Were facing a grim reality these days Conservatives are hellbent on eroding democracy one Supreme Court ruling at a time. Gas prices are sky high. Airline travel is as bad as it has ever been. Were probably nearing a recession. Oh and in case you forgot people are still dying from Covid19. Everything feels heartbreaking right now so where if anywhere can we turn
The answer apparently is Beyoncé.
Break My Soul her first solo single in six years samples Robin S 1993 hit Show Me Love and intertwines thumping vibrating house music with lyrics that have already penetrated our lexicon less than a week after its Monday release. In a world where chronic stress causes Black people to develop heart diseases at higher rates rest is essential to our literal livelihood. As is always the case after Beyoncé releases new music theres been an instant quest for meaning a desire to understand her artists psyche. But this time it feels more appropriate to investigate our own responses to Break My Soul — why it touches us so deeply and has us all considering a reality far different than the one were living. This applies in the spiritual and literal sense people have quit their jobs after listening to Beyoncé sing Now I just fell in love And I just quit my job Im gonna find new drive Damn they work me so damn hard Work by 9 Then off past 5 And they work my nerves Thats why I cannot sleep at night.
Rather than assuming Beyoncé magically predicted the great resignation and our growing discontent toward work we should interrogate the reasons weve reacted so strongly to a simple sentiment Work shouldnt be the axis around which our entire world rotates around. Survival shouldnt be dependent upon how much effort and time we invest in our jobs.
The core American belief that our value is intrinsically linked to an ability to create to produce to work hard is costing us everything and this especially applies to Black people in America. In some ways Break My Soul owes its prescient message to The Nap Ministry an organization Tricia Hersey created in 2016 to encourage Black people to think about rest as a form of resistance and reparations. This and similarly modeled organizations such as Therapy for Black Girls embody feminist thinker Audre Lordes idea that selfcare is a cornerstone of survival. Or as Hersey told The Washington Post We believe rest is] a form of social justice and a form of resistance in a capitalist space.
Beyoncé who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars hasnt worked a traditional ninetofive job in decades. Shes been famous her entire adult life and has the entire world — and its resources — at her disposal. So no shes not a patron saint for the working class. In fact Beyoncé has long epitomized our culture of overwork. She outworked her peers releasing a new album nearly every three years for much of her career relentlessly toured the world and as former first lady Michelle Obama famously said constantly raised the bar for us all. Shes performed sick and when the weather didnt hold up because thats what artists especially those of her caliber are expected to do.
The core American belief that our value is intrinsically linked to an ability to create to produce to work hard is costing us everything. But now at age 40 with a husband and three children theres a different mandate for one of the biggest artists in the world. She can take six years off from releasing solo music to pursue other things including a collaborative album with JayZ a thriving clothing line and an enviable yacht trip with her family and closest friends. Everything happens when she wants it to — and not a minute sooner. Its her form of freedom.
And many of us are seeking to define our own freedom for ourselves. Capitalism steals so much from us. The system requires us to work ourselves into the ground for little reward financial or otherwise. As Anne Helen Petersen captures in her 2020 book Cant Even How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation were incentivized to spend the time were not working figuring out how to become better more efficient workers at the expense of our leisure. Were encouraged to monetize our hobbies to turn even our smallest pleasures into another income stream. And during the pandemic weve watched companies force workers back into the office no matter the risk to their health.
As we have watched inflation transform an already precarious situation for many Americans into a dire one it has become clearer that investing our entire selves our souls into companies that we dont own doesnt benefit us in any way. In a perfect world we would live in societies that create the infrastructures necessary to support a workforce that gives priority to its workers above all else. In this society primary schools would be well funded and those interested in pursuing higher education wouldnt graduate with crushing debt that threatens their earning ability. Health insurance would be decoupled from employment so all citizens no matter their job status could receive affordable medical care. Housing would be better regulated so price gouging wouldnt drive people out of their homes and onto the streets.
When were prioritizing work above resting ignoring our bodies cues and the things in our life that bring us joy were doing ourselves a dire disservice thats sometimes irreparable. In a world where chronic stress causes Black people to develop heart diseases at higher rates rest is essential to our literal livelihood. Most of us cant afford to follow Beyoncés blueprint. We cant resign from our jobs at a whim and expect to land on our feet. But as we consider a new world where balance is possible we now have a mantra that can remind us that theres still a whole life outside of work — if only we have the time to figure it out. And as Hersey so aptly points out rest is our mandate sometimes in fact its the only resistance we have.
Evette Dionne is a culture journalist critic and editor who writes extensively about pop culture as it relates to race gender and size. Lifting as We Climb Black Womens Battle for the Ballot Box her middlegrade nonfiction book was nominated for a National Book Award and won a Coretta Scott King Honor award. Her forthcoming book Weightless is being released by Ecco in December 2022.
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