February 18, 2025

Cowboy Carter Chronicles: What Beyoncé’s ‘JUST FOR FUN’ teaches us about the fight for freedom – KPRC Click2Houston

Jyesha Johnson
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Jyesha Johnson
In the Cowboy Carter Chronicles, Digital Producer Jyesha Johnson write a weekly series, delving into the significant Black history and cultural contributions highlighted in the course on the American West.
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Before this class even started, Dr. Alicia Odewale told me something that stuck: Cowboy Carter isn’t just an album—it’s a vehicle. It’s a way to transport us through Black history, especially in the American West. This week, we explored that through the song “JUST FOR FUN,” and let me tell you, the connections run deep.
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At first, listen, the song feels lighthearted—like something you can hum casually. But underneath the surface, it carries the weight of a people searching for freedom, speaking it into existence even when it wasn’t guaranteed.
Dr. Odewale put it best: “‘JUST FOR FUN’ sounds like a ballad you’d sing around a campfire when you’re in the middle of uncertainty but still holding onto faith. And historically? That’s exactly where Black Americans found themselves in the 1800s.”
One of the biggest misconceptions about Black history is that all-Black towns only popped up after the Civil War. That’s false.
Yes, many Black settlements flourished post-emancipation, but free Black communities existed before the war, too. The need for safety and self-sufficiency didn’t start in 1865. Black people had been building their own towns, churches, and businesses long before the war ended.
So when Beyoncé sings:
“And I just, I need to get through this / Or just get used to it”
…it mirrors the resilience of Black communities who knew they couldn’t wait for freedom to be handed to them. They had to create their own spaces, their own futures—sometimes in the shadows, sometimes in plain sight.
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Imagine being a Black person in 1861, on the eve of the Civil War. There’s no certainty, no promise of freedom, just whispers of possibility. That’s the space “JUST FOR FUN” lives in—a moment right before a major shift, where faith is the only thing you can hold onto.
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This is where the Underground Railroad, land runs, and migration paths come into play. Black people weren’t just waiting around for things to change. They were actively finding ways out, ways forward.
The South wasn’t a place many Black people wanted to be—it was where they were forced to be. But the fight for freedom created pathways beyond it:
Think about the line:
“I’m goin’ down south just for fun, I am the man, I know it”
At first, it sounds like someone taking a carefree trip. But historically, “going down South” wasn’t a lighthearted decision for Black people. It was a risk. A challenge. A confrontation with a past they were trying to escape.
If we’re talking about uncertainty, nothing felt more unpredictable than the start of the Civil War. The first states to secede set the stage for the bloodiest conflict in American history.
As these states broke away to protect slavery, Black Americans faced a crossroads—stay and endure or leave and build something new?
One of the most striking lines in “JUST FOR FUN” is:
“But time heals everything / I don’t need anything / Hallelujah, I pray to her”
This reflects what kept Black Americans moving forward: belief. Whether it was faith in God, in the land, in each other, or in the promise of something better, they had to believe in something beyond their present reality.
And that’s what “JUST FOR FUN” captures. On the surface, it’s a song about movement. But at its core, it’s about the journey—the uncertainty, the struggle, and the faith that keeps you going.
Black history isn’t just about oppression. It’s about how Black people responded to it. How they built. How they dreamed. How they found joy, even in the midst of uncertainty.
And that’s why this song, this history, and this journey matter.
Catch up on Cowboy Carter Chronicles:
Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.
Jyesha Johnson, a Mississippi Delta girl who swapped small-town newsrooms for big-city screens at Houston’s KPRC 2, is all about telling stories—whether it’s on the web, social media, or over a good meal. When she’s not crafting content, you’ll find her outside soaking up nature or hunting down the best food spots.
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