How Beyoncé's Halloween Choices Highlight Iconic Black Women
Everyday, fans wait anxiously to see whether or not Beyoncé will bless them with an Instagram post or website update, but there tends to be a particularly heighted frenzy around Halloween time.
While she rarely posts on the actual holiday, maybe as the trick, Beyoncé has treated the public to photos of herself posing as iconic black women in history over the past few years - sharing the visuals on both her personal website and her carefully curated Instagram.
Sometimes shot on elaborate sets and always replicated perfectly down to the finest of details, these Halloween pictures serve as a way for one of the most influential women in the world to re-introduce black women who may not be as well known by the current generation to potential new fans.
In 2017, as a part of her “It Ain’t Over Till Yonce” spread, Queen Bey shared multiple pictures of herself as Lil’ Kim, one of the most groundbreaking female rappers who came to huge fame in the 1990s. Raunchy and real, Lil’ Kim paved a way for black women to completely own and express their sexuality and sexual appeal without fear of judgement or criticism. In recent years, Kim had somewhat faded from the mainstream, but when Beyoncé dressed as her and proclaimed on her website that, “Hip Hop would not be the same without our original Queen B” Lil’ Kim was shot back into the spotlight with more people speaking her name and buying her music at that moment than previous years had seen. This happened to happen, perhaps by coincidence but probably planned, around the same time Lil’ Kim released a new come back single and the numbers show that the timing could not have been more perfect.
Similarly, when Beyoncé posed as living legend Toni Braxton in 2018, the 90s singer saw a large growth in streaming numbers and mentions on social media. Not only did Beyoncé pay homage to one of the soulful singers who inspired her own artisity, but she was able to give tangible and beneficial thanks for the inspiration in the form of introducing Braxton to a new fanbase, inciting revenue increases, and reminding people of Braxton’s talent and string of hits with her “Phoni Braxton” photo shoot.
Reaching back in time even more, Beyoncé has also emulated via Halloween costume various black 1980s icons: first as the pioneering and powerful songstress Janet Jackson in 2014, then as the uniquely stylish actress Lisa Bonet in 2018, and also as the historic Olympian and fastest woman of all time, Flo Jo, in the same year.
More than just playing dress up, Beyoncé uses her immense platform to educate her fans, many of them young, on some of the incredible black women who came before her, who inspired her, and who deserve the credit for their contributions that the world tends to not give black women.
It’s still unknown who Beyoncé will decide to give honor and tribute to this Halloween, but whoever she chooses will more than likely be another black woman well deserving of the worldwide recognition she will soon be receiving thanks to the power of Queen Bey.