Tina Knowles recounts the moment in her new memoir Matriarch

Tina Knowles is known to the world as the elegant matriarch of one of music’s most powerful dynasties. But behind the public appearances lies a personal story of pain, injustice and resilience that few have ever heard, until now.

In her revealing new memoir Matriarch, Tina, 71, shares an emotional account of a deeply traumatic event that has haunted her family for more than five decades: the brutal police beating of her older brother Lumis “Skip” Joseph Beyoncé in 1967. Speaking candidly, Tina describes how that single night in Texas changed her family forever.

“It changed my family forever,” Tina writes, recounting the night Skip was arrested while trying to make his way home after a date.

beyonce and tina knowles at mufasa la premiere 2024© Getty Images
Tina with her daughter Beyonce

The then-young man had been dropped at the wrong address by a taxi. Although the home was nearby and the resident recognised him, they didn’t realise who he was in the moment and called police to report a stranger outside their door.

Realising the mistake, the neighbour phoned Tina’s family, but by the time they arrived, the police were already on the scene. Her mother, sensing the danger unfolding in front of her eyes, began to plead: “Please don’t let them kill my son.” Tina recalls her mother repeating it like a prayer, over and over again, her voice filled with desperation.

Ms. Tina Knowles attends the World Premiere of "Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce at Samuel Goldwyn Theater on November 25, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California© Amy Sussman, getty
Tina currently has memoir out called Matriarch

Skip was taken into custody despite protests from the neighbour and Tina’s family. What happened next was even more horrifying. The following morning, they were told they could come and collect Skip.

But when they arrived at the station, they were devastated by what they saw. “He was drenched in blood,” Tina reveals. “They could have killed him… we thought he was dead.”

Tina Knowles, Beyonce's mother took to the red carpet© KENA BETANCUR
Tina reveals a family tragedy

Family trauma

The emotional scars left by that night would linger long after the bruises faded. Tina explains how the fear and anxiety consumed her parents in the aftermath. It was the start of a long period of harassment that would affect the whole family.

One of the officers involved in Skip’s arrest later detained Tina herself, although she doesn’t share the reason in her book. What she does make clear is that the family lived under constant scrutiny and fear. “We were harassed by the police for years,” she writes. “We were on guard all the time.”

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The impact on her mother was especially severe. Already fearful, she became deeply anxious about her family’s safety. But even in the midst of this, Tina found strength. In the years that followed, she joined civil rights demonstrations, choosing courage over silence.

She credits her family for helping her through the darkest moments. “My parents weren’t the type to say, ‘Oh, you can be anything you want to be.’ I never heard that,” she reflects. “I heard, ‘Get you a good government job’ and settle. But there was always a strong message, too: family is everything. And if you’ve got your family and God, then life is amazing.”