Queen Bey has always had a special place in our hearts and on our playlists. With 20 Grammys and a net worth of $450 million, the iconic pop star will go down in history as one of the best artists of our generation.

Over the last few weeks, however, that beautiful legacy has been tarnished with unwarranted, slanderous and hateful comments following the release of her new single “Formation” and her bold Super Bowl halftime performance. Such criticisms range from the #boycottBeyoncé trend to even more extreme judgments, claiming people like Beyoncé are the root cause of modern-day racism in our country.

For those who don’t know, “Formation” is a tribute to those affected by 2005’s Hurricane Katrina , but also serves as an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement. The music video, released the day before Sunday’s game, showcases a young African-American boy standing in front of a line of police. The camera then pans out to a white wall painted with three impassioned words: “stop shooting us.”

Beyoncé continued to raise her voice on Super Bowl Sunday, and not just with her gold microphone. Her backup dancers were solely African American women, all flaunting natural afros and black leather getups. With confidence, class and a little sass, she belted out her evocative lyrics:

“My daddy Alabama, momma Louisiana / You mix that negro with that Creole make a Texas bamma / I like my baby hair, with baby hair and afros / I like my negro nose with Jackson Five nostrils / Earned all this money but they never take the country out me/ OK ladies now let’s get in formation/ you might just be a black Bill Gates in the making.”

Critics of the show claim that through the dancers’ scandalous costumes, Beyoncé made an attempt to promote the resurrection of the Black Panthers, a civil rights group in the ’60s that often resorted to violence in an attempt to reach racial equality.

While the costumes may have alluded to the Black Panthers, that was not the real message behind Beyoncé’s song. In no part of the music video do any of the characters succumb to violence, nor do any of the dance moves during the halftime show suggest it either.

If anything, her performance proved that she is a peaceful protester, using music as a means of expression. The costumes signified Beyoncé’s embrace all of African American’s past. She also wanted to showcase a strong and confident group of African American women to instill those same feelings onto young black teens.

Was it a risky move to mix the controversy of the ’60s civil rights movement with America today? Absolutely.

Perhaps it was provocative, but we are all tired and disgusted by the daily headlines of new police brutalities and hate crimes. Beyoncé wanted to bring attention to an issue that deserves immediate action, and what better way to garner that awareness than through a zealous performance broadcast to over 112 million Americans?

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need anthems for civil rights movements and controversial performances to advocate for equality. But we don’t live in that perfect world.

We live in a world where only 22 percent of Black women attain a bachelor’s degree or higher. We live in a world where, according to a Washington Post article, police fatally shot at least 965 people in the year 2015.

So Beyoncé decided to break from the expectation of silence; she decided do something. She performed a song to galvanize people into accepting each other’s differences and reaching their fullest potential. I don’t think that makes her anti-white: I think that makes her an American hero.

“It makes me proud,” Beyoncé said after the Super Bowl in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I wanted people to feel proud, to have love for themselves.”

I truly applaud Beyoncé for her courageous statement. It’s a very noble act to use her powerful influence and possibly jeopardize her musical reputation to promote social justice. Not only will she be remembered as a great singer, but a great humanitarian as well.

I stand by Queen Bey’s daring move Super Bowl Sunday, and based on her nearly 60 million other followers on Instagram, I’m not alone.