James Brown's Daughters Explain Why They Forgave Him After Seeing Him Beat Their Mom (Exclusive)

Deanna Brown Thomas and Yamma Brown open up about how they found peace after a tumultuous childhood in A&E's 'James Brown: Say It Loud'

James Brown was a superstar and a loving father — but he was also a flawed husband.

In this week's issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday, James' daughters Deanna Brown Thomas and Yamma Brown open up about finding forgiveness for their father after he abused their mother, Deidre Jenkins, growing up.

"When you see a family member being hurt, you're not feeling the best about the person that's hurting them," Yamma, 51, tells PEOPLE. "I was flat-out upset, mad with my dad at that moment. I still go back to that place every now and then, not to belittle my dad, but flashing back over my own life and the domestic violence situation in my life, thinking how much of that shaped me."

In a four-part docuseries on the "I Got You (Feel Good)" singer's life and career, which premiered Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on A&E and is directed by Deborah Riley Draper, Yamma recalls the last time she saw him hit her mother — and she jumped in to stop him. She was around 6 years old when it happened.

Related: James Brown's Daughters Discuss Growing Up with the 'Godfather of Soul' in New Docuseries (Exclusive)

"I talk about it in the sense that it happened. It is an unfortunate time in anybody's situation, anybody's life. If they've ever had to go through domestic violence, they know what that's like. And it shows that he was human because he was flawed, but it also is a time to show grace," she says of her famous father, who died of congestive heart failure caused by pneumonia at age 73 in 2006.

Yamma continues, "That's how I think about it, in order to move on from that space, you do have to talk about it, you do have to acknowledge that it happened."

Deanna, 55, knew her father's presence was "intense" — but she assures PEOPLE that he never turned his rage on his daughters. (James was raised by his father Jospeh, who physically abused him and his mother, Susie.)

"There was a time when I didn't like my father. I didn't like him because of this type of behavior. I saw a lot growing up. I heard a lot growing up that could have damaged me for a lifetime," she says.

Related: James Brown's Daughter Venisha Brown Dies at 53: 'My Heart Is Broken'

Adding of the family dynamics, "He never had any type of rage towards us because we were his children. That was a situation between a husband and a wife. There's different type of love, different type of circumstances."

James and Jenkins, his second wife, sought a divorce in 1981 and she forgave him with time. In his third marriage to Adrienne Rodriguez, however, he was arrested several times for allegedly assaulting her.

"My dad did apologize to my mom. Not to say that that was something that just erased everything, but also knowing that he had compassion in his heart and my mom was receptive to that," Yamma explains.

For more on the legacy of James Brown, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.

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Read the original article on People.