Lemonade, Black Womanhood, & Self-Love (A digital roundtable)

Hosts Pamela Santos and Tessara Dudley invited fierce Black artists & writers from diverse gender identities to talk about Beyonce's film and visual album Lemonade and the "thinkpiece" explosion that surrounded the release.

Tune in at 6pm to hear this discussion of Lemonade through the critical lens of intersectional feminism and womanism. We'll explore themes related to Black womanhood, bell hooks and other responses, Warsan Shire's poetry, expectations of femmes and women, self-love, cultural references that are specific to the Black experience and what can be universal and #BlackGirlMagic.

Is every critique valuable? Can white writers adequately cover a work of art so specific to the experiences of women of African descent? Does Beyonce run the risk of straying into "marketplace feminism" territory? Can we critique the capitalistic element of Lemonade without straying into femmephobia and/or slut-shaming? How can we look at this art without derailing into conversations of celebrity gossip?

The show will feature live and pre-recorded segments with:
Intisar Abioto, Jene Etheridge, Margaret Jacobsen, Kiki Nicole, & more.

Further reading and source material to be referenced:

• Candace Marie Benbow's Lemonade Syllabus: http://candicebenbow.com/lemonadesyllabus
• Olivia Pace's essay on the Holy Trinity of Beyonce, Nicki Minaj & Rihanna: http://muhonlyregret.tumblr.com/post/140823907770/the-holy-trinity
• http://feministing.com/2016/05/11/a-feminist-roundtable-on-bell-hooks-beyonce-and-moving-beyond-pain
• "What Beyonce's Lemonade Means To Me As A Black Woman" by Margaret Jacobsen: https://www.romper.com/p/what-beyonces-lemonade-means-to-me-as-a-black-woman-9448
• Melissa Lowery & Intisar Abioto talk about Lemonade: http://www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2016/5/12/two-portland-artists-weigh-in-on-beyonces-lemonade