The Letter I Should Have Written to Beyoncé a Long Time Ago

Hey queen. I’ve actually been wanting to write this for a while now, but I just couldn’t find the right words. No matter how hard I tried to gather my feelings and string sentences together, nothing seemed to properly convey what I wanted to say, and so many others seemed to be expressing it better than I could. But I’m ready now.

I’m not sure if it was your epic maternity shoot or Grammys loss that finally inspired me, but I’m ready to tell you how proud I am of you for fighting the good fight and using your platform to raise up those of us who are continually made to feel as if we are “less than.” To say that you make me feel proud to be a black woman is an understatement. You create music that empowers me and art that emboldens me. Your dedication to making sure I see myself represented in the world pushes me to demand the same of my employers, my media, and my surroundings. Lemonade was the best album of the year, hands down. And I know you know that. I don’t even believe you needed a Grammy to validate your work, which is why you managed to stay so composed and graceful while Adele accepted the award and praised the sh*t out of you during her speech. Though it was hard not to take your loss personally, your poise in the face of adversity was another boss move in your history of boss moves, yet another thing to add to the running list in my head titled “What Would Beyoncé Do?”.