*cracks knuckle*

Okay y'all here we go. In the September 2018 issue of VOGUE, Beyoncé said that she was a descendant of a slave owner who married an enslaved woman.

People were upset and tried to disprove her claim. So let's unpack it starting with her mother, Célestine:

This is Beyoncé's mother, Célestine Ann. She was born in Galveston to Lumis and Agnéz (née Deréon) Béyince in 1954. She's from a Creole family. Many Creole families migrated to Texas and Louisiana during the 20th c. because of shifting racial and social classifications back home.

But let's focus on Beyoncé's maternal grandmother Agnéz because in certain records she's listed as Deréon or her alternative name, DeRouen. DeRouen is a strong Acadian name, which makes sense because Agnéz was born in Vermilion Parish, where Acadian settlers once settled in LA.

Agnéz was born to Eugene and Odelia. Odelia's maiden name was Broussard. Broussard is a very common Creole surname. The Broussards are deep in Vermilion Parish. All Broussards of LA descend from Joseph Broussard, leader of the Acadian people.

But that's not the issue, is it?

You see...Odelia Broussard (born 1863 or 1864), Beyoncé's great grandmother, is the daughter of Eloi and Celestine, his domestic servant. Here's a photo of her.

You still following? Here's where it's about to get interesting.

Resource: Christophe Landry, a Creole genealogist

Here's the dispute: According to Landry's research, Eloi (a white man) and Celestine never married. They just had a consensual relationship from which she born him 13 children. Some say he did marry her because of a marriage record found in New Iberia.

Suspense!

Now we have an issue. Descendants of Celestine and Eloi say that they did marry whereas genealogists claim that it was a mistranscription in the marriage records at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in New Iberia.

So was Beyoncé lying? It's just not that simple...

Here's what we DO know: Regardless of Eloi and Celestine's relationship, he donated land for a family cemetery in New Iberia. There are census records of their union.

Where is Eloi buried now?

Broussard Cemetery in Derouen, Iberia Parish, LA.

Remember the name Derouen?

And speaking of land, the children of Eloi, a white man, and Celestine, an Afro-Creole woman, filed succession claims in St. Martin Parish (where my dad's family's from!) before he even died back in 1866.

So what does this tell us?

There is a rift between oral and documented history in Black families. Beyoncé was told that her ancestors, a slave owner and an enslaved woman, married. The church confirms it. Genealogists like Landry dispute it.

This is the conundrum of Black oral history versus archives...

Just like in the prologue of Eve's Bayou--a white man was not giving a Black Creole woman land for nothing. There was a relationship and there was most likely children involved. These are Beyoncé's words. I believe she's referring to Eloi and Celestine.

It adds up!

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is a descendant of Joseph Broussard. Even if there was no marriage, there was a union and her family members have land stakes in the Broussard name. The cemetery is proof of it.

The revelation is grappling w/ consent and power during the antebellum period.

Do you side with generations-long oral storytelling and church records or genealogists?

This is the point of contention. My (unsolicited) opinion? No, Beyoncé was not lying. We're just not comfortable with these kinds of conversations.

*takes deep breath*

FIN!

How'd I do? :)