“I knew, but this was the first time we had the conversation, the first time I heard her say it.”
Rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z recently opened up to David Letterman about his mother’s sexuality on the next episode of Netflix’s “My Guest Needs No Introduction,” where he says his mom opened up just before he dropped the track “Smile” for his acclaimed “4:44” album, which was released last summer, 2017.
He states in the clip, “Imagine having lived your life for someone else. And you think you are protecting your kids, he explains. And for my mother to have to live as someone that she wasn’t and hide and like protect her kids-and didn’t want to embarrass her kids, and like you know, for all this time.”
What’s more than Jay-Z being so incredibly accepting of his mother’s sexuality, is his instant reaction at her revelation.
“I cried, I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free.” He goes on to say that when his mother revealed that she loved her partner, he saw the authentic happiness in her actually loving someone genuinely and that is what brought him to tears.
“Smile” has since gone to become a song revered by many because of it’s relatable content and poignant imagery reflecting issues such as poverty and sadness. the video opens with a woman who is meant to play Jay-Z’s mother, a woman who struggles to provide for her family while secretly dealing with her sexuality. In the end, Gloria Carter can be seen sharing her message from her life stating, “Living in the shadows seems to be the safe place to be…but life is short and it’s time to be free…love who you love because life isn’t guaranteed. Smile.”
It takes celebs like Jay-Z to open up, especially as a Black man dealing with such a taboo subject such as homosexuality in the Black community, for others to live in their truth and not hide who they are. So many people live their lives depressed, suicidal even, because they are as Gloria says, “living in the shadows.”
Hopefully Jay-Z being so open and unfiltered about a family secret we all share will inspire many, many others as well.
Feature image via “Jay-Z and his mother Gloria Carter” by ellasportfolio / CC BY-SA
