EXCLUSIVE: Demetria McKinney On New Projects & Life As a Single Parent: "My Son Is My Lifesaver"

Demetria McKinney is on everyone’s radar now that she’s dropping new music, starring in several movies and keeping the other ladies on their toes on RHOA.

Still, many people don’t realize that her biggest role in life is playing mom to her son, whom she calls her “mini me.”

“My son is my lifesaver. When I had him I was at a really lost time in my life and God knows what to do to set things right if you let Him,” she says.

“My son came in and it made me have to grow up and it made me take things seriously but it also kept me so young. We grew up together and in the process of having a son I got a life partner, I got a best friend and I got a responsibility that made me proud of being who I am.”

The accomplished singer and actress has a couple of new movies coming down the pipeline including Let The Church Say Amen and the “gritty” Sons To The Grave which highlights many of the social and racial issues we’re facing now.

As a real-life single mom to a black teenager, Demetria says she’s keenly aware of her responsibility and she always makes time for her No. 1 priority.

“I have never felt alone and I’ve always had this one special cheerleader looking up to me to show him that you can go and get anything regardless of what your situation is. We talk openly and honestly. He feels so open with me about everything because I have set that standard,” she explains.

“He’s always watching and he knows exactly where I am and what’s coming up next and when he needs me to slow down we make that happen.”

Demetria explained how the current trend of police brutality from Michael Brown to Sandra Bland has affected her son and how she approaches tough issues with him.

“He’s very aware of it. I have also taught him it’s not all of them. There are bad cops and there are bad people. Cops are people with badges. If you try to give them a blanket statement that makes us just as guilty as them,” she says.

“I wanted him to know that once that social security card came and that box was marked African American there came a stigma with that and he had the opportunity and responsibility to change.”

She recalled how the Trayvon Martin case hit home for her son.

“It got real for him. My son is a skater. he’s not into rap and playing basketball. He’s 6’3″ and he’s so far from the norm of what they would like to cast us as. He will wear his hoodie and when Trayvon Martin happened I watched that lightbulb go off and he was like, ‘All he had was Skittles. He was just trying to walk,'” she says.

“It scared me for him but it really helped amp up everything I had taught him like why he has to be respectful, why he has to be in at a certain time, why I have to know his friends or why he has to call when he gets to his destination. He has been watching everything since then and I think it has made him so much more responsible.”

While Demetria may make her fabulous life look easy, it wasn’t always that way and she’s hoping to share some of her struggles and triumphs with the world through her music and her upcoming a bum, Officially Yours does just that.

“It wasn’t all kittens and rainbows. I have had hard times as a single mom and I’ve had a hard time in dealing with myself and women in general. Women can be some of the biggest bullies there are. This is me, not the characters you have gotten to know. Their stories are theirs and the music is mine,” she says.

“On this album, I wanted to really cater to women. No shade against fellas but I know I’m not alone in these situations. I’ve had the cheaters, I’ve had a guy have a baby on me. I’ve been in this single mother position since I found out I was pregnant. You can come out of it, you can find love you can be sexy. You can still be alive in the midst of everything life throws at you.”

Article by: Cortney M. Wills