The sonic power of Beyoncé’s “Freedom” has done the work in freeing our minds to imagine women’s leadership on the world stage.
Given how ubiquitous Beyoncé’s “Freedom” has become—now that it is the theme song for Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign—perhaps it was inevitable that rumors circulated about the pop star’s surprise appearance and performance the final night of the Democratic National Convention when Harris delivered her acceptance speech for the nomination. Sadly, the rumors did not come to fruition.
In hindsight, it now makes sense not to have Beyoncé in person, considering the power of her star wattage to outshine the keynote speaker. However, the sonic excitement she generates through her song was enough to frame the historic moment of Harris becoming the first woman of color to be nominated by a major political party for the presidency. Should Harris win, the pop star will have many opportunities to perform for our first woman president.
Capping off a week of inspiring speakers—from former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton reminding us of the work required to smash the patriarchal glass ceiling of the presidency, to the Obamas providing the “anger translation” needed to smoke out her political opponent, to the heartfelt speeches of Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff, stepchildren, nieces and sister Maya Harris, to the folksy and gusty progressive talk of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and the emotional response by his son Gus, to Oprah Winfrey giving one of her famous pep talks in support of her candidacy—Harris rode an energetic wave of Democratic unity and excitement to make the case for her readiness to be the 47th (and first woman of any color) president of these United States.
It certainly helps to have the so-called voice of God that is Morgan Freeman narrating her life story, as he did during the final night of the convention. But the sonic power of Beyoncé’s “Freedom” has done the work in freeing our minds to imagine women’s leadership on the world stage.
Progressives will debate the success of her acceptance speech, especially after Election Day (is it progressive enough in its proposal for an “opportunity economy,” or too hawkish in its foreign policy plans for the border and the Middle East crisis?), but few will debate if we are ready for a woman of color to take the lead. We owe so much of that readiness to the social movements that paved the way for this moment—along with popular culture and its routine depictions of women unapologetically leading, asserting, driving economies, controlling their bodies and choosing their own paths in careers and families (or “childless cat lady” singlehood). Beyoncé is part of that powerful representation.
As the author of Ms.’ cover story, “Beyoncé’s Fierce Feminism” (2013), I examined the pop star’s career trajectory in forging a public feminist identity. While the cover itself generated debates among feminists, Beyoncé shut down all questions about her feminism when she not only sampled Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “We Should All Be Feminists” TED Talk on her groundbreaking self-titled album, but boldly stood before a neon-lit “FEMINIST” sign during a live performance before accepting MTV’s Video Music Vanguard Award in 2014. These actions only increased our feminist debates, but Beyoncé’s politics continued to intersect feminism with the racial justice of Black Lives Matter, which came to a head on her magnum opus visual album Lemonade.
A project that weaves in the personal issues of responding to a marital partner’s infidelity with the political concerns of racial injustice and intergenerational oppression, the song “Freedom,” featuring a rap bridge performed by Kendrick Lamar, appeared at a pivotal moment. Indeed, it functions as the climax in Lemonade and strategically pivots from the interpersonal reconciliation of Beyoncé’s marriage to the political concerns of the wider community.
The segment is called “Hope,” coming right after a segment on “Resurrection,” both a death and rebirth theme, intertwining the daughters of the future with the ancestors of the past and including pictorial mementos of those whose lives have been lost. “Hope” marks the transition from ancestors to the magic of a newborn baby, ushered into this material plane by the first notes of Beyoncé’s literal freedom song.
The song interpolates the psychedelic sounds of 1960s folk group Kaleidoscope with the traditional African American blues and work songs gathered by ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. It thus sonically harkens back to a past of protest, segregation and Black working-class struggle while simultaneously fusing contemporary hip-hop soul.
During this segment in the visual album, Beyoncé and the women and girls beside her, bedecked in millennial-style pastiche of antebellum-era costuming, blur the time lines between past, present and future. She subversively reclaims the spaces once marked for Black women’s oppression, such as the plantation home, the slave cabins and trees once used for lynching. As LaKisha Michelle Simmons so aptly put it: “In Lemonade, young women reenact this enslaved community while also creating their own radical, futuristic community.”
Through this communal gathering, Beyoncé stands on a makeshift stage on the plantation grounds and asserts the verses of the song, first sung in a cappella: “Tryna rain, tryna rain on the thunder / tell the storm I’m new.”
As she and the other women make space for her transformative performance, this moment in Lemonade signals how the pop star is affirmed and lifted up by a collective sisterhood—one that parallels the mobilization efforts of Win With Black Women, who started galvanizing support for Kamala Harris in the hours after President Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed his vice president in his place.
It is this same a cappella rendition that opens on Harris’ updated campaign ad, debuting at the Democratic National Convention. This time, the notes provide the soundtrack to a montage of “Americana” imagery: wild horses, working men and women, families of joy and struggle, the moon landing, green energy, an HBCU drum line and different communities of care.
Different imagery but very similar context: I (pop star/presidential candidate) will mount the public stage and serve as your representative—because my freedom song is your freedom song.
No wonder, then, that Harris’ campaign insists on forward movement. This freedom story of the nation and the world is far from over.
Beyoncé’s “Freedom” had already found political life outside of Lemonade, demonstrated in her wildly successful Formation World Tour, powerful live performance at the 2016 BET Awards Show (which featured a sample of a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., as she, Kendrick Lamar and background dancers splashed around in baptismal waters) and opening interpolation with “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the Black National Anthem, at her headlining Coachella concert, which was the subject of her Netflix documentary Homecoming (2019).
Now, it has found new life articulating a “Freedom” agenda for presidential nominee Harris that echoes the “Four Freedoms” of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Great Depression Era.
This time, the freedoms concern “freedom from” instead of “freedom of”: freedom from control over our bodies, freedom from gun violence, freedom from extremism. This too is indicative of a Black woman’s experience: From Harriet Tubman seeking freedom from slavery, to Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer seeking freedom from Jim Crow racism and misogynoir, our articulated freedoms begin with freedom from oppressions. No wonder, then, that Harris’ campaign insists on forward movement. This freedom story of the nation and the world is far from over.
The presidential race is just beginning for Vice President Harris, and we still must wait and see if the alignment between pop stardom and the presidency is a winning strategy. However, this alignment has already energized the voter base.
Moreover, given the debates about aligning with the right celebrities—occurring when some conservatives who ascribe to respectability politics objected to the “ratchet feminism” of Megan Thee Stallion’s performance at a July 30 Harris rally in Atlanta—Beyoncé’s status as feminist, wife and mother fits the parameters of respectability, while also showing that she can be as sexy and as cool as the rest of the pop stars.
Of course, Harris is already creating a coalition of different progressives that makes room for the Megs and the Beyoncés, especially around reproductive freedoms. As the presidential nominee, Harris now casts herself as a protector: from perpetrators and for democracy. As she insisted in her acceptance speech, “We trust women.”
That trust has never been a given in a society that continues to distrust a woman’s ability to make her own choices, let alone as a leader of the free world. Yet, here we are, with women like Harris, like Beyoncé, like our Olympic athletes, like our public officials, showing how they have earned our trust. And we definitely trust them to deliver and win.
It’s this possibility of leadership that is quite on brand with Beyoncé’s “Freedom.” We will be inspired, we will hold our leaders accountable as they hold us, and we will vote accordingly.
Up next:
U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms. has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you. For as little as $5 each month, you’ll receive the print magazine along with our e-newsletters, action alerts, and invitations to Ms. Studios events and podcasts. We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity.
