Beyoncé’s controversial performance at the Super Bowl half-time rubbed police personnel the wrong way, so much so that Miami police has decided to boycott the singer’s upcoming concerts.
In light of this, leader of US-based religious group Nation of Islam, Minister Louis Farrakhan, offered security to the American singer during a sermon on Sunday.
Referring to her as “my sweet sister Beyoncé,” Farrakhan explained that white people don’t know how to deal with Beyoncé talking about “black stuff.”
He criticised white people for expecting sympathy for the Holocaust, but not giving blacks their independence. “Well, you taught us everywhere we went about the Holocaust. But we have sympathy for you. But when one of us shows independence — look at how you treating Beyoncé now.”
Farrakhan offered Beyoncé protection with the security branch of his organisation, ‘Fruit of Islam.’ “You’re not gonna offer her police protection, but the FOI will.”
The leader mentioned rapper Kendrick Lamar as setting a new high standard and claimed, “He freed rappers to come on up.”
“When the rappers are free to say it like it is and say what they feel and teach their people through music and rap and song and dance, the cultural revolution is on,” he said.
The leader added, “We say to the hip-hop community — to our cultural giants — say what you feel. Put it out there! With strength! … How you love your black self and you want to see black people free. We’ll back you up.”
Beyoncé’s new single formation caused police uproar — it is a power anthem for race and feminism. The video for the song features graffiti that reads “stop shooting us,” following a confrontation in the music video of a black boy and a line of cops, suggestive of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The hooded boy dances in front of a line of riot gear-clad officers who later join him in raising their hands — an apparent allusion to Michael Brown, who some initially believed had his hands up to surrender when he was shot dead by a police officer (That version of events was later challenged by federal authorities).
The singer and her backup dancers also wore black berets, which also are being considered a Black Panther reference. Beyoncé is scheduled to play in Miami on April 27, Tampa on April 29 and Nashville on May 5.
