Tina Knowles On Black Motherhood As Leadership, Legacy, And Economic Power

New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals a troubling trend: unemployment among Black workers is on the rise, particularly for Black women. In April 2024, the jobless rate for Black women climbed to 6.1%, up from 5.1% in March, a full percentage point increase in just one month. By comparison, unemployment rates for other groups remained steady at 3.3% for White women and 4.6% for Hispanic women.

This disparity reflects deeper, systemic barriers Black women continue to face in the labor market. Unlike Black women, other demographic groups are less likely to encounter the compounded effects of both racial and gender discrimination, a key issue behind the widening gap in job security.

These inequities don’t end at the workplace. They extend into the home, where caregiving responsibilities, often unrecognized and unpaid, diminish long-term financial security. According to multiple economic studies, caregiving mothers can lose nearly $300,000 in lifetime earnings due to these systemic burdens. That figure, while staggering, only begins to capture the emotional, cultural, and entrepreneurial contributions Black mothers make daily. Their paid and unpaid labor has sustained families, fueled communities, and shaped industries.

Black motherhood is frequently framed through narratives of sacrifice. However, Black women are increasingly reframing it as a strategy, an act of legacy-building and leadership. Despite economic headwinds, many Black mothers have transformed necessity into innovation, creating impact far beyond the home.

One such figure is Tina Knowles. In our second conversation (and just before Mother’s Day), Knowles spoke about the personal and professional experiences that shaped her new memoir, Matriarch. Through stories of entrepreneurship, motherhood, and healing, she offered a portrait of resilience and reinvention that positions Black motherhood as both powerful and strategic.

Christine Michel Carter: In Matriarch, you write about doing hair to support your family and making costumes late into the night as labors of love that helped build your family’s legacy. How did you view those moments at the time? Were they acts of necessity, opportunity, or both?

Tina Knowles: Every career change I’ve had has been completely organic and came from a place of seeing it as an opportunity. And I think those are two different things, one doing hair to help support my family’s dream was something that I did out of necessity. Making the costumes, on the other hand, was a great career change opportunity for me, so personally, I don’t know that I would need to reframe it.

Carter: From launching your salon to founding House of Deréon, you’ve made entrepreneurship a family legacy. How did business ownership shape your identity as a mother, and how did motherhood shape your identity as a businesswoman?

Knowles: Entrepreneurship shaped me as a mother by giving me confidence and the knowledge that I could financially care for my children. Being a mother motivated me to be successful… to leave a legacy for them, setting an example of a strong work ethic.

Carter: Caregiving mothers lose nearly $300,000 in lifetime earnings due to systemic inequities and caregiving responsibilities. What conversations should Black families have about financial independence, legacy planning, and generational wealth, especially for mothers?

Knowles: It’s really important that you spend the time to learn about financial planning. I remember being very young and just having my first child when my friend who became a financial planner educated me on the things that I needed to do to create financial security for my children… like a college fund, making a will, insurance annuities for retirement, emergency funds and those are all things that we should learn about and do. It doesn’t cost that much, and it comes in handy once they grow up and decide to go to college or pursue other career opportunities. I even encouraged that friend to write a book called “Real Lives, Real Money,” a simple guide to financial planning and generational wealth.

Carter: Black women are overrepresented in roles with low pay, minimal leave, and little flexibility, often limiting advancement. Based on your experience navigating both creative and corporate spaces, how can Black mothers remain visible, promotable, and empowered in systems not built for them?

Knowles: Black mothers have to be conscious of taking space for themselves, being more vocal about their contributions, and not feeling like it’s okay not to be recognized or seen. Overall, there must be unity among Black women, and we must be more deliberate in supporting each other. There is power in numbers.

Carter: You shared your breast cancer journey with incredible transparency. For many Black women, “being strong” becomes a survival mode. How do you balance grace with grit, and what does healing look like when strength is expected but rest is required?

Knowles: In my journey of healing, I had to learn that “no” is a complete sentence. It was an important realization that I had to focus on self-care and take the rest I required to heal and not feel guilty about it.