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Reading Group Guide

Discussion Questions

Matriarch: A Memoir

Act One: A Daughter

1. Why do you think Tina Knowles chose the title MATRIARCH for her memoir? Who are the matriarchs in your own life?

2. We’re all shaped, in part, by where we are raised. How did growing up in Galveston shape Tina? How did your hometown shape you?

3. Discuss Tina’s experience as a child at Holy Rosary --- and what it meant to her when her mother took the nuns’ side. After finally having had enough of the nuns’ abuse, young Tina decides to leave Holy Rosary. How was she able to accomplish this as a young child? What strengths did she draw upon? At her new school, what does her decision to change her name from Celestine to Tina represent in terms of finding her voice, even when feeling unprotected as a young Black girl?

4. How does Tina react to similar situations during her own daughters’ education, like the racist teacher who bullies Solange?

5. What does it mean for Tina when her teacher, Miss Olivier, tells her she’s smart and belongs in a higher-level classroom? In your own life, who is someone whose early belief in you made a difference?

6. There are many moments throughout their lives when Johnny and Tina look out for each other. Discuss some of the ways Tina looks out for Johnny. Why are these instances significant?

7. Our parents’ experiences and traumas can shape our lives in surprising ways. How do Tina’s parents’ lives --- even events that happened before she was born --- affect her own becoming? How have your parents’ experiences affected you?

 

Act Two: A Mother

1. What are some of the major turning points in Tina’s life? What do these points have in common?

2. How does Tina’s relationship with Johnny influence who she becomes? How does Johnny’s influence shine through both Beyoncé and Solange?

3. What internal strengths does Tina draw upon to start Headliners? How do these strengths continue to help her as she begins styling and designing for Destiny’s Child and beyond?

4. What sacrifices --- personal, professional and familial --- did Tina have to make in this era of her life? What sacrifices have you had to make in your life? Were they worth it? Explain.

5. There are many moments when Tina’s daughters are either explicitly or implicitly told they are less than --- both in school in Texas and later in the music industry. How does Tina respond to this? What do her actions tell us about her style of mothering?

6. “There is a long tradition of Black families expanding to include people as need and love have called for it,” Tina writes. She and her kin have always used an expansive definition of the word “family.” How have these relationships influenced the trajectory of Tina’s life? What might be challenging about this? Who are the non-blood kin that you consider family?

7. What is the most surprising thing you learned from MATRIARCH?

 

Act Three: A Woman

1. “We’d been a couple for more than thirty years,” Tina writes of her divorce from Mathew Knowles --- after many attempts. “I lost not just a husband, but a witness to each other’s lives. It was as if I’d stored three decades of home movies and photo albums in a library, then watched it burn down.” Discuss this passage and its evocative imagery. Have you ever experienced a loss that felt like this? How was Tina able to leave Mathew for good, when so many women cannot? What did she draw upon to not only make the decision, but to continue making the decision?

2. What does it mean for Tina to finally choose herself? Talk about a meaningful time when you put yourself first.

3. Tina is incredibly protective of her family but finds it more difficult to be her own protector. Why do you think it can be so difficult to see ourselves as worthy of that same care?

4. Despite the privilege and fame Tina has accrued, she is still condescended to and dismissed when she meets with the oncologist --- something that many women, especially Black women, have also experienced. What advice do you think Tina wanted to impart to her readers by sharing this story?

5. What scenes or passages from MATRIARCH will stay with you? Why?

Matriarch: A Memoir
by Tina Knowles

  • Publication Date: April 22, 2025
  • Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction
  • Hardcover: 432 pages
  • Publisher: One World
  • ISBN-10: 0593597400
  • ISBN-13: 9780593597408