Holy Matrimony

In Professor Ashleigh Wade’s “Black Love: Media Representations vs. Reality” course, we discussed Black love in its various forms, and in Aneeka Ayanna Henderson’s, Associate Professor of American Studies at Amherst College, book titled Veil & Vow: Marriage Matters in Contemporary African American Culture, she explains Black bridal pathos as a critical concept portrayed by the media that Black women are the least desirable in the marriage market. This is a reflection of one of the many disparities in the Black community, and it inspired me to create a piece as protest: my interpretation of Henderson’s Black Bridal Pathos is a portrait of a Black bride who is facing the dilemma of choosing self-preservation or taking a risk in love.