Solange's album A Seat At The Table was nothing short of groundbreaking.
Her third album invited universal praise and, for many people, vocalised thoughts and feelings of women of colour across the US and the world.
And now A Seat at the Table Syllabus: The Truths of Young Women of Color is to be created in an attempt to further explore themes that the album touches on.
It is to be created by a collection of students and teachers from Wake Forest University in the US, alongside the writer Candice Benbow.
Solange's album's exploration of black female experience was only perhaps topped in the last year by her sister's album Lemonade which Benbow has already made into a syllabus called Lemonade Syllabus: A Collection of Works Celebrating Black Womanhood.
The Beyonce syllabus includes the work of Erykah Badu, Zora Neale Hurston, Chimamanda Ngozie Adichi, Bell Hooks and more.
The new Solange Syllabus sates on its website:
At the beginning this new year, and as we witness the inauguration of a new president we invite young women of color, ages 16-30, to have a seat at the table by helping us collect the texts, music, and visual art that speak to our experiences.
It wants to emulate a democratic system of giving as many people as possible a seat at the table discussing the album and its wider political and personal implications.
To help people think about what to submit they have listed the themes they believe the album discusses, 'resisting racism', 'understanding gender and sexuality', 'the role of relationships' and 'nurturing ourselves'.
There is also to be a section for elementary and middle school students called 'A Seat At The Lunch Table' to introduce ideas of identity to younger girls.
In a recent interview Solange said this of the song 'Cranes In The Sky,
So much of that song to me also became a song for community, and so many things specifically that I know black girls are working through and I know black women are working through. It became a different story.
The Solange syllabus will hopefully extend the narrative to include an even larger community of women.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
