Loving Day

Featured photo: Bella as baby with her parents

I’ve seen a lot of confusion today on social media about what exactly Loving Day is, so I wanted to write a brief bit here on the blog and to encourage you all to research the “Loving Vs Virginia” case.

On June 12, 1967, the supreme court ruled that the laws prohibiting interracial marriages in Virginia were unconstitutional. Richard & Mildred Loving won that case against the state of Virginia. This led to the abolishing of all anti-miscegenation laws that were left in 16 states across the U.S., and began making the way for people to be openly married to someone of another race.

It is a little crazy to think that this was only 53 years ago.

It is also a little crazy to think that without Loving Day, none of my siblings or I would be “legal”. My parents love would have had to have been a secret if it would have happened at all. If any of us kids existed, we would have had to walk even more carefully through this world, and most likely would have only been able to marry someone who matched our appearance. My marriage would certainly have been taboo as well, just because of the difference in our skin tones and appearance.

While my parents faced, and sometimes still face, instances of racism and prejudice due to there love- 53 years ago we won the right to interracial marriages, turning over one stone of from the foundation that is systemic racism. And while we don’t experience the same level of ostracization that the Loving’s did, or prejudice as frequently as my parents have, we can still attest to the fact that we have a long way to go.

Here, in present day, I find my self-identifying Black / Multi-racial & Multi-ethnic American self, married to a Black African American man…. and it is not lost on me that we continue this fight for black lives here in the year 2020. We continue to fight for black lives to have the same rights, to be able to just live, breathe, and – we dream – to eventually thrive without the inhibitions of systemic racism in our justice system, education systems, or our healthcare systems, just to name a few.

This year in particular with all that is going on around these 2020 uprisings and this movement for black lives, Loving Day feels particularly precious. I hold my Black loved ones, and especially my husband, extra close today…

Thanking God for them.

For their lives.

For the breaths they breathe.

May we all continue to learn from our history and broaden our scopes; That our journeys would include deep friendships with those of diverse backgrounds.

May we continue to be stretched, to grow, to have our perspectives challenged.

And may we continue to fight for the equality of all.

#BlackLivesMatter