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What Beyoncé FaceTiming with a Dying Fan Says About Her Public Persona

Related: the power of Black Twitter is real.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB

It's a pretty well-known fact that as well as being one of the most talented pop performers to claw her way to fame along a path of sweat and graft, Beyoncé is just … really nice. She's not a Rihanna-style sex symbol, but a southern Christian mum who looks as at home on an arena stage as she would walking into a PTA meeting with some cookies. For someone who manages her image as tightly at Bey does, this is no accident. As a mum herself, she seems to have a particular soft spot for children and teens, and yesterday she fulfilled the dying wish oaf a fan living with cancer: to talk with her. The below video is only 12 seconds long but I would advise grabbing something to wipe your eyes if you're the sort to choke up over something sentimental:

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The fan in question is Texas teen Ebony Banks (nickname "Ebob"), who suffers with a rare form of stage four cancer. One of Ebony's last wishes was to see Beyoncé, so her classmates started a social media campaign with the hashtag #EBOBMEETSBEYONCE. The power of Black Twitter is real, as the campaign soon caught Bey's attention, and she set up a FaceTime with Ebony.

And though this is just one of many good deeds Beyoncé has done, it's a reminder of her brand of humility and kindness. One of the main criticisms of Bey centres on how much she's a sort of unknowable figure who's been raised to deity status without showing people her humanity first. She has the full package as a performer: incredible physicality, a gut-wobbling vocal and an ability to make women feel empowered. But in all of this, with the hysterical "Queen Bey!!" shouting and the vengeance of her BeyHive, she's tended to feel like more of a symbol than an actual person. You know, she doesn't post gross selfies from her holiday in Majorca, sweating while slugging back a pint. Everything's too well-orchestrated for that.

So moments like this pull her back down to earth a bit. The "yas queen" reactions would remain, but in this they're linked to just doing a nice thing for someone who looks up to her. And whether you rate her or not, that's valid.

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(Image via Wikimedia Commons)