Tina Knowles knew her daughter Solange was an activist at an early age.

Before Solange was given the Lena Horne Prize to honor her activism, Knowles told us that when the singer was just 12, “the [school] principal called me in and said, ‘Solange is starting trouble.’ And I’m like, ‘What did she do?’”

It turned out Solange had started a petition to get a teacher fired. Knowles added, “When they told me, I was actually very proud of her. I was like, ‘Way to go, Solange!’ ” She told us that she “didn’t punish her. Absolutely not for trying to make a good change.”

Also at the event were Martin Luther King III, Horne’s daughter, Gail Lumet Buckley, her daughter Jenny Lumet and Tamron Hall.