Hard to tell what is more surprising, that the Ankhed One would strip down before Beyoncé  did. Or that all those vegan juices and berries could be so darn effective at filling out her badonkadonk.

Badu told her Twitter followers that she was "inspired by this contagious act of freedom and artistic expression," and added a link to the similar video by the Brooklyn musicians Matt & Kim, who should be noted, are white.

Writers like Miles Marshall Lewis are hailing the video's message: "I saw it as the death of selling ass as a way to sell units." But I have a hard time believing he would say the same if say, Keyshia Cole made the same "statement." The very cynical will note how many more units her bare ass will help her move of her next album, New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), which drops today. They will point out the tens of thousands of new followers she now has on Twitter.

But the non-cynical part of me also cheers for Erykah's refusal to get weighed down by the history of stereotypes and the uses and abuses of the black female body. With each piece of clothing, she is tossing all the baggage aside, striding purposely ahead as people scream at her "You oughta be ashamed!" She is releasing the shackles of history and stereotypes: the long history of black women's bodies, and the images of those bodies, being traded like cattle. She is pushing past the dehumanizing way that Sara Baartman's behind was put on display for morbid consumption. She is an artist, an individual--pushing the limits of her--and our--comfort zones.

We can go to the moon; we can run a Fortune 500 company, live in the White House. Why can't black women get nekkid like everybody else?

Me--I'm not quite there yet. My husband thought the Mammy poster was fun and ironic tribute to his Louisiana roots. "Absolutely not," I told him. On the phone my mother-in-law piped in from New Orleans. "Take it back!"

He begrudgingly agreed to take it back but noted, not untruthfully. "I don't know why you are so upset about it. It's not like you cook anyways. You feminists kill me!"

Natalie Hopkinson is The Root's media and culture critic. Follow her on Twitter.

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