Queen Bey and the Super Bowl

We’ve just about had our fill of uninformed critiques from the peanut gallery about Beyonce’s halftime performance at the Super Bowl last Sunday.

Everyone from former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to journalists and spectators around the world have tweeted, posted and dissected everything about it.

The comments range from the hilarious to the absurd. Mr. Giuliani described her show as an “affront” to police officers. Others called it a “big wet kiss” to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Even others, sounding frightened, called it a “black power” salute, a racially and politically charged genuflection to the Black Panthers and LGBT rights. She was even criticized by people who called the performance “pro-black.”

While everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, we say: So what?

What’s the problem with having a performance that’s “pro-black?”

Being “pro-black” doesn’t mean that you are “anti-white” or anti-anything.

The costumes worn by Beyonce and her dancers may have conjured memories of the Black Panther Party that was started in California’s Bay Area, where Super Bowl 50 was played. But why should that be controversial if people clearly understand the platform and history of what the Black Panthers did?

An invaluable web-based resource, the Black Panther Party Research Project at Stanford University, aims to tamp down the noise by offering a platform for research and sourced materials.

From their start in Oakland, in 1966, the Black Panthers advocated a platform that mirrors many of the things sought today within the African-American community: Full employment, decent housing, inclusive education, an end to police brutality and murder of people of color and control of their own destiny.

How polarizing is that?

The Black Panthers started scores of programs to uplift the largely black and poor communities where they operated. Among them were free breakfast programs for children, GED classes, geriatric and pediatric health centers, food co-ops, drug and alcohol abuse awareness programs and transportation and attendant services for the disabled.

Sounds like we can learn a few lessons.

What is important is that we understand the history so that we combat the false notions and prejudices that continue to envelop African-American communities and people — including Queen Bey — today.