Beyoncé
Beyoncé in 2010, photo by kathclick/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Beyoncé Giselle Knowles
Place of Birth: Houston, Harris, Texas, U.S.
Date of Birth: September 4, 1981
Ethnicity:
*father – African-American
*mother – Louisiana Creole, including African, French, Acadian/French-Canadian, as well as distant Irish and Breton, remote Penobscot First Nations
Beyoncé, also known as Harmonies by The Hive, Queen Bey or Queen B, Third Ward Trill, Sasha Fierce, and Beyoncé Knowles, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, director, and businessperson. She was a member of R&B girl group Destiny’s Child, along with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams, and also, originally, LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson. As a solo artist, she has won the most Grammy Awards of any person, at 32, and has sold over 200 million records worldwide. Often exploring themes of feminism and womanism, her songs include “Crazy in Love,” “Baby Boy,” “Me, Myself and I,” “Check on It,” “Déjà Vu,” “Irreplaceable,” “Beautiful Liar,” “If I Were a Boy,” “Single Ladies,” “Halo,” “Run the World (Girls),” “Drunk in Love,” “Formation,” “Perfect Duet,” “Break My Soul,” “Cuff It,” “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and “II Most Wanted.” Beyoncé has starred in the films Carmen: A Hip Hopera, Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Fighting Temptations, The Pink Panther (2006), Dreamgirls, Cadillac Records, Obsessed (2009), Epic (2013), and Disney’s The Lion King (2019), the latter two in voice role. She co-directed her music films Life Is But a Dream, Lemonade, and Black Is King, which she also co-wrote; and directed and wrote her music films Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé and Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé.
Beyoncé is the daughter of Tina Knowles (born Célestine Ann Beyincé), a fashion designer, and Mathew C. Knowles, a businessperson and talent manager. Her sister is singer and actress Solange Knowles. They are the first sisters to have each had No. 1 albums. She is married to rapper and music producer Jay-Z, with whom she has three children, including Blue Ivy Carter. Beyoncé and Jay-Z are in a band together, The Carters. Beyoncé is a step-sister of actress Bianca Lawson. Her mother is married to Bianca’s father, actor Richard Lawson. Beyoncé founded management company Parkwood Entertainment.
Beyoncé’s father is African-American. Beyoncé’s maternal grandparents were French-speaking Louisiana Creoles, with roots in New Iberia; their ancestry was mostly African and French, including French ancestors who lived in Canada. Through her mother’s line, Beyoncé is a great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Acadian leader Joseph Broussard, and a descendant of Jean-Vincent d’Abbadie de Saint-Castin (born c. 1652), and of his wife, Marie Mathilde Pidianske/Penobscot (born c. 1658), who was the daughter of Madockawando Abenaki, a chief of the Penobscot (Panawahpskek) people. Through Marie Mathilde, Beyoncé is of 1/1024 Indigenous descent. Beyoncé is also of approximately 1/32 Irish ancestry, and has distant Breton roots on her mother’s side, as well. Her name, Beyoncé, is a tribute to her mother’s maiden name, Beyincé. Through her Broussard line, she is a third cousin of gospel singer and graphic artist Karen Showell.
Beyoncé has said that she has Nigerian ancestry. She may have discovered this through a DNA test.
Beyoncé’s parents Mathew and Tina, 2007, photo by bigstock.com
Beyoncé’s mother has also been described as having Cherokee and/or Choctaw Native American ancestry. It is not clear if this ancestry has been verified/documented. No Cherokee or Choctaw Native American ancestors appear on publicly available family trees of Beyoncé’s mother. One book biography, Crazy in Love: The Beyoncé Knowles Biography, also refers to Beyoncé’s mother having Spanish, Jewish, Chinese, and Indonesian ancestry. It is also not clear if this is accurate.
Beyoncé does not speak French or Spanish, but she has sung in Spanish before.
A picture of Beyoncé’s maternal grandparents can be seen here.
