Black Love: A perspective based on personal experience

Black Love: A perspective based on personal experience 

Writer: Mark Huffman 

Editor: Malcolm Lovett

I never grew up hating any woman. Not white, black, hispanic, or asian. Loving women was never a problem for me. My mother showed me what unconditional love was. I didn't grow up knowing how hard it was to love someone because she loved me so easily. Some might say this is black love, but my mother is white. Black love is a concept I'm not too familiar with. I didn't know what I was for the longest. I thought it was my cousin Tiffany, God bless her soul, that ignited the question. What are nigga naps? Ever since then the world began to split apart. No disrespect to the black love community, I can only tell you from my experience. The love I got from my black father was a little harder to understand. It's been so long since I've felt any resentment towards my father. When you're a kid you don't understand why certain situations happen. I used to get beatings what felt like everyday to me; could've been every other day or week. There's a lot of things I wish my dad would've done with me as a kid. Like teach me how to ride a bike or how to play basketball. I grew up avoiding my father so, maybe he was trying to reach out and I dismissed him because I was angry at him. I didn't understand what it meant to be loved by my father. Now, I do. There's a lot of things I felt like I had to do on my own. I don't resent my dad, who in my opinion now looking back was just trying to do what he thought was best for me. I am the man and will be the father I want to be because of my dad. Black love can be experienced in different ways and our ability to connect with friends and feel the love of family through them will teach us on our journey what love looks like. We must be appreciative of the people closest to us and how they fill in the gaps of our hearts, picking up where someone else may have left off.