In honor of Juneteenth, the traditional Black American celebration of the day word of the Emancipation of slaves reached Galveston, Texas — two years after the Emancipation Declaration went into effect — Beyonce has released “Black Parade,” a new single celebrating Black and African diaspora culture and history. The song accompanies Beyonce’s Black Parade Route initiative, which highlights Black-owned small businesses in categories like Art & Design,” “Beauty,” “Fashion,” “Lifestyle,” and “Restaurants & Bars.”
Beyonce announced the new initiative with a post on Instagram, sharing a snippet of the song and writing, “Happy Juneteenth Weekend! I hope we continue to share joy and celebrate each other, even in the midst of struggle. Please continue to remember our beauty, strength and power.”
The new song does just that, shouting out the ancestors and utilizing an African tribal rhythm to back lyrics that pay homage to the Motherland and the resilience of her people. “Melanin, melanin, my drip is skin deep,” Beyonce boasts, “Skin Black, maybe that’s the reason why they always mad.”
“Black Parade” follows Beyonce’s appearance in YouTube’s Dear Class Of 2020 livestream, delivering a commencement speech to the year’s graduating class imploring them to “continue to be the voice for the voiceless.” Beyonce also embraced activism this month, writing an open letter to Kentucky’s Attorney General admonishing him to take action in the case of Breonna Taylor’s death. Taylor was shot eight times by police officers who broke into her apartment with a “no-knock” warrant suspecting drug activity. No drugs were found in the apartment.
Listen To Beyonce’s “Black Parade” above.
Here are your quick and dirty, editorial-free WWE Friday Night Smackdown results for June 19, 2020. This week’s show featured Matt Riddle’s debut match against AJ Styles, the return of Bray Wyatt, and more.
WWE Friday Night Smackdown Results:
— Smackdown opened with AJ Styles celebrating his Intercontinental championship victory from last week with wrestlers surrounding the ring. Styles called Daniel Bryan into the ring to put the belt around his waist and to congratulate him. Bryan tried to set up championship matches with some of the wrestlers around the ring, but Styles shut him down and said they’d have to earn it. Matt Riddle’s music hit and he came down to confront Styles, saying he’ll be the bro that runs the show. Styles attacked him, and Riddle laid him out.
1. Matt Riddle defeated AJ Styles. After the break, the announcer began to announce an Intercontinental championship match, but Styles grabbed the mic and said it wouldn’t be for the title. Riddle caught Styles off the ropes when he tried to hit the Phenomenal Forearm and landed the Bro Gerrick for the pinfall.
— A recap of Jeff Hardy’s last few weeks against Sheamus played. He talked about substance abuse and struggling during his feud with Sheamus.
2. Shorty G defeated Mojo Rawley. Shorty G pinned Rawley with a rollup.
— The Miz and John Morrison hosted MizTV with Mandy Rose. Miz and Morrison brought out Sonya Deville to confront Rose. Deville said Rose gets opportunities because of her looks and she’s going to make her outside look as ugly as her insides. Deville and Rose brawled, and when Deville left the ring, Miz stopped Rose from leaving the ring. Rose slapped Miz.
3. The New Day defeated Lucha House Party. Big E and Kofi Kingston landed the Big Ending/Diving DDT finisher on Lince Dorado for the pinfall. After the match, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura attacked the New Day and laid them out in the ring.
— Sheamus announced next week he’ll toast Jeff Hardy.
— Nikki Cross attacked Sasha Banks and Bayley. Cross demanded a match against Banks, but Banks said no. Bayley accepted on Banks’ behalf.
4. Sasha Banks defeated Nikki Cross. Banks defeated Cross with a Meteora into a pinfall.
— WWE recapped that Titus O’Neil has been named a finalist for the ESPN Muhammad Ali award.
— Bray Wyatt hosted a new episode of the Firefly Fun House. Braun Strowman interrupted the segment and made his way down to the ring. Wyatt said he’s resurrecting the dead and their story is just getting started. Wyatt turned into his old character and said he created Strowman and it’s his duty to destroy him. Wyatt told Strowman to follow the buzzards.
