Beyonce is breaking new ground today, as both the cover subject and creative force behind Vogue’s September issue.
The pictures are wonderful, made by Tyler Mitchell, the first black photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue in 125 years of publication. But her words, as told to writer and resplendent Beyonce explainer Clover Hope, are filled with insights and revelations that will extend far beyond her devoted fan base.
For one, she shares the story of her recent birth trauma and details of the emergency C-section which delivered her twins, Rumi and Sir. Given what we now know about the mortality rates of pregnant women and mothers of color in the U.S., it is impossible not to think how she might have fared if not for the safety net of her hard-earned resources. (Of course, even wealth and fame is no guarantee.)
But she also explains the most fundamental principle of inclusion, which is to make it intentional:
Until there is a mosaic of perspectives coming from different ethnicities behind the lens, we will continue to have a narrow approach and view of what the world actually looks like. That is why I wanted to work with this brilliant 23-year-old photographer Tyler Mitchell.
When I first started, 21 years ago, I was told that it was hard for me to get onto covers of magazines because black people did not sell. Clearly that has been proven a myth. Not only is an African American on the cover of the most important month for Vogue, this is the first ever Vogue cover shot by an African American photographer.
It’s important to me that I help open doors for younger artists. There are so many cultural and societal barriers to entry that I like to do what I can to level the playing field, to present a different point of view for people who may feel like their voices don’t matter…If people in powerful positions continue to hire and cast only people who look like them, sound like them, come from the same neighborhoods they grew up in, they will never have a greater understanding of experiences different from their own. They will hire the same models, curate the same art, cast the same actors over and over again, and we will all lose.
Until there is a mosaic of perspectives coming from different ethnicities behind the lens, we will continue to have a narrow approach and view of what the world actually looks like. That is why I wanted to work with this brilliant 23-year-old photographer Tyler Mitchell.
When I first started, 21 years ago, I was told that it was hard for me to get onto covers of magazines because black people did not sell. Clearly that has been proven a myth. Not only is an African American on the cover of the most important month for Vogue, this is the first ever Vogue cover shot by an African American photographer.
It’s important to me that I help open doors for younger artists. There are so many cultural and societal barriers to entry that I like to do what I can to level the playing field, to present a different point of view for people who may feel like their voices don’t matter…If people in powerful positions continue to hire and cast only people who look like them, sound like them, come from the same neighborhoods they grew up in, they will never have a greater understanding of experiences different from their own. They will hire the same models, curate the same art, cast the same actors over and over again, and we will all lose.
And according to the most recent report from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, we are all currently losing. Of the top 100 films in 2017, only 33 depicted a female lead or co-lead, only 19 had an LGB character and 70.7% of all characters were white.
It is a unique gift to be able to watch as powerful women of color actively bring people to the table in clear and specific ways. Ava DuVernay does it for women directors on the Queen Sugar series, venture capitalist Arlan Hamilton does it for underestimated talent in tech, and it strikes me as vitally important that we can see them work in this way.
The vast majority of opportunities to do this, particularly in corporate life, aren’t visible – although the race beat encourages me to believe that people of all genders and hues are finding ways to use whatever privilege they have to bring other people along every day. Every job opportunity matters, particularly when it is matched with barrier-busting support.
Which is also part of the problem. In a zero-sum game where majority culture people publicly fret about their own erasure, including others can feel like an existential threat. It’s a problem as old as Jim Crow, and partly why the public lessons that Beyonce and others provide are so important. Relax, the world is big enough for everyone. “Everyone has a say. Everyone’s voice counts,” she says. “[A]nd everyone has a chance to paint the world from their own perspective.” Or at least they will if we hand them the brush.