In honor of Valentine’s Day and Black History Month, we’re celebrating black love. Whether you’ve embraced it, rejected it, given up on it, or didn’t think it mattered: black love still exists and is an important means to mending and maintaining black society. A lot of people assume that celebrating black is just another way of separating ourselves from others, which is certainly not the case. Yes all love matters, from interracial love to same sex love, but from past to present, black love has moved mountains. Whether if it was tons of slave families being separated and risking it all to find their significant other as seen in the fictional Django Unchained or the election and integration of the first family in the White House with the last name Obama, black love has been the heart beat of our survival all along. A mutual admiration for each other’s existence in the face of constant adversity over the years has kept black love strong and relevant. Black love has taught us to value ourselves.
At our age, tons of people have yet to realize how important the family structure is to life. When you’re investing your time into somebody, it’s to find a mate. One day, that person could be helping you raise another life in this world. Their existence is all based around both of you. That being said, our generation has a lot to learn. This is the generation of sidepieces and “situationships”. You can definitely see that almost everywhere. Divorce rates have been on the rise for years and that’s not to mention “baby mamas” and “dead-beat dads.”
Rekindling the flame of black love is necessary in saving ourselves. So many times we are bashing each other instead of respecting ourselves and others in our community. Anti-black ideals have washed our race out, divided us, and turned us against each other. The slander has to stop. Loving each other is the first step. The warm embrace of your partner and that lingering heir of commitment is a beautiful aspect of love. Knowing that your partner will always be there for you is a shared intimate experience. Sharing and valuing your culture is a principle other ethnic groups make a priority and black people should do the same. The soul food is the realization that black love is self love.