Relationships ain’t easy for anyone but in the Black community they are often challenged by racism, sexism and financial pressures. Those themes are examined in a new book “Where Did Our Love Go?: Love and Relationships in the African-American Community.” The book is a collection of essays that cover being single, married and divorced from a wide variety of male and female writers of varying ages, education, socioeconomic backgrounds and experiences. Editor Gil Robertson IV, a veteran journalist who is also the editor of “Not in My Family: AIDS in the African-American Community and “Family Affair: What It Means to Be an African-American Today” says he hopes the book will inspire constructive dialogue about Black love and relationships.
“I wanted to do this book because of the need that we (the black community) have to address the how and why of what’s going on with our relationships. We all know the issues, so what i really wanted to uncover was what we can do (collectively and individually) to make better choices with regards to our life partners. Featuring an amazing group of contributors (including many of my journalist colleagues), “Where Did Our Love Go” provides a comprehensive look at where we are in terms of love and relationships and they offer great suggestions for where we’re going.”
Stories like ones from beauty blogger Tia Williams whose essay “Found Love In A Hopeless Place” explores a relationship with a younger man, and Velma Pace whose essay “It’s Not Where You’re From…It’s Where You’re At,” details her long but ultimately triumphant journey to love, are part of what makes the book special. R&B singer Anthony Hamilton and his wife Tarsha Hamilton submit essays from their own unique viewpoints of their marriage. By including the spectrum of Black experience for the single, the newly married, the longterm married and the happily and unhappily divorced, “Where Did Our Love Go” provides a needed overview of contemporary Black love. With reality shows that mine our dysfunctional relationships ever more popular, this book of honest essays about real people should help contribute to a clearer view not just of where Black love is, but where it’s going.
