Beyonce and The First Lady
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Posted By: Bryan Jones on May 29, 2012 I’m not a person that is inclined to gossip, yet I can’t help but weigh in on a story about a very successful woman Baby Boomer, Michelle Obama, who along with her Millennial Generation daughters and a few friends attended a concert in New Jersey over the weekend, that featured one of Pop culture’s most recognizable stars, Beyoncé Knowles, she of Generation X or Millennial, dependent upon which date of reference is used. According to sources, Beyoncé was at her energetic best, thrilling the crowd with a half a dozen of her chart-topping songs, pleasing all in attendance, including the Obamas’ and their concert attending friends. There was the usual banter from Gossip Columnists, the wardrobe styling of Mrs. Obama and that of Malia and Sasha, their reactions to the Queen of Booty-licious (a term that suggest that three generations have come to accept) as well as reported mimicking of some of Beyoncé’ famous moves by members of the First Family. In the heated political climate of a seemly divided populace, the First Lady has been a breath of fresh air and when she was asked in a recent interview with People Magazine, if she had the opportunity to switch places with any celebrity or famous figure in the world, Mrs. Obama responded rather emphatically that person would be Beyoncé, who in her own right, is no shrinking violet. Beyond the gold mine of publicity that the New Jersey Concert provided for the insatiable fans of both women, maybe the most remarkable occurrence of their presence in the same facility, is the adulation that both women seems to have for one another, despite their differences in ages and their designation and places in two esteemed generations, a story about when the Baby Boomer First Lady meets one of Generation X’s most beloved stars. The term Baby Boomer is in reference to children born in America between the years of 1946 and 1964. The parents of these children had endured economic upheaval, (The Great Depression) and they stood up to evil, winning a war against Fascism, Totalitarianism and Nazism. From the dark shadows of world events, they began families and produced children in record numbers, the last of those children were born in 1964, the year of Michelle Obama’s birth. Beyoncé Knowles Carter was born in 1981 and those in the business of designating names and dates for generational offspring’s are not in total agreement, some place the beginning of Generation X as the mid 1960’s and ending in the year 1981, the same that Beyoncé was born. If that time line is used, it is a curious historical oddity that both Mrs. Obama and Beyoncé were born in the last year of their generational designations, a period that is separated by seventeen years, seventeen years that the First Lady witnessed a dramatic change in America, identified by radical shifts in political perspectives, social mobility and a new emphasis on how this country began to deal with its egregious history on the subject of race. From the Southside of Chicago and reared in a middle class environment, Mrs. Obama was able to succeed, despite the color of her skin and by the time that Beyoncé was born, parents of the Baby Boom generation were engaged in parenting that was different than that of the previous generation, imposing on their children an understanding that race and social status were no longer a hindrance to achievement, something that the Knowles of Houston Texas instilled in Beyoncé and the rest of their children, planting the seeds of Beyoncé remarkable rise to stardom. There are many nay sayers and doom peddlers in America, those persons are without a vision and they are also either by choice or blinded by a distorted perspective, unaware that this country is ever evolving and that a return to the past is a hopeless desire, one that is not rational, nor based in reality, because the one thing that is constant in life is change. Change was represented at the New Jersey concert. A new personification of America where the nation’s First Lady and her daughters could gather with ordinary citizens and for a couple of hours marvel at the supreme talent of a Pop Superstar and for a brief moment in time, the divisive issues of the day were set aside, allowing all in attendance to witness as Langston Hughes wrote, “Let America be America.” The Gossip Columnists will continue to have their say and political ideologies will continue to divide us, but the one thing that all of us that truly love America will always love America and in the words of Beyoncé taken from the lyrics of her song entitled Sweet Dreams. You can be a sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare Either way I don't wanna wake up from you (Turn the lights on) Either way I don't wanna wake up from you! If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Bryan Jones
Digital Publisher, Umoja Publishing Grambling State University class of 1979 Member Since April 2012 |
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