Singer Alicia Keys and her husband, Swizz Beatz pay homage to Black Panther leaders, Eldridge Cleaver and his wife, Kathleen Neal Cleaver on the cover
Singer Alicia Keys and her husband, Swizz Beatz pay homage to Black Panther leaders, Eldridge Cleaver and his wife, Kathleen Neal Cleaver on the cover of Cultured magazine. This will be the first time the couple will be together on a magazine cover and both look like the true power couple that they are. The cover is a re-creation of a 1970 photograph of the Black Panther leaders.
Both Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz who have been married for seven years are friends and co-chairs of the Gordon Parks Foundation, so they thought it right to be the representation of what the Back Panther leaders were during their time for the cover shoot
On their relationship, Swizz Beatz said, “We don’t raise our voices, it’s all about communication.”
He said he and Alicia maturely looked at what didn’t work in past relationships, and they both dedicated themselves to doing something different.
“Where I’m weak, she’s strong and vice versa. We always talk about how we don’t own each other. She owns herself, I own myself, but we come together and have this amazing family. We established that early, both coming out of long relationships. We knew what had worked in our past relationships and what hadn’t. We came to the table a little knowledgeable for this round.”
Alicia Keys admits that it’s hard to consistently communicate effectively with her husband when all you want to do is listen to respond.
“It’s a bit of a challenge sometimes to figure out how to be patient enough to listen and not be so quick to shut down or get defensive, but to pay attention,” she said.
This seems to be working for the pair, who not only seem to be enjoying marriage with each other, but they’re building a beautiful Black legacy together as well. The couple has a philanthropic organization and family collection of international contemporary art called The Dean Collection.
“The collection started not just because we’re art lovers, but also because there’s not enough people of color collecting artists of color. We don’t own enough of our culture. So we want to lead the pack in owning our own culture and owning our own narrative instead of waiting for someone who’s not part of the culture to tell our story for us.” Swizz Beatz said.
Read their full interview here
