Swizz Beatz, Alicia Keys and Mashonda Tifrere have found a way to united front after a very turbulent past, that’s for sure.
From attending each other’s birthday celebrations to booking family trips, the group seems to have co-parenting down pact, so much so that Mashonda wrote about their trials and redemption in her new book, Blend. Keys wrote the foreword to the book, while Swizz Beats, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, contributed a chapter.
Eight years ago Mashonda and Swizz’s very public divorce was front and center including the fallout from Swizz’s romantic relationship with Keys.
During an interview with Good Morning America on Wednesday, the trio sat down with Michael Strahan to discuss how they got to a place of zen as a family unit. It’s enlightening to see a family rebound from past trauma to recover from heartbreak, not just caused by the dissolution of a romantic relationship.
Mashonda and Swizz share an 11-year-old son named Kaseem, while Keys and Swizz have two sons, Egypt, 7, and Genesis, 3. Swiss also has a 10-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son from a previous relationship.
Mashonda said she was forced to change her interaction with her ex-husband after their son began commenting on the negative aspects of his parents relationship.
“We got to figure this out”, Mashonda said about her stance during that time. “Even if we don’t want to for ourselves right now, we have to do it for hime because he doesn’t deserve this,” she continued.
The turning point in the trio’s relationship occurred when Mashonda invited Keys to Kasseem’s sixth birthday party.
“We love each other. I mean, we hang out with each other. We go to dinner together,” Keys said. “We’re doing Thanksgiving, we’re doing the holidays. “It is a beautiful partnership,” she continued. “And that is really, really special. I’m very, very proud of that.”
While expanding what the term “family” looks like it important for a variety of reasons, especially for those who grow up outside of traditional standards, it was a bit bothersome to see that in a moment of shining glory, Mashonda seems forced to share it with two individuals who were once the source of so much pain.
After years of moving forward in a positive place, she put her pen to paper and hashed out a blueprint for other family units who found glory in healing for the sake of themselves, but also for the sake of their children.
Even in a promo tweet for the trio’s interview, Mashonda is noticeably absent from the picture, only mentioned as Swizz’s “ex-wife.”
As the topic of their relationship was thoroughly discussed in a recent article on MadameNoire–the problem is not that they are presenting a united front, the real issue lies within the sense that in all of her accomplishments, it seems Mashonda has to also be reminded that she is a woman tied to a very powerful man and his powerful wife.
A perfect solution to this equation would have been to let Mashonda share her journey as a fearless woman who overcame a life altering obstacle to find her truth.
