A New Age Queen

A black and white photo taken in 2016, depicts Mary J. Blige, a strong black woman,

dressed in faux fur and fine jewelry, staring at her reflection in the mirror, telling herself that this

is the real her. Surrounded by fruit, pearls, and other fancy items, making her look like the true

queen she was. Carrie Mae Weems, best known for her 1990 Kitchen Table series, has used her

photography to display and contradict race, class, and gender roles in society since the age of 18.

Weems, who is now 64, has changed the way society has viewed black women through images.

Early on in her career, Weems stated that she couldn’t rely on others to make the pictures she

wanted to see. The Kitchen Tables series and Crowning Glory with Mary J. Blige, has led

Weems to receive numerous awards for her African American women empowerment, including

a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” and a medal of arts from the U.S. State Department.

Carrie Mae Weems uses black and white color, surrounding Mary J. Blige with an abundance of

fancier goods, and her facial expressions to give black women empowerment to stand up for their

worth and to not settle for anything less than they deserve as queens.

The year 2016, not known for taking black and white pictures, is exactly what Carrie Mae

Weems did. Black and white photos are reminders of old times, which is exactly what Weems

wanted. Dressing a black woman up to look like royalty and making it look like an old photo

shows the viewer that black women have always been queens and of royal or higher status, not

just now in more modern times. This act says that all black women are queens and should be

held at the same high standards and respected as if they were white. Another reason for the photo

being uncolored is that strong colors in this photo can take away from the focus. It allows for the

message of black female empowerment to powerfully shine through, rather than being covered

up by colors. In this new age of having everything in high definition color, Weems took this
picture in black and white to relieve the viewer of distractions to allow them to see the full

message clearly.

Mary J. Blige sometimes called the queen of hip-hop soul, is best known for having very

open, raw autobiographical songs of empowerment. Like Weems, Blige also started her career at

18, and soon became the youngest female recording artist to sign with Uptown Records. She has

won nine Grammys. Together, Weems and Blige, both holding huge roles of empowerment for

African American women, used their platforms to continue to raise awareness for their

communities. In the photo Blige sits alone, looking at herself. She is saying that she and all black

women don’t need anyone; that they are strong, independent black women capable of providing

for themselves and their families. This can contradict the welfare queen caricature because it was

the stereotypical representation of black mothers, saying that they are lazy and scam the

government out of money and food. This photo depicts a black woman as someone who is

clearly able to provide for her family from seeing all of the food, pearls, and other fancy objects

around her.

Facial expressions and body language can say just as much as words can. While looking

in the mirror, Blige’s hand is placed on her chest and she has a very serious, but astonished look

on her face. These actions show the history of women, but most definitely black women, who

were not allowed to hold high statuses like the one she depicts. They were completely degraded.

By having her look in the mirror at herself with that reaction, she is finally seeing her self worth.

She is seeing that she is strong, powerful, independent, and deserves the same respect that

everyone else gets. Her stern facial expression tells the world that she is not taking this lightly or

as a joke because she is determined to be taken seriously.

 Throughout the history of black art, much of it is protest art. Most of Weems’ art,

including Crowning Glory, are no exceptions. Within bell hooks’ essay “Art on My Mind”,

hooks referenced Alain Locke’s belief that all black art is protest art. Carrie Mae Weems would

most likely agree with Locke. Through Crowning Glory, Weems is protesting that black women

are queens too and they should be treated as so. Weems encourages black women to push past all

of the stereotypes and caricatures to show society that they are not these things, instead, are

hardworking mothers capable of providing for their families.