If her song “COFFEE” didn’t already make it clear, Kelly Rowland is proud to be Black, and she makes sure her son is too.
The Grammy-winning singer shares her 5-year-old son Titan with her husband Tim Weatherspoon, and together, they instill significant values in their son, particularly those of self-love. In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Kelly Rowland shared a story about how she taught young Titan to take pride in the color of his skin.
“We had a conversation about it maybe a week ago and he was like, ‘Yeah, you know, because I’m brown, Mom.’ I said, ‘No, you’re Black, son,'” said Rowland. “He said, ‘No, Mommy, I’m brown. I’m brown, look at my skin.’ Then he goes, ‘Actually, I’m lighter than brown.'”
Kelly then gave Titan a passionate lecture about Black history and on being proud of his skin color. “I was like, ‘Son, we are Black. We are beautiful. We are rich in love and history’ and this and that. I broke it down for him in a solid, maybe 3 minutes, and I didn’t shut up,” Rowland explained — but her words stuck with Titan. “That night, I heard my husband giving him a bath and he goes, ‘Daddy, I am Black and handsome and great.'”
Kelly Rowland grew up not seeing many Black women like her being represented in the mainstream media. “I didn’t see enough people around on the walls or anything like that looked like me,” Rowland recalled. “We weren’t represented at all and I remember that made me feel a certain way. It made me question my beauty. It made me question my contribution of beauty and who I was because I didn’t see it.”
In short, Kelly Rowland questioned her identity growing up and does not want that for her son, so she goes out of her way to make sure Titan knows his Blackness is something he should take pride in. “We wrote it on his mirror. It’s actually written on his mirror: ‘I am smart. I am brave. I am kind. I am wonderful. I am Black. I am excited,'” said Rowland. “We read different stories to him as far as African American [and African] history is concerned. It really means a lot to us for him to know his roots and who he is.”