Beyoncé’s paternal grandfather was Matthew/Mathew Q. Knowles (the son of Taylor Knowles and Girlie/Gurlie/Gerlie Mae Miller). Matthew was born in Alabama. Taylor was the son of James Isaac Knowles and Sarah Elizabeth Dixon. Girlie was the daughter of Prophet Miller and Jane Hall.
Beyoncé’s paternal grandmother is Lou Helen Hogue (the daughter of Davis/Dave Hogue and Hester Moore). Lou was born in Alabama. Davis was the son of Jim Hogue and Rosetta Moore. Hester was the daughter of Pinkney Madison Moore and Arenia Goree.
Beyoncé’s maternal grandfather was Lumis/Lumas Albert Beyincé/Buyincé (the son of Alexandre/Alexon Beyincé/Buyincé and Mary Olevia). Lumis was born in Delcambre, Vermilion, Louisiana.
Beyoncé’s maternal grandmother was Agnès/Agnèz DeRouen/Deréon (the daughter of Eugène-Gustave DeRouen/Deréon/Derezen and Odelia/Odilia Broussard). Agnès was born in Decambre, Louisiana, and was a prominent seamstress. Eugène-Gustave likely was the son of Eloi Jacques DeRouen. Odelia was the daughter of Éloi/Éloy-René Rosemond Broussard, who was white, of French descent, and of Celestine Joséphine Lessee/Lesse/Lesser/Lacy/Lacey/Lessassier, who was black/mixed-race black, and the daughter of a slave mother. Éloi and Joséphine had many children together, and possibly married. A picture of Beyoncé’s great-grandfather Eugène-Gustave can be seen here.
LOS ANGELES – FEB 10: Beyoncé arrives to the Grammy Awards on February 10, 2013 in Hollywood, CA photo by DFree/Bigstock.com
Sources: Genealogies of Beyoncé – http://www.geni.com
https://famouskin.com
Family history of Beyoncé – https://www.hollywoodancestry.com
https://www.dailymail.co.uk
Family history of Beyoncé, by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak – http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Beyoncé’s paternal grandfather, Matthew/Mathew Q. Knowles, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Beyoncé’s paternal grandmother, Lou Helen Hogue, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Beyoncé’s maternal grandmother, Agnès/Agnèz DeRouen/Deréon, on 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Article about Beyoncé’s maternal great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Joseph Broussard – http://www.biographi.ca
her creole ancestors are from new iberia
http://saintheron.com/featured/a-seat-with-us-a-conversation-between-solange-knowles-mrs-tina-lawson-judnick-mayard/
In this video she says her ancestors is from Nigeria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2xnxZRl7EE
Maybe she took a dna test or she knows better about her ancestors than most Aframs do?
It’s not really a surprise that she would have Nigerian ancestors. Lots of Creoles or black Americans in general have blood ties to that country
That country did not exist before 1960
Okay the country name didn’t exist, but the people living in the area did, and it was called something else. Italy had people living in it before it got the name. Most of the African country’s names are new, so what’s your point?
Her mother whose black in identity, and her moms brother and sisters barley look black, like quadroons, especially with straight hair. He father looks like average African American,
Mostly black but you can see something that may be European influence.
@Alexgxo
Quote(Her mother whose black in identity, and her moms brother and sisters barley look black, like quadroons, especially with straight hair.)
Not usual for a Creole family. You could have 5 kids in one family, and none of them would be the same color, or have the same type of hair. and can have a mix of facial features demonstrating their MGM heritage. Pretty common thing. I’ve seen it in AA families to(little less common)
They are nearly Quadroon or very close to it.
@alexgxo
https://bossip.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/tumblr_lsjma3ucmc1qclyc2o1_500.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8Nj_enCYAATmCc.jpg
Her mother maybe mixed, but she and most people in USA follows one drop rule
Listen to Tina Taught Me (Interlude) by Solange and youll see her mother saying ” im a proudly black woman”
Yeah with straight hair her mom looks like a quadroon. But if she claims she’s black in identity; since race is a confusing subject, then fine by me. I still view Beyoncé as mixed, maybe around 60 percent African, 40 percent European or other. But her daughter can probably consider herself black and more people wouldn’t find it odd, cause her daughter is hypothetically around the same your average AA is usually.
