NEW YORK.- Many of the most endearing memories of Tina Knowles childhood are sitting under a walnut while her mother recited the history of her family, which dates back to several generations. Now, Beyoncé and Solange’s mother has shared her own story with “Matriarch: a Memoir”, which opens this week.
“Beyoncé and Solange have been busy working since childhood, and Kelly (Rowland) … I told you stories, but I don’t even know if they really listened to me,” said Knowles, 71. “When you are young, very few people want to hear those stories of the old days.”
At 59, Knowles began recording voice notes of that story, adding his contributions, after contemplating his death after divorcing Mathew Knowles after three decades of marriage. The recordings were intended only to their grandchildren and great great grandchildren, before finally becoming the basis of the book.
The selection of 432 pages of the Oprah Reading Club explores a wide range of themes, including its enslaved great -grandmothers, its entrepreneurial spirit, the childhood of Beyoncé and Solange in Houston, its first marriage full of infidelities, the fighting of Destiny’s Child for getting a record contract and the flagrant racism that his family suffered in a segregated United States. (As a child, he was allowed to sit briefly on the front of a bus only for whites, hidden by her clear skin).
But you will not find juicy details of the protective mother; The infamous incident of the elevator in the 2014 Met Gala between Jay-Z and Solange is not mentioned, or that Kanye West would take the microphone to Taylor Swift in the MTV VMAS of 2009 in his attempt to defend Beyoncé. This is the story of Celestine Beyoncé – not that of his children – still intriguing and very personal, which reveals that he was diagnosed with breast cancer in stage 1 last year. Initially, he had omitted him from the book.
“I just wanted to keep it for me … as I went through that process of surgery and all that, there were things that I felt I needed to share,” said Knowles, who is now free of cancer after surgery and treatment, and urges women to make appointments for mammograms and look for second opinions.
Knowles, who will start a book presentation for nine cities next month that will include conversations with famous friends such as former first lady Michelle Obama and Tyler Perry (also suggests that her family will accompany her in some stops), spoke with The Associated Press about receiving the recognition she deserves, regrets as a mother and the search for happiness. The answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: Some could have considered only Destiny’s Child or Beyoncé’s mother. Do you want you to give you the credit you deserve?
Knowles: I gave credit to many people for some things, and that seems good to me, but this is my truth.
I definitely feel that I was a driving force, and I can say it now without feeling that … as a child they taught me to be super humble I never presume … I think I have turned off my light for so long that I don’t want to do it anymore.
AP: There are events related to Beyoncé or Solange that you barely mentioned, if you mentioned them, such as the reasons for the rupture of Destiny’s Child. Why exclude your perspective?
Knowles: I don’t think it’s important, because since then, everyone has prospered and simply moved on. And I simply choose to focus on the positive of life … I don’t think it is necessary to insist on those things. I don’t want to talk about them.
AP: Highlighting the differences between Solange and Beyoncé, you describe how Solange loved school and desired structure, and you could not always provide it when Destiny’s Child began to take off. Why be so vulnerable to your setbacks as a mother? (Solange, not wanting to travel or leave his friends, finally stayed with a family friend for a while to maintain coherence).
Knowles: Solange has always been sincere since childhood … He has always supported me. Because he always told me: “Mom, you are very irresponsible with school.”
I felt that talking about it cured me. Because people think that … you try to be the perfect mother, and without a doubt, I was making mistakes like everyone else. So I wanted to be honest about my defects.
AP: Why did you mention the importance of teachers, negatively affecting your own confidence by attending the Catholic School, as well as its impact on your daughters?
Knowles: Some can be harmful, and I speak in detail about that because I realize that a teacher who told me that Beyoncé was slow in Kindergarten and that he needs to repeat degree, and that it is December, could have ruined my daughter’s life. We wouldn’t even have a Beyoncé today if I had heard it.
You have to fight for your children. I hope that lesson has been clear and forceful. … that was important for me because I see many parents who do not, and my mother did not protect me.
AP: Beyoncé and Solange have already read the book?
Knowles: By when I finished the book and I was ready to share it with them, they both had very tight agendas and did not want to think: “I have to stop reading a book.” So I sent all their parts and approved them.
AP: Did you ask you to cut something after reading their parts?
Knowles: No. They agreed on everything.
AP: What do you expect readers to extract from “matriarch”?
Knowles: Your life, whatever, cannot focus only on others, except in you. And it took me for a long time, ”I had to be 59 – realizing that I deserve to be happy. And I deserve to have what I deserve, and not feel bad about it, or guilty.
I will live my life, live my best life, as children say.
