“Can you think of any other pop musician who’s invited an array of grassroots activists to participate in these longform multimedia album projects that she’s given us since 2013," asked Brooks. She noted how Beyoncé has also tried to tell a story through her music about “race and gender and sexuality in the context of the 400-year-plus his

Brooks sees Beyoncé in a league of her own, crediting the singer with using her platform to “spectacularly elevate awareness of and engagement with grassroots, social, political ideologies and movements” in her music, including the Black Lives Matter movement and Black feminist commentary. ????????????  

“We’re going to be taking seriously the ways in which the critical work, the intellectual work of some of our greatest thinkers in American culture resonates with Beyoncé's music and thinking about the ways in which we can apply their philosophies to her work" and how it has sometimes been at odds with the “Black radical intellectual traditi

Yale University's African American Studies Professor Daphne Brooks intends to use the performer's wide-ranging repertoire, including footage of her live performances, as a “portal” for students to learn about Black intellectuals, from Frederick Douglass to Toni Morrison. ????? ???????  

Titled “Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition, Culture, Theory & Politics Through Music,” the one-credit class will focus on the period from her 2013 self-titled album through this year's genre-defying “Cowboy Carter” and how the world-famous singer, songwriter and entrepreneur has generated awareness and engagement in soc