Kay:

Hey, there Questers welcome back. It is Monday, May 24th and this is episode 361. Now today’s quote is a special one because it’s from Queen B herself. That’s right, Miss Beyoncé. She says, “I see it. I want it. I stunt yellow bone it; I dream it. I work hard. I grind ’til I own it ’cause I slay…

Kay & Shi:

All-day

Kay:

I slay…

Kay & Shi:

…all-day

Shi:

This is from her song “Formation” which is just an empowering anthem that is such a great pump-up song with an excellent music video. What a fun message behind this. Obviously, you know, it’s a song, but it’s more than that. It really is this call to arms, this call to your own arms, and this encouragement that helps you see to embrace it and work hard.

Kay:

Well, the tribute in this song and in the video is to the power of black Americans and Beyoncé does such a wonderful job of bringing social justice and weaving it into her art and displaying the challenges that are oftentimes faced by black individuals living in America. In this quote, there’s a line in here that I didn’t understand. Actually, we didn’t understand, we had to look it up. She says “I stunt, yellow bone it.” A yellow bone is someone who is a light-skinned black person. So maybe you didn’t know that, but in this case, black people who are light-skinned sometimes have trouble fitting into either the black community or the white community.

Shi:

They often document that they find that extra challenging. The Obama’s have talked quite a bit about, they are too light for the black communities, they’re too dark for the white communities. So, it creates this very sense of tension inside of many of our African American individuals. So, seeing Beyoncé just kind of own it, we’ve always said, if someone can call you something or call you a name, if you say it first, then you can use it from a place of power. I think that’s exactly what Beyoncé is doing here.

Kay:

Right. So, she’s talking about embracing her whole power, seeing what she wants, dreaming about it, working hard, grinding until she gets it, and then just slaying all day, sometimes you slay a to-do list and when you get to the end, it’s frigging empowering.

Shi:

That was you yesterday.

Kay:

That was me.

Shi:

Feels so good. and you guys can probably relate to that too just like when you’re proud of yourself we want to encourage you to be okay with being proud of yourself. If you have followed us at all, you know we’re partners with Joseph McClendon III and one of his keystone teachings is the fact that when we celebrate and allow ourselves to feel good about our accomplishments, that that actually helps us hardwire our brain to want to take the actions that got us to that celebratory moment in the first place. So, it’s an important scientifically speaking piece of the pie in order to get yourself to be successful again in the future.

Kay:

I’m glad that you said, Shi, to motivate us to take action because I do want to say at the second half of this quote when she says, “I work hard, I grind ’til I own it.” So, I see it. I want it, I dream it. I work hard. I grind like I own it. She doesn’t say I see it. I want it. I think about it. I think about it. I think about it.

Shi:

I dream about it. I pray about it.

Kay:

Yeah.

Shi:

I consider it.

Kay:

I analyze it. I lust after it, whatever it is, she doesn’t say that.

Shi:

Work and grind baby.

Kay:

Working hard and grinding ’til I own it. She says, “I slay all day”, but I’m not sure if you all have ever slayed anything, but it’s a messy business. That’s not clean work.

Shi:

I grind ‘til I own it. Think about grinding, it takes force. It takes continued effort. It takes pressure and slaying something is the same thing. It’s a messy business. It’s hard. There’s tension. There can be moments where you might lose it all. But that can ultimately be what gets you to dreaming and getting what you want or turning that dream into reality as Beyoncé tells us here.

Kay:

So, let’s just review this quote one more time. She says, “I see it. I want it. I stunt yellow bone it. I dream it. I work hard. I grind ’til I own it ’cause I slay all day; I slay all day.” Thanks, Queen B!

Shi:

Yeah, Queen B. She was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She’s performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a kid. Rose to fame in the nineties. If I have any other nineties, kids, out there you super remember Destiny’s Child. “Say my Name” was one of the anthems. One of the best-selling girl groups of all time. Now, truly an artist that is an A-list celebrity and glad that we got to bring you her quote today, which means it’s time for your Queen B Quest. Today we want you to slay all day through starting your day with an incantation or a manifestation practice. So, close your eyes you’re going to ask yourself, what do I want? It might seem trivial, but this is something that will help. So, see it and dream it in your mind’s eye just like Queen B tells us, and then set the intention to spend the rest of your day grinding ’til you own it. Are you ready? Say it with us now.

Kay & Shi:

Let’s quest!