The System vs. Black Love: Breaking the Chains

Dear You,

Black love is powerful. It is the foundation of our families, the heartbeat of our communities, and the legacy that keeps us moving forward. But from the moment our ancestors were stolen from their land, the system has worked against Black love separating families, criminalizing affection, and creating obstacles meant to break what was never meant to be broken.

From slavery, where our people were denied the right to marry, to mass incarceration, which continues to strip Black families of stability, the system has long been an enemy of Black love. Welfare policies once discouraged marriage in Black households, and redlining kept Black couples from building generational wealth. The media often distorts our love stories, painting them as dysfunctional or broken, when in reality, we have loved each other through every attempt to erase us.

The system wants us to believe that Black love is fragile, but history tells a different story. We have loved in the face of oppression. We have built families in the face of destruction. We have chosen each other despite every attempt to make us feel unworthy of real, lasting love.

Today, we need to reclaim Black love as revolutionary. We need choose each other despite the barriers. We need build together, heal together, and create spaces where our love is protected and honored. We need to rewrite the narrative, knowing that Black love is not only real, but it is unstoppable.

Keep loving. Keep building. Keep fighting for what is yours.