Solange praises mother as heart of the family

Solange Knowles has praised her mother Tina as the "heart and soul" of their family.

The 30-year-old singer loved growing up in a largely female household, though she also learned a lot from her "super smart and brilliant" father, Mathew Knowles.

She said: "I grew up in a house with five women. My mother, my sister B (Beyoncé), Kelly (Rowland) actually moved in with us when I was five. And my other — I also consider [her] my sister, but she’s actually my first cousin, Angie — she moved in with us when I was 13.

"So this household was all women’s work. Literally. And there was absolutely nothing that couldn’t be done between us.

"My father was super smart and brilliant and instilled many wonderful qualities in us, but my mother was really the heart and soul of the family."

Solange is a "proud black feminist" and wants to encourage more females to "fight the fight" for all women, though she thinks good progress is already being made.

She told Bust magazine: ""I am a proud black feminist and womanist and I’m extremely proud of the work that’s being done. I’m a feminist who wants not only to hear the term intersectionality, but actually feel it, and see the evolution of what intersectional feminism can actually achieve.

"I want women’s rights to be equally honored, and uplifted, and heard…but I want to see us fighting the fight for all women — women of color, our LGBTQ sisters, our Muslim sisters. I want to see millions of us marching out there for our rights, and I want to see us out there marching for the rights of women like Dajerria Becton, who was body slammed by a cop while she was in her swimsuit for simply existing as a young, vocal, black girl.

"I think we are inching closer and closer there, and for that, I am very proud."