Mo’Nique took to Instagram while on the beach in Miami, asking her followers to reassess their criteria for a "queen."
While reflecting on the word’s popular usage in applauding Black women for their daily efforts, motherhood, business skills and other achievements, Mo’Nique questioned the word's criteria.
“While I was walking [on] the beach, I was having a conversation with myself and the universe, and I was going over this word queen because we often refer to each as ‘hey queen, hey queen, hey queen.’ But here’s my question: Do we qualify to be referring to one another as queen,” she asked.
“So I had to look up some of our queens, our sisters; I had to look them up,” she said.
Mo'Nique detailed that her research was based on knowing how queens obtained the honor.
“Queen Makeba, Queen Nefertiti. I had to look up Queen Candace. I had to look up these sisters to understand how they got the title of queen. When I read up on these sisters, all of them pretty much had the same thread.”
She went on to say all three women shared one particular quality: “They were unwavering.”
“They did not flinch. They had a love for their people, baby, that was just so unconditional. Their compassion, their fearlessness, their ability to not be afraid of a fight when one had to come to them,” the actress continued.
”Do I qualify to consider myself a queen," she rallied her followers to ask themselves.
“So before we start referring to each other as queens,” she suggested, “we got to make sure we qualify for the title.”
Mo'Nique concluded her speech by reminding followers that she is still a work in progress and hasn’t arrived to a space where she feels worthy to carry the title of queen.
“I’m still working on Mo’Nique. When I read up on them queens, I’m like, okay, ‘Do you have an undying love for your people?'” she said.
“Are you unwavering in your beliefs? Will you stand where most people will fold and fall? Will you love up on your family? How will you represent queendom when someone is saying, 'queen?’” she added. “So I ask you, my beautiful sisters, do you qualify when someone says, ‘Hey, queen’ or are you a queen in training.”
This isn’t Mo’Nique’s first time inviting women to assess their actions. Earlier this year, she sparked controversy over her comments regarding Black women wearing bonnets out in public, Black Enterprise reports. During her travels, the actress took notice of how some women don't take "pride" in their appearance.
In an Instagram post, Mo'Nique stated, "I’ve been seeing it not just at the airport. I’ve been seeing it at the store, at the mall…"
“When did we lose our pride in representing ourselves? When did we slip away of, "Let me make sure I’m presentable when I leave my home?'” she continued.
