Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian Ministry of Health: Two were martyred in Israeli shelling that targeted a besieged house in the town of Qabatiya in Jenin
At least 68 dead in migrant shipwreck off Yemen: IOM
Trump: We want to feed the people in Gaza, we do not want them to starve.
US President Donald Trump: We will impose sanctions on Russia if it does not end the war on Ukraine.
Israeli media: Polls show that 52% oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while only 29% support him.
Israeli media: 32% of Americans still support "Israel's" war on Hamas, while 60% oppose it.
Israeli media: Core US support for "Israel" hits its lowest, while support for Palestine reaches its highest levels.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reports martyrs, injuries in Israeli bombardment of home in Heker al-Jame area in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
Al-Quds Governorate: Today, the spatial division of Al-Aqsa Mosque began in a public and dangerous manner, and we warn of a religious war in the region
The Ministry of Health in Gaza: This brings the total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 175, including 93 children

Beyonce's Tiffany Ad: Black Liberation or 'Woke' Capitalism?

  • By Mona Issa
  • Source: Al Mayadeen
  • 13 Sep 2021 13:35
  • 4 Shares
7 Min Read

A lot of things could be wrong with this ad.

  • x
  • Beyonce's Tiffany Ad: Black Liberation or 'Woke' Capitalism?
    How much black 'pride' can a blood diamond tolerate?

Beyonce and her husband since 13 years, Jay-Z, strike a pose in one of the most lavish advertisements launched by one of the biggest jewelry retailers in the world. The Tiffany diamond, worth 2 million dollars, worn by only Audrey Hepburn and Lady Gaga, embraces Beyonce's décolleté in an ad by Tiffany & co. 

With black artist Jean-Michel Basquiat's Equals Pi in the background, a voluptuous diva known to "champion" black rights, and a Jay-Z imitating Basquiat's freeform dreads, a lot of criticism on the political correctness of the ad was to be made.  

The ad that comes off as a benevolent piece of a fairly "woke" marketing campaign has sparked controversy not only among the famous painter's colleagues but also among those who appreciate the inherent struggle and sentiment behind Basquiat's works. 

  • Everything That Is Wrong with a Basquiat Painting in Beyonce's Tiffany Ad
    The ad in question. 

Ever Watched Blood Diamond?

The superstar, who shares a joint net worth of over a billion dollars with her husband, boasts about becoming the "first black woman" to wear the 128-carat jewel. The diamond was attained in South Africa in 1887 at the Kimberley Mine by Charles Lewis Tiffany, who founded Tiffany & co. 

From square one: Charles Lewis Tiffany, who "obtained" the Tiffany diamond from South Africa, most likely did not merely obtain it. 

The 1880s was a time when South Africa and other countries on the continent witnessed an influx of colonizers to reap the lands of their riches, namely precious stones. European colonization and monopolization of African mines, for millions, was and still is synonymous with raping, drugging, oppressing, and enslaving tactics towards Black folk who sought to work in their own land. “No Native shall work or be allowed to work in any mine whether in open or underground, except under the responsible charge of some white man as his master," asserted a decree by the Chamber of Mines in 1889. 

The Mine of Death

The 'Black Hole,' from which the Tiffany diamond was mined, is widely only known as the biggest man-made hole. Not much history is propagated about who was enslaved to dig that hole, how many have been stripped away from their families to dig that hole, and how many lives have been taken by the extremely harsh working conditions to dig that hole.

Related News

FBI seizes Basquiat paintings amid doubts over authenticity

South Africans were not allowed to bring their wives and children with them, could not leave the mine, and if they wanted to leave, they were locked into a cell and dosed with mild laxatives for 5-10 days. 

At the time of the discovery of the diamond, over 50,000 Black men had dug the hole, which lead to excruciating death tolls. Extremely poor working conditions, including lack of clean water and other unsanitary conditions, also contributed to the spread of sicknesses and diseases, mainly pneumonia and tuberculosis. Founded on the blood of South Africans, 22 million tonnes of volcanic rock were dug, and almost 3,000 kilograms of diamonds were mined over the years. This brought the colonizers extreme wealth. 

Black individuals who worked in the mines were subject to meager wages compared to their white counterparts, and the colonizers had no consideration for inflation, which affected the livelihoods of the community by the thousands. While black men earned 61 pounds, white men earned 278 pounds on average. 

To scale, human beings paid about 61 pounds, dug a 250-meter hole in the ground. 

  • Beyonce's Tiffany Ad: Black Liberation or 'Woke' Capitalism?
    A 250-meter-deep hole, dug by South Africans in the 1870s - many deaths have resulted from this. 

