Netflix really going to ask her for a refund for that multi-project deal they signed a while back? Was Disney going to ask her to remove their name from BIK? Was Columbia really going to cancel their distribution deal with one of their biggest and most popular money makers? Those companies are hypocrites who put money first so would they really give up easy money like that? And does SHE need the money? Really? Let’s chat about that truly would be the worst that could happen to an artist of her calibre speaking out; someone whose level of superstardom and control over their career is unheard of. I think this is where the criticism comes fro

Carmen: A Hip-Hopera is a classic!! My besties and I watch it like once a year to remind us that not even Beyonce can do it all 😂

Her lyrics tell me capitalism is her art. None of it tells me she has to write that stuff so she can stay at the top, it fully seems like she has passionately bought into the message she's selling. Like she's emotionally invested in this capitalist system that has given her so much, and truly believes it can do the same for Black women in general. It's why I find her art too hollow to even worry about whether a better version of her work would've been allowed to succeed in our world.

I am a broke, new immigrant from a Muslim background in 🇨🇦. Watching you I feel like I am chatting with my longtime friend in my living room. You make me happy.

I think we should be really careful in our assessments of celebrity, wealth and capitalism. Like the commenter said, we are all participants in capitalism whether we like it or not. We need to go to work and pay bill and buy basic necessities so we can eat, live, survive etc. But what bothers me with defences of millionaires and billionaires especially in artistic spaces is the idea that they HAVE to go about their careers and hoarding wealth the ways they do. No one needs to be a billionaire. Moreover, it’s so messy to have that much wealth and then position yourself as a sort of black working class hero…if you were, you wouldn’t be keeping that money for yourself and making a show of it. I don’t know, I can’t even really piece my thoughts that well on this matter because like you said, it’s complicated! But the least complicated aspect of this whole thing is the basic and simple fact that: people who amass billions while they make it through their own efforts or intelligence or whatever, only make that much when someone in their chain of production is being negatively affected.

always bringing the realness, i learn so much from watching your videos Khadija, I really appreciate your mind and work, thank you for shining your light

I love when Khadija talks about this lady!

As you said, there's levels of capitalism, we all need money to survive, but nobody needs to hoard billions. And nothing but greed is stopping these billionaires to pump all that money towards the less fortunate But then they wouldn't be artificially above everyone else, cause without the influence and power wealth lends them, most of them have very little to make them stand out in a crowd

Khadija, why are lying? You know you’re going to talk about this lady again. 😂

Coming as someone who was hoping they’d fix stuff about the book…I came away disappointed they barely addressed or didn’t the long-standing criticisms of the source material. Which in a film adaptation when other creative chance will you have to do that.

yes and we all participate in capitalism. when it comes to art, it's just a decision of how much am I willing to compromise to make sales. it's different for everyone. and you can have one project that's your money making one and another that's saying what you want to say with less compromise. I'm still finding my balance as a writer but I also have the privilege that it is not my bread and butter so I'm less willing to compromise to make money than someone who has to use it to pay their bills. we just have different needs and priorities.

We all have BILLS and the struggle for artists is trying to monetize your art while maintaining its integrity which is tricky. Until you get Beyonce money, you will usually have to make some compromises for survival. So in a way Beyonce and Jay Z buying in to capitalism has fed their ability to make art on their terms. Its a gift and a curse becasue yes you are free but at the same time the machine does not like that kind of freedom, and it will come for you in one way or another, like lobbying the younger, Harry Styles who is still at the mercy of the machine to win AOTY at the grammys over labelmate Beyonce to teach her a lesson...