So why should I care about Beyoncé?

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter (born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Beyoncé performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of the R&B girl-group Destiny's Child. Managed by her father, Mathew Knowles, the group became one of the world's best-selling girl groups in history. Their hiatus saw Beyoncé's theatrical film debut in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) and the release of her debut album, Dangerously in Love (2003). The album established her as a solo artist worldwide, earned five Grammy Awards, and featured the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Crazy in Love and Baby Boy.

Beyoncé's Activism

In 2013, Beyoncé stated in an interview with Vogue that she considered herself to be "a modern-day feminist". She would later align herself more publicly with the movement, sampling "We should all be feminists", a speech delivered by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at a TEDx talk in April 2013, in her song "Flawless", released later that year. In 2014 she performed live at the MTV Video Awards in front a giant backdrop reading "FEMINIST." She has also contributed to the Ban Bossy campaign, which uses television and social media to encourage leadership in girls. Beyoncé publicly endorsed same sex marriage on March 26, 2013, after the Supreme Court debate on California's Proposition 8. The singer has also condemned police brutality against black Americans. Beyoncé and Jay-Z attended a rally in 2013 in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the shooting of Trayvon Martin. The film for her sixth album Lemonade included the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and Eric Garner, holding pictures of their sons in the video for "Freedom". In a 2016 interview with Elle, she responded to the controversy surrounding her song "Formation" which was perceived to be critical of the police. She clarified, "I am against police brutality and injustice. Those are two separate things. If celebrating my roots and culture during Black History Month made anyone uncomfortable, those feelings were there long before a video and long before me". In February, Beyoncé spoke out against the withdrawal of protections for transgender students in public schools by Donald Trump's Presidential administration. Posting a link to the 100 Days of Kindness campaign on her Facebook page, Beyoncé voiced her support for transgender youth and joined a roster of celebrities who spoke out against Trump's decision