We are the visuals, baby

Dear audience members at Friday’s 7 p.m. showing of Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé at AMC Stonybrook in Louisville,

We started vibing as soon as the drum beat dropped at the beginning of “Dangerously in Love.” We bobbed our heads to the slow grooves of her opening set. A few folks lifted their hands to wave Beyoncé on as she used her grown-woman voice to add runs and riffs to some of her early-career ballads. We audibly gasped and “mmhmmed” when the movie transitioned to Beyoncé discussing how the tour came together (four years to create the Renaissance tour??). 

Honestly, we were just warming up.

By the time Beyoncé got to “Cozy,” we began to mimic as much of the choreography as we could from our seats. A couple folks abandoned any pretense of following movie theater norms, popped out of their seats and danced like everyone was watching. We clacked our two-foot wide fans as applause. I could hear our voices layered beneath Beyoncé’s, singing the words to songs that have given us joy and strength since the album’s release in summer 2022.

We had church tonight.

I’ve only felt like this once before — when I got to see Beyoncé during the Renaissance tour’s stop at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville. I stood shoulder to shoulder with some of my best friends, just a few feet from strangers, my face covered in sweat and tears, as I felt myself and everyone around me just let ourselves go. Even if it was only temporary, we were free of our stress and trauma, spending a humid summer night wrapped in communal joy.

Beyoncé is not god. Rather, her artistry lets us find the god in ourselves. 

Being Black in America means living in a dimension of contradictions. We’re the focal point everyone wants to ignore, the subject of a conversation we’re not invited to participate in, the architects of a culture that ignores our contributions. And the attitude doesn’t get much better for other marginalized communities and identities. It is exhausting when our existence is an act of resistance. 

But tonight, in that theater, Beyoncé reminded us of something important: We don’t just have to survive the struggle, we can use it as motivation to thrive. Renaissance, in its tribute to Black queer culture, encourages us to embrace the pieces of ourselves that the rest of the world maligns. Even in our pain, there is joy. There is community. There is love for ourselves and one another.

Just look at how we showed up and showed out tonight. Our adoption of the African-American proverb “if you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready” was on full display. We got to spend three hours celebrating the artist who celebrates us. I spotted flashes of sequin and rhinestones throughout the evening. Our timing for the fan clacks at the end of “Heated” was immaculate. When Beyoncé sang, “Look around, everybody on mute,” the theater was silent (save for a few giggles when Cardi B popped up on the screen that drew some serious side eye from the woman sitting next to me who yelled, “Y’all better not say nothing” before the iconic lyric). I’m so proud of us.

Baby, we are the visuals,

Ashleé

Stray observations

• Beyoncé performing a cover of “Before I Let Go” while she and the audience did the Electric Slide is Black culture.

• Where is Blue Ivy’s credit as creative director? Because our play niece kept her mother from making a HUGE mistake and cutting “Diva” from the setlist all while she was doing her homework. ICONIC.

• I think the two people in the row in front of me were just casual Beyoncé fans. Or maybe they weren’t used to being a minority in a room full of joyful Black folks. Either way, their necks got pretty stiff when we started wooting and clapping. 

• Beyoncé in a cowboy hat is peak Beyoncé.

• Could Beyoncé have directed The Wolf of Wall Street? Perhaps. But could Scorsese have directed Renaissance? I THINK NOT.

• Friendly reminder: When Beyoncé said “You are the visuals, baby,” she was in Louisville.

• [stares off in the distance] Y’all, we’re just in act one. [chuckles fondly]