Black Love Matters
Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
An incisive, intersectional essay anthology that celebrates and examines romance and romantic media through the lens of Black readers, writers, and cultural commentators, edited by Book Riot columnist and librarian Jessica Pryde.
Romantic love has been one of the most essential elements of storytelling for centuries. But for Black people in the United States and across the diaspora, it hasn't often been easy to find Black romance joyfully showcased in entertainment media. In this collection, revered authors and sparkling newcomers, librarians and academicians, and avid readers and reviewers consider the mirrors and windows into Black love as it is depicted in the novels, television shows, and films that have shaped their own stories. Whether personal reflection or cultural commentary, these essays delve into Black love now and in the past, including topics from the history of Black romance to social justice and the Black community to the meaning of desire and desirability.
Exploring the multifaceted ways love is seen—and the ways it isn't—this diverse array of Black voices collectively shines a light on the power of crafting happy endings for Black lovers.
Jessica Pryde is joined by Carole V. Bell, Sarah Hannah Gomez, Jasmine Guillory, Da’Shaun Harrison, Margo Hendricks, Adriana Herrera, Piper Huguley, Kosoko Jackson, Nicole M. Jackson, Beverly Jenkins, Christina C. Jones, Julie Moody-Freeman, and Allie Parker in this collection.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Book Riot columnist Pryde collects 14 essays on the myriad forms that Black romance takes in this moving and original anthology. Pryde spotlights in her introduction the "fraught road to publication" Black romance stories have faced: "There is something utterly transformative about being exposed to Black love—whether in a book, on a screen, or in real life." The essays that follow discuss romance in many forms: in "A Short History of African American Romance," Beverly Jenkins studies Black romance writers post-Reconstruction, while in "Finding Queer Black Women in Romance. Finding Bits and Pieces of Me," Nicole M. Jackson recounts her quest to find celebratory Black queer love on screen: "Far too many of the stories I've found were unhappy, and not in the Kill Your Gays™ way, but in the Forever Alone kind of way." Julie E. Moody-Freeman, meanwhile, describes developing a college course on Black love in "Black Cultural Studies and Black Love," and Pryde surveys the genre tropes surrounding interracial romance in "Interracial Romance and the Single Story." The collection's strength is in its thoughtfulness and wealth of perspectives. The result is as unique as it is heartfelt. Agent: Tara Gelsomino, One Track Literary Agency.
