Beyoncé Drops New Single 'Black Parade' In Honor Of Juneteenth

The singer also listed Black-owned businesses people can support on her website

Beyoncé decided to commemorate Juneteeth in the best way she knew how: by dropping a new song titled “Black Parade” — and publishing on her website a way to support Black-owned businesses.

This is Beyoncé’s first solo release since “The Lion King: The Gift” which came out last year, and what a song “Black Parade” is. The nearly 5-minute single tackles Black history, police brutality, and the George Floyd protests, as well as Black liberation and empowerment. Queen Bey is providing hope and optimism much needed in today’s world with lyrics like, “We got rhythm, we got pride. We birth kings, we birth tribes / Holy river, holy tongue / Speak the glory, feel the love.”

Beyoncé promoted the release of “Black Parade” on her website, writing in part, “Happy Juneteenth. Being Black is your activism. Black excellence is a form of protest. Black joy is your right. Black Parade benefits BeyGOOD’s Black Business Impact Fund, administered by the National Urban League, to support Black-owned small businesses in need.”

Beyoncé also created an online directory of sorts for people to support Black-owned businesses selling fashion, beauty products, home furnishings, coffee, and much more.

Juneteeth, which celebrates the official end of slavery in the U.S., is being honored with protests, rallies, and gatherings all across America this weekend. Calls to make it a federal holiday are also gaining momentum with many companies announcing that they will now make Juneteeth an annual holiday.

“African Americans were on the front lines of every war, from the Spanish-American War, throughout the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, both world wars, Vietnam,” says Gwen Ragsdale, executive director of the Lest We Forget Slavery Museum in Philadelphia. “We have paid our dues with our blood and our toil, so America owes African Americans much more than they are willing to acknowledge.”

The single also honors George Floyd, who died after a former Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, and the protests that have followed. Beyoncé acknowledges those feelings are still raw but offers hope that the activism and rallies that have happened as a result have the power to provide real, lasting change in our country.

“Black Parade” followed the remix of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage,” which dropped in April to help raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts from the singer, raising $6 million in funds for community-based organizations and a testing campaign in her home town of Houston, Texas.

Beyonce is doing what she always does: supporting causes that are near to her heart and putting her money where her mouth is by giving us a way to support Black-owned businesses.