Jim Spellman/WireImageAs Queen Latifah enjoys the success of her new TV series, The Equalizer, she’s remembering how her late mother paved the way for her trailblazing 32-year career.
“She was always an encouragement,” Latifah says of her mom, Rita Owens, in this week’s People cover story. Owens passed way from heart failure in March 2018. “Everything queenly about me came from my mother,” says Latifah.
While many adults were skeptical about careers in hip-hop in the 1990s, Latifah’s mother was extremely supportive.
“That made a big difference, having an adult who believes in this new burgeoning kind of music that you’re doing, not just as a form of
