The world of pop culture has come so far in the last 20 years. Tiffany & Co.’s new ad campaign “Celebrating Modern Love” uses Beyonce and her husband as the face.  Although this campaign focuses on the couple’s love for each other, it means so much more to an entire community. Beyonce is the fourth woman, and the first black woman, to wear the diamond in over a century.

However this achievement is not without controversy. Unfortunately there is an ugly story around the stone. The story is rooted in colonialism.“In South Africa in the 1870s, when the Tiffany diamond was found, British forces launched battles of conquest and harsh discriminatory practices against African tribes and laborers,” The Washington Post stated. 

Anna Custer, former North Little Rock High School student, is excited about the new ad campaign. Custer says, “I think Beyonce getting to wear the diamond is special because she is the first black woman to wear it.”

Although Custer is happy for Beyonce’s accomplishment, she understands the concerns around the campaign: “However, I have heard the backlash about the diamond having colonial history and I think that’s wrong on Tiffany and Co.’s part for not informing Beyonce on where the diamond was from.”

Raven Hollister, another recent NLRHS graduate, says that as a woman of color she was proud about Beyonce’s achievement. “It definitely feels good to see a black woman being able to achieve something that wasn’t meant for us in the first place.”

However Hollister feels as if these kinds of barriers should have been broken a long time ago: “It’s 2021 and we still hear the phrases like ‘first black’ or ‘first black woman’. We should be able to break headlines without having to include that statement.”

Though audiences may be split the campaign is still sure to be a significant moment in pop culture history.