Hey,
Like most of you, I was completely in awe with Beyonce’s performance at Coachella this past weekend. I felt so much #BlackGirlMagic pride throughout the entire thing — her tribute to HBCUs, her shout-out to historically Black fraternities and sororities, the array of Black music she showcased, the words of Nina Simone and Malcolm X, the swag surfing. It was glorious. All of it.
But what really struck me was her refusal to shrink who she was.
Here she was, the first Black woman to headline what could arguably be called one of the whitest music festivals and she performed one of the most unapologetically Black sets I’ve ever seen. She stood fully in who she feels she is as an artist and a woman and laid it all out there. She didn’t care that a good chunk of the audience wouldn’t get the references. She didn’t edit herself for the sake of others. She took up all of the space.
What if we all lived every second of our lives that way?
What if you unapologetically stepped into who you are deep down at your core? What if you gave yourself to this world, unedited and real?
How would your life change if you took up all the space you wanted and needed, without shrinking?
I say it’s about time we find out.
N—