Solange just wanted to dance.
Solange, her husband, Alan Ferguson, her 11-year-old son Julez, and his friend attended an electronica concert at the Orpheus Theater in New Orleans over the weekend. Their group was “4 of about 20 black concert goers out of 1500 here. 4 out of maaaybbe 20 out of 1500,” Knowles tweeted.
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When German electronic and pop music band Kraftwerk performed her favorite song, “Machine,” Solange was excited to dance.
We walk in, and one of my favorite songs, Machine, is on. I’m excited to tell my son about how hip hop sampled Kraftwerk. We are dancing.
— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) September 10, 2016
A group of white women–who clearly didn’t know they were at an electronic DANCE music concert–yelled at Solange and her son, ordering them to sit down.
4 older white women yell to me from behind, “Sit down now” . I tell them I’m dancing at a concert. They yell, “u need to sit down now”…
— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) September 10, 2016
We are at an ELECTRONIC and DANCE music concert and you are telling…not asking me…to sit down. In front of my child.
— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) September 10, 2016
The women then threw a lime at Solange’s back.
When she took to Twitter to explain “why black girls / women are so angry….” and “why many of us don’t feel safe…in many white spaces…,” she was met with backlash from bitter trolls who accused her of being racist. Solange immediately fired back.
Peeps try to give POC, a “u can only speak out racism 3 strikes…or U r the problem” card.
Some can kind of trust u the first 3 times…
— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) September 10, 2016
But surely after that, YOU are the problem.
??? Surprise guys! ??
It happens to us ALL summer 16 ?? ??
— solange knowles (@solangeknowles) September 10, 2016
Then, she headed to the ‘gram, sharing a pic of Nina Simone. “Black music, films, shows at an all time high. It’s profitable to be Black and share your Black stories to entertain, but not profitable to talk about your Black experience.”
Black people are being persecuted for standing up, sitting down, wearing their hair naturally, laughing, and just plain being–can’t we have a good time anywhere?
In a personal essay on her website, Solange explains what it’s like to be a black woman in America.
“You and your friends have been called the N word, been approached as prostitutes, and have had your hair touched in a predominately white bar just around the corner from the same venue,” she wrote. “…And yes, having white people constantly call you the n word, or say you and your people are degenerates that need to leave America, or zoo like animals, surely does not help you feel more comfortable in predominately white spaces,” Solange continued. “You have lived a part of your life in predominately white spaces since you were a kid and even had your 3rd grade teacher tell you “what a nigger is” in front of your entire white class. You watched your parents trying to explain why this was wrong to her and learned then it can be virtuously impossible to get your point across. “
Solange got her point across to the people for whom it matters most.
Whether you choose to sit or to dance, stand strong.
