Beyonce drops new song Black Parade after launching initiative in support of Black-owned businesses
Beyonce drops surprise new song Black Parade hours after launching initiative of the same name in support of Black-owned small businesses
- Beyonce on Friday unveiled a new social initiative and song titled ‘Black Parade’ to commemorate Juneteenth
- The initiative was created to support small Black-owned businesses
- The official website listed businesses under categories like ‘Lifestyle’ and ‘Services and Wellness & Health’
- Beyonce also released a song titled ‘Black Parade’ the celebrated black lives and the black community
- All proceeds earned from the song will go towards supporting small Black-owned businesses
By Kevin Kayhart For Dailymail.com
Published: 01:04 EDT, 20 June 2020 | Updated: 17:19 EDT, 20 June 2020
Beyonce commemorated Juneteenth by unveiling a new initiative to uplift Black-owned small businesses and with the release of a new song called Black Parade.
Millions Americans on Friday gathered in public streets and virtually to celebrate the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, a holiday that recognizes the end of enslaving African-Americans in the US.
Amid demonstrations in cities from Washington D.C. to Oakland, California, Beyonce announced that she spearheaded a new initiative called ‘Black Parade’ to support small Black-owned businesses.
‘Being Black is your activism. Black excellence is a form of protest. Black joy is your right,’ read a statement on the singer’s website.
Scroll down to hear new song Black Parade
Beyonce (pictured) dropped a surprise new song titled and initiative called Black Parade to celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the emancipation of African-American slaves in the US
The Black Parade Route on Beyonce’s website lists Black-owned businesses in categories such as: Art & Design, Beauty, Fashion, Home & Living, Lifestyle, Restaurants & Bars, Services and Wellness & Health
The website includes a lengthy list of Black businesses people can buy from that are listed in categories such as: Art & Design, Beauty, Fashion, Home & Living, Lifestyle, Restaurants & Bars, Services and Wellness & Health.
According to the website, Black Parade ‘benefits BeyGOOD’s Black Business Impact Fund, administered by the National Urban League, to support Black-owned small businesses in need.’
Beyonce, 38, made the news public when she posted on Instagram to share some words of wisdom about the project and the Juneteenth holiday.
‘Being Black is your activism. Black excellence is a form of protest. Black joy is your right,’ the singer wrote in the tagline of the Black Parade page
Beyonce, 38, promoted her the newly launched Black Parade Route section of her website in a show of support for Black-owned businesses
‘Happy Juneteenth Weekend! I hope we continue to share joy and celebrate each other, even in the midst of struggle. Please continue to remember our beauty, strength and power,’ the Texas native wrote in the caption.
Beyonce went on to write that the BLACK PARADE project celebrates ‘you, your voice and your joy and will benefit Black-owned small businesses.’
Hours after announcing the new Black Parade initiative, Beyonce dropped her new tune of the same name.
The mid-tempo song starts off subtly but quickly turns into a beat-heavy thumper.
‘I’m going back to the South / I’m going back, back, back / Where my roots ain’t watered down’ she croons with emotion in the opening verse.
This is Beyonce’s first new solo work since she lent her voice to The Lion King companion album, The Gift, in 2019.
This past April, Beyonce was featured on the remix of Megan Thee Stallion’s song, Savage, marking her first material of music for the year.
It was a bonafide hit when it peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Juneteenth — also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day and Emancipation Day — is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States.
Proceeds from the song will go towards supporting small Black-owned businesses.
It originated in Beyonce’s home state of Texas but is now celebrated annually on the 19th of June throughout the US, with varying official recognition.
Beyonce’s new song, Black Parade, is her first new solo work since she lent her voice to The Lion King companion album, The Gift, in 2019
Other celebrities, politicians and businesses alike have acknowledged Juneteenth in a way that it hasn’t been before.
Major companies like Nike, Google, and the National Football League have all declared Juneteenth an employee holiday.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey revealed that Juneteenth would officially become a corporate holiday for employees going forward. So have Netlfix, Lyft and Ben & Jerry’s.
Around the country, people celebrated Juneteenth in a plethora of ways, including demonstrators participated in marches, performative dances, community reflections and other events.
In New York City, thousands of residents flooded local parks, streets and plazas across all five boroughs.
Millions of Americans took to the streets to hod anti-racism protests and peaceful demonstrations on Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates the liberation of enslaved African-Americans in the US on June 19, 1865 (pictured)
(left to right) independent dancers Fana Tesfagiorgis of New York, Danial Moore of Suitland, Md., Chawnta Marie of Los Angeles, and Krystal Butler of Washington, pose for a performance with of hundreds of signs put up along the front of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building on H Street and 16th Street Northwest renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House in Washington
A man wearing a ‘Black solidarity’ shirt carries a young child as they march near Central Park as part of a Juneteenth celebration march in New York City
Photos from Central Park showed dozens of demonstrators raising their fists as they marched through the city.
In Brooklyn, a group of dancers in face masks performed in front of hundreds of Black Lives Matter signs in protest.
One man at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn dressed as a prison inmate with shackles near a makeshift stand reading ‘Police Reform.’
In Harlem, organizers prepare for a Juneteenth march on Saturday that is expected to see an unprecedented number of attendees.
