ABSTRACT
In the final section introduction, Daphne Brooks unravels the ways in which Beyoncé’s magnum opus is a contemporary reflection of black America’s social consciousness. She highlights the movement of the singer and her sisters toward politically relevant choices in their artistry and the enduring legacy it is already having in the few years since its release. Brooks engages in theoretical applications of social death and blackness to argue how Lemonade bears witness to black mourning, but rejects the notion of Afro-pessimism outright in its recovery of joy and healing. This frames a final summary of the chapters within the section that focus on the ways in which Lemonade and the Beyoncé machine are etched in the popular mind for eternity.