@alexgxo
Quote( I still view Beyoncé as mixed)
I understand what you’re saying, but you might as well include most of the black people in this country. I mean most are not pure, and if you’re not pure you’re what? Even Bey daughter would be above the avg, and that’s even if Jay was the Avg. Jay can be just as mixed as Bey, who knows. I mean even if I strongly disagree with (Luckystar) interpretation of things, I still see Bey as a black woman, because that’s what I see all the time. However, that’s just how I grew up, see her how you want.
NO one follows any ODR. If that was the case I would be calling a whole bunch of white people black(Ben Affleck, Johnny Depp,Jimmy Kimmel etc for example)
Beyonce’s mother is black
Ive reading her instagram, she consider herself black
Theres no such thing as creole on census, its culture, not an ethnicity or race
It’s an ethnicity http://ethnicelebs.com/tag/louisiana-creole
http://ethnicelebs.com/tag/creole
@savanna
Your source is ethnicity celebs, creole are count as african american on census.
@luck
Creole historically is an Ethnicity although it is now attached to African American. White French simply adopted the term, however the Creoles were always the mixed -bloods.The Louisiana Creoles were a separate group from African Americans for a long time. Originally coming from Haiti They developed their own language. They had their own history in this country, foods, type of music etc. Also they were a certain blood mixture, of French or Spanish(or both), African, and many times native. Later on Asian, Italian and varied other Euro groups came in. African Americans usually were English, Irish , German, Dutch etc from the beginning
Usa census only have those groups: african american, hispanic, white hispanic, white american, asian, two or more races (mixed), native american and hawaii people. Theres no such thing as creole group, they are african american, and italians are white americans.
So your solution is to instead of Louisiana creole and Italian we use African American and White American? Or the super specific category of ”Other Asian” that includes both Hmongs and Pakistanis.
If you don’t like this site’s terminology, it’s your prerogative. But please stop trying to convince us that US Census is the be all, end all of ethnic classification (it’s reeeeeeeally not).
The censuses doesn’t define what ethnicities exists. Louisiana Creoles constitutes their own group because of their cultural, linguistic, and ancestral heritage, not necessarily shared by African Americans.
Whatever you think
Creole are african americans by census and thats how her mother feels like cause i saw her recently interview and instagram of black matters lives
Theres no creole Luisiana category on census lol some of them can be on mixed race (te or more races) group, and many of them are considered just african americans. Like italians are considered white american by census
Creole are culture, there are even whites, those are just french
@luck
First off, I am of Creoles ancestry(Louisiana born). Almost All my family, comes from there. I answer to both AA and Creole, However African American wasn’t even on the census until after the civil rights movement. However Creoles were in Louisiana centuries before that. Just because white law maker don’t want to recognize a culture that strange to them, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist .Before being called African Americans on the Census. , blacks were called by many names( Moor, Negro, Mulatto, Mestizo, Colored, Black, and now African American). Here’s something about how Creoles lived in other place during the history of the U.S.:
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2015/12/15/when-louisiana-creoles-arrived-in-texas-were-they-black-or-white/ideas/nexus/
English whites when coming to Louisiana called Creoles mulattoes. The French and other blacks people called those mixed blood people (Creoles), and most not some were of mixed blood
For centuries, black people weren’t even consider human by law, we were 1/3 of a man , just property. Some laws had blacks as non- citizens
The Census change it rules often in the past, about who was white, and who wasn’t. From state to state, from decade to decade . Here is an example of how screw up the Census was:
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2008/08/primary-sources-1940-census-white
Quote( Like italians are considered white american by census)
Italians are consider white now, but not always:
http://fusion.net/story/213123/on-columbus-day-lets-remember-that-italians-werent-always-white-in-america/
Quote(Creole are culture, there are even whites, those are just French)
Creoles is a culture and a certain bloodline for the mixed black people, and whites. It our historical traditions, and shared history , which is what an Ethnicity means-an ethnic group; a social group that shares a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the like
African American wasn’t even a category on censuses. As bablah said, if you go by census, then we should stop using Irish, German, English, etc. and just write “White American”. I think more specificity is always better. And many people, white and black, would define themselves as just Americans, that doesn’t mean we should change the ethnicity of every American to just “American”.