This all comes to raise questions about black rights - what is true emancipation? Could it be the well-being of the collective free from the shackles of supremacy and White colonialism? Or is as it seems, the equal ability to oppress?  It's not that Beyonce was the one who enslaved the Black miners in Africa - but why wear the diamond as though it were some sort of trophy of Black greatness? Does the emancipation of black civil liberties shift the race from 'enslaved' to slave master? 

  • Everything That Is Wrong with Beyonce's Tiffany Ad
    A photo that has struck millions - mining and enslavement in a Congo mine (Spencer Platt/Getty images).

No doubt that the ad is tone-deaf towards economic stratification; what is more tone-deaf is the preacher.

Basquiat's Painting & Cultural Appropriation

The artist's paintings represent reflections of a multitude of power struggles - social, economic, and political - in the United States. Should a jewelry company with a history of black enslavement be allowed to appropriate such paintings? 

Tiffany's purchased the painting, which infuriated many artists and curators. “They wouldn’t have let Jean-Michel into a Tiffany’s if he wanted to use the bathroom, or if he went to buy an engagement ring and pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket. We couldn’t even get a cab,” Stephen Torton, Basquiat's assistant, told the Daily Beast. 

Tiffany continued to rationalize the monopoly of the painting by saying that the blue in Basquiat's painting resembles the company's Tiffany blue color, which essentially used the painting as a gateway marketing campaign strategy to further sell their products. However, the mere commercialization of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, who is a voice against power abuse and police violence did not go too well with a blood diamond ad - in fact, it backfired.

Torton asserted on Instagram that “the idea that this blue background, which I mixed and applied was in any way related to Tiffany Blue is so absurd that at first, I chose not to comment. But this very perverse appropriation of the artist’s inspiration is just too much.”

Everything That Is Wrong with Beyonce's Tiffany Ad

The function of the ad nonetheless is to sell Tiffany's products to an extremely wealthy social class - however, the priced-at-millions piece of expressionist art in the background speaks a different language. 

His ex-partner and roommate, Alexis Adler, weighed in on the purchase of the painting: “Unfortunately, the museums came to Jean’s art late, so most of his art is in private hands and people don’t get to see that art except for the shows. Why show it as a prop to an ad?” asked Adler. Where there is a minimal representation for black artists in the art industry, Adler suggested that Basquiat's art should be placed in a museum, because that's what he would've wanted. 

Another Case of 'Woke' Capitalism

Whether the ad is stamped as hypocrisy or immorality, there's one thing we can't argue: Beyonce, at large, has managed to brand black activism by appealing to the logic of the supremacist - and it's working. Tiffany wants to sell that diamond, and the diva sure as heaven wants a slice of representation as a token added to her branding. 

This isn't the first time Beyonce preaches 'Black Lives Matter' while also enabling enslavement - her brand, Ivy Park, manufactures its apparel in sweatshops in Sri Lanka.

The demise of anti-discrimination activism does not lie in hands of the colonizer - no. It lies in the hands of those who claim activism while appealing to the capitalist logic of the colonizer. The liberal branding of black struggle will only sink the black working class deeper in inequality while strengthening authority. 

  • Jean-Michel Basquiat
  • Beyonce

Most Read

A rescued crew member from the ETERNITY C vessel in a video released by the Yemeni Armed Forces on July 28, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen Navy reveals fate of targeted Eternity C ship crew

  • Politics
  • 28 Jul 2025
An Israeli tank explodes following an ambush by al-Qassam Brigades in Gaza, Occupied Palestine, undated (Al-Qassam Military Media)

Al-Qassam strikes Israeli vehicles in Gaza, inflicts casualties

  • Politics
  • 30 Jul 2025
UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

UAE lodges complaint against Israeli ambassador over 'misbehavior'

  • Politics
  • 1 Aug 2025
Protesters chant anti-Israeli slogans as they carry a banner that reads:" Freedom for Palestine, Alliance stop the war," during a demonstration in support of Palestinians in Gaza, outside the Israeli embassy, in Athens, Monday, June 9, 2025 (AP)

Athens mayor slams Israeli ambassador over Gaza war, graffiti claim

  • Politics
  • 3 Aug 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, takes part in a parade as he celebrates a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli regime in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Sunday, January 19, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Al-Qassam: We’ll allow aid to Israeli captives if Gaza siege ends

Freed Lebanese freedom fighter Georges Abdallah during an interview on Al Mayadeen, which aired on Sunday, August 3, 2025 (Al Mayadeen screengrab)
Politics

Exclusive: Resistance key to building state, Georges Abdallah says

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres gives a statement about the situation in Gaza at UN headquarters, Friday, June 27, 2025 (AP)
Politics

UN warns Gaza faces water crisis, looming famine under Israeli siege

Israeli soldiers drive their armored personnel carrier along the Gaza Strip, in southern occupied Palestine, Wednesday, July 30, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Ex-Israeli general says Gaza starvation campaign isolated 'Israel'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS