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If you were ever wondering what it’s like to be a Black woman, a Black woman in America, a Black woman scorned, a Black woman disrespected by society, a Black woman being discriminated against, a Black woman in grief, just watch Beyonce’s Lemonade so you can get the sweet and sour taste of what it’s like to be a Black woman.

She serves a video of 11 emotions: intuition, denial, anger, empathy, emptiness, accountability, reformation, forgiveness, resurrection, hope, and redemption; what appears to be the process of the resentment towards her beloved Jay Z, all the while exploring the exploits, genres, and events that have affected Black woman in society.

Yes. Do not psych yourself up to think that this album is solely about infidelity, heartbreak, and a cheating husband.

This album is so much deeper than that. As a Black woman, seeing Lemonade and listening to the lyrics brought tears to my eyes. I felt joy, inclusion, and release for all women of color.

Laced with symbolic and metaphoric imagery, Beyonce evokes nostalgia, tears, and any kind of emotion that you may have or may have never felt. She gives you a piece of your Black grandmothers, aunties, cousins, sisters and mothers, through centuries of turmoil to current events that ultimately showcase how she has coped with these experiences to find her inner peace.

The reality is that not all women get over the trials and tribulations of life. While some Black women’s pain may be infidelity or daddy issues that Beyonce alludes to in the production of Lemonade, some Black women are left living in grief over the lemons life has dealt them.

Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, and Lezley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown, all show pictures of their sons who lost their lives to police brutality and the social injustice that continues to plague Black communities across the world.

Lemonade is like watching one women expose the truths of all Black women unmasked, no cover, literally raw and uncut. Beyonce takes all the elements of a Black woman’s experience, and serves it up chilled.

Fans and critics are left to gulp down the juice, ice cubes and all, as if they were sipping the spirits and emotions of all Black women. She does it so aesthetically captivating that one cannot help but be liberated by her art.

For this, I have a newfound respect for Beyonce. As a womanist, I feel Beyonce has just solidified herself as the female artist and voice that we need in our generation. She not only establishes herself as a role model, not just for women, Black women and girl bosses alike, but she is telling her Black fans and followers that she is no different from them – despite her celebrity status.

Ashley Wright is a relationship and style writer from Wilmington, Delaware. You can follow her on Twitter @gonetrippy016

PHOTO CREDIT: Getty