Beyoncé’s Dad Co-Teaching African American Music History Course At Pepperdine University

The father of the one and only Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is sharing his music and entertainment knowledge at a Spring semester course at Pepperdine University.

Matthew Knowles will join Pepperdine English and film professor Joi Carr to serve as co-professor of the “African American Aesthetic Culture From Spirituals to Hip Hop” course, Fortune reports. The class will explore the musical contributions of African Americans in the U.S. throughout history and how they reshaped society as a whole.

With his background as a music executive, entrepreneur, and educator, Knowles is eager to share his expertise and align his value of empowering young people.

“I have a fundamental belief that knowledge is power,” he said. “Most people I know, they are successful because they have a tremendous amount of knowledge in the area that they’re working in and are contributing.”

The course will take scholars through the history of African American musical contributions dating back to slavery and venturing into modern-day hip-hop.

“We learn about resilience, we learn about hope, faith, the deep complexity of the human condition—by looking at one particular group of people. And I think it’s important for us to do that, especially in the United States,” Carr says.

“Most people don’t know the contributions that the slaves made to all the genres of music we know today,” Knowles adds. “And that’s what this course is all about.”

Knowles has a personal passion for the course’s focus as he hopes to combat the miseducation surrounding African American history. The material is even more relevant as Republican-led states work to remove learning material that teaches Black and diverse history.

“There’s a tremendous false narrative there. We just want to educate, and the knowledge is so important that we understand the pitfalls of history, and how our young people can learn from that,” he says.

“There’s history. And there’s his story. And often, we’re listening to his story instead of history.”

Knowles is most known for propelling the careers of Destiny’s Child and Beyoncé’s solo success. He’s also worked with Earth Wind & Fire and Chaka Khan, served as an executive producer for over 100 award-winning, platinum and gold albums, and sold more than 500 million records globally.

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