Last Wednesday, Beyoncé released her documentary, Homecoming, which captures two weekends that she headlined at an annual festival, Coachella.
Beyoncé was the first Black woman to headline the festival. Coachella is attended by a predominantly white audience, but her headlining performance journeyed a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) homecoming performance.
In her film, Beyoncé says, “I always dreamed of going to a HBCU.” The title of the film is also a tribute in itself, homecoming, which is a huge tradition at HBCUs.
Beyoncé said, “My college was Destiny’s Child. My college was traveling around the world, and life was my teacher.” Beyoncé’s father was an HBCU graduate and it was ultimately her dream to follow in his footsteps.
The Coachella performance was an eight-month process that ultimately gave her the experience of attending an HBCU. She handpicked each dancer, singer, musician and crew helper.
They all came together for an entire two-hour performance for two weekends in a row. From the marching band to the steppers and dancers, it gave the live audience and Netflix viewer the homecoming experience.
Seeing the flawless performance from every angle would still make you think she didn’t face a single hardship in the process, but she did.
It was her first time returning back to the stage after giving birth to her twins, Rumi and Sir Carter. In order to get her body ready, she followed a strict diet that did not include bread, carbs, sugar, dairy, meat, fish or alcohol.
Beyoncé took her diet just as seriously as the theme of her performance. It was important to Beyoncé to target the major theme of HBCUs homecomings to the entire world.
Seeing Beyoncé return to the stage was a homecoming in itself. The pregnancy of her twins was extremely tough, as she weighed more than 200 pounds. Recovering her body for such a demanding performance was going to be tough, but following the regimen of her diet made her ready for her homecoming back to the stage.
All in all, in my opinion, I was excited and absolutely honored to see her pay tribute to HBCUs. She didn’t just influence but she also transformed the level of culture and diversity in her Coachella performance. I cannot wait to watch her rumored three-part deal with Netflix coming soon.