If you really want to go by how she defines herself, Beyonce says that her mother is Creole here:
https://youtu.be/1ZDEX2ggvao?t=43s
Culture is the important part of ethnic classification. I think it makes a difference worth acknowledging that the Creoles spoke French and not (always) English.
You can hear here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2bR7D6bhBMU
Tina saying: “I think part of it is accepting that it’s so much beauty in being Black. And that’s the thing that I guess I get emotional about, because, I’ve always known that. I’ve always been proud to be Black. Never wanted to be nothing else. Loved everything about it, just…”
What is your point right now? Creole are counting as black on usa census
Of course beyonce says she is creole cause she is
Its a culture, not race
If it was a rã e she would say ” My mother is mixed”
While tina claims herself into black RACE:
: “I think part of it is accepting that it’s so much beauty in being Black. And that’s the thing that I guess I get emotional about, because, I’ve always known that. I’ve always been proud to be Black. Never wanted to be nothing else. Loved everything about it, just…”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2bR7D6bhBMU
And italians are considered white now on census but has always been an ethnicity, not culture, you cant be an ethnicuty if you mix two or more races
If it was a race* and all the matters is 2016 laws
@fuzzybear44 thefore, tina and beyonce are blacks, and tina already told to be proud to be BLACK, not mixed
Is Tina supposed to say “I think part of it is accepting that it’s so much beauty in being Louisiana Creole, including African, French, Acadian/French-Canadian, as well as distant Irish and Spanish. And that’s the thing that I guess I get emotional about, because, I’ve always known that. I’ve always been proud to be Louisiana Creole, including African, French, Acadian/French-Canadian, as well as distant Irish and Spanish. Never wanted to be nothing else. Loved everything about it, just…” ?
Tina says in that video: im proud to be Black
Thats all.
She could say ” I’ve always been proud to be Creole. ” instead black, according to you all. But she considered herself black and thats all.
Tina dont considered herself mixed race or something, she probably see creole as a sub group of black people.
You can hear here tina saying: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2bR7D6bhBMU “I think part of it is accepting that it’s so much beauty in being Black. And that’s the thing that I guess I get emotional about, because, I’ve always known that. I’ve always been proud to be Black. Never wanted to be nothing else. Loved everything about it, just…”
@lucky
Quote(She could say ” I’ve always been proud to be Creole. ” instead black, according to you all. But she considered herself black and thats all.)
Saying she’s proud to black, doesn’t mean she’s not also proud to be Creole. If she was not proud of her heritage, she wouldn’t have taught her daughters about it. Beyoncé wouldn’t be on a video talking about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0JBBQ6R1b8
Tina being a proud black women of Creole ancestry, is same as you being a proud white woman of Italian ancestry, which would make you different from a proud white woman of French ancestry. Is it really that hard for you to understand?
Here are other Creoles:
the first video, is a smaller version of bigger one. In the bigger version, you hear Creoles saying how proud they are to be black people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tfVpHYyDcY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBTedlQFy8w
There’s another group of Black people who have their own Language and culture within the bigger African American culture , That’s not on the census either They are Called (Gullah/Geechee Nation):
https://gullahgeecheenation.com/
Creole is an ethnicity. They have their own culture and language and are related to each other. But yes, Beyoncé is more black than anything. No one’s denying that.
Creole usually means nowadays European and African descent.
@alexgxo
That’s what Creole always meant