Statistics about divorce rates in the African American community leads to beliefs that there’s no Black love. But when we turn on the television and see the Obamas smooching and hugging, we see hope. That optimistic attitude is apparent in Marita Go
Statistics about divorce rates in the African American community leads to beliefs that there’s no Black love. But when we turn on the television and see the Obamas smooching and hugging, we see hope. That optimistic attitude is apparent in Marita Golden’s It’s All Love: Black Writers on Soul Mates, Family, and Friends collaboration.
It’s All Love takes readers through the ups and downs of friendship, marriage, parenthood and death through poems, nonfiction and fictional stories.
Nonfiction stories like After She Left, by Will Bester, is about a “good Black man” who has become so numb to the idea of sharing his feelings that he doesn’t appreciate a good woman until she’s out the door.
Perfect couples who aren’t always perfect, such as the journalists’ connection and marriage in Loving Johnny Deadline, by Lisa Page, makes readers understand why divorce may be necessary to meet your soul mate.
The History of the World by Veronica Chambers, although fiction, sounds very close to a famous Black political couple and details the envy around these two, and states that one character “might be the first Black man to serve as president of the United States” and “lives in an itsy-bitsy house in the suburbs of Chicago, and his wife actually thinks Ann Taylor is a big name designer.” When There’s Trouble at Home encourages married couples to have date nights once a week (sound familiar?) and talks about marrying a fraternity man who may not have been ready for marriage.
Page-turners like An Act of Faith, by David Anthony Durham, about a 20-something couple who fall in love at first sight, and Why We Jump, by William Henry Lewis, about a man who jumps from his roof into another tenant’s home bloody and bruised, left me wanting to read novels by these authors instead of short stories.
Then there’s uneasy love.
______
To read the rest of this article, subscribe to our digital or paper edition. For previous editions, contact us for details.
Copyright 2009 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
About Post Author
