Get in Formation: Scenes From the ‘Anti-Beyoncé Protest’ That Wasn’t

by Emily Tan

February 16, 2016

Emily Tan

With massive press coverage of a rally protesting Beyoncé’s halftime performance at Super Bowl 50, New Yorkers braced themselves for herds of anti-Bey protesters to gather at the NFL headquarters on Park Avenue.

But the hype was just that — hype.

Wearing blue in solidarity with the NYPD, four individuals showed up to the rally location only to find none of the Proud of the Blues supporters. Instead, a crowd of pro-Beyoncé Black Lives Matter activists were ready to represent their cause — and start a dialogue with the opposing side about why they were against Beyoncé in the first place.

The anti-Beyoncé protesters held their ground, despite their paltry numbers.

“I think it’s sparking an outrage,” said April Bedunah, a 25-year-old college student. While she’s a Beyoncé fan, Bedunah didn’t appreciate the singer’s Black Panther-inspired attire during the Super Bowl. “We’re spending so much time focused on this when there’s other matters to worry about,” she said. “We’re all people. We’re all Americans. If your birth certificate says you were born in America, you should act like it.”

Ariel Kohane, a volunteer for the Ted Cruz campaign, came to support the police. He also believed that Beyoncé’s performance was not appropriate for the Super Bowl. “I think it was awful,” he said. “I think it was terrible. I don’t think it even belonged at the Super Bowl. It has nothing to do with football at all. It’s not the way to bridge the gaps between police officers and civilians, whites and blacks, and people of all races and nationalities.”

Although no other anti-Beyoncé ralliers showed up after 10 a.m., Kohane stood in the rain without an umbrella and talked about his views with anyone who would listen.

While those against Beyoncé see this is as a loss, Tajh Sutton, 27, looks at today’s rally (or lack there of) as a victory for the black community.

“The proof is in the pudding,” said Sutton, founder of Brooklyn’s Young People of Color, Inc. “We are here, and they are not. So I consider this a win. It was great to just come out in solidarity and be reminded that we can come together, and we can take a stand on things we don’t agree with are happening.”

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Emily Tan

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Pro Beyoncé and Black Lives Matter activists gathered at the NFL headquarters in midtown Manhattan on February 16, 2016.

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Emily Tan

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Ariel Kohan, 44, came to support the NYPD and protest against Beyoncé on February 16, 2016.

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Emily Tan

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Pro Beyoncé and Black Lives Matter activists gathered at the NFL headquarters in midtown Manhattan on February 16, 2016.

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Emily Tan

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"When black women stand up for themselves and for black issues, they are easily shouted down, criticized and threatened with opportunities to their livelihood. And black communities have been asking celebrities to raise their voices politically for quite some time. Many of them have. Many of them have not. And Beyoncé made a very powerful statement. So it should come to no surprise that people would come out here today to support her," Jamilah Lemieux (left), senior editor for Ebony magazine, said.

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Emily Tan

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Pro Beyoncé and Black Lives Matter activists gathered at the NFL headquarters in midtown Manhattan on February 16, 2016.

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Emily Tan

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Pro Beyoncé and Black Lives Matter activists gathered at the NFL headquarters in midtown Manhattan on February 16, 2016.

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Emily Tan

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"I think the push back to Beyoncé is very telling of the discomfort that we have as a society when it comes anti-blackness and tackling race in modern society and pretending that it's this thing of the past that we don't have to address anymore. I think it's very telling that a grand total of four people for the Beyoncé protest showed up because I feel like, more than anything, they couldn't deal with the discomfort they felt when they saw the performance and when they heard the song. That it wasn't for them, and that she was being unapologetically black and proud of her heritage and features. But that's a personal issue. I think they got over their hissy fit and are onto the next thing that they're going to scream about on social media." Tajh Sutton (left) , 27, founder of Young People of Color, Inc.