It's All Love: Black Writers on Soul Mates, Family and Friends

by Marita Golden

In It’s All Love , Black writers celebrate the complexity, power, danger, and glory of love in all its many romantic, familial, communal, and sacred. Editor Marita Golden recounts the morning she woke up certain that she would meet her soul mate in “My Own Happy Ending”; memoirist Reginald Dwayne Betts, in a piece he calls “Learning the Name Dad,” writes stirringly about serving time in prison and how that transformed his life for the better; New York Times bestselling author Pearl Cleage is at her best in the delicate, touching “Missing You”; award-winning author David Anthony Durham enraptures readers with his “An Act of Faith”; New York Times bestselling author L. A. Banks is both funny and wise in her beautiful essay on discovering love as a child, “Two Cents and a Question.” And the poetry of love is here, too—from Gwendolyn Brooks’s classic “Black Wedding Song” to works by Nikki Giovanni, E. Ethelbert Miller, and Kwame Alexander. It’s All Love is a dazzling, delightfully diverse exploration of the wonderful gift of love.

Genres: African American, Nonfiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Marita Golden (born April 28, 1950) is an award-winning novelist, nonfiction writer, distinguished teacher of writing and co-founder of the Hurston/Wright Foundation, a national organization that serves as a resource center for African-American writers.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Ebony · Rating 2 out of 5]

A whole book about black people and love: I mean, love is what I study, but I was skeptical at first and yes there were a few but just a few that didn’t represent a love that I would like to have but most of the stories in the loving feeling first half of the book just made me giddy. I kept saying to myself, I want to be loved like that. Truth told, I enjoyed the fiction stories more than I did the real life ones. I am trying not to believe that fiction is more hopeful than real life for black love, but that’s how I felt. Maybe I just don’t read enough fiction. The ties that bind section was much more tedious. If I had to read another story about a dead grandparent, I was going to throw the book out of the car window. I started skipping around because all of the stories started to sound the same. I know that love is more than heterosexual intimate relationships (nope no same sex intimate relationships repped here), but the family love that she depicted didn’t resonate with my experiences of family. I started to feel deficient because my grandparents didn’t act like the beloved ones in the stories. I felt more conflicted about the binding stories than the relational ones. One can always find another lover, but we’re stuck with family. I felt like if my family didn’t love the way black love was represented here then there was fundamentally something wrong with me and I didn’t want to feel attacked by a book I was reading for fun. Maybe my family just has issues, but Golden could have done a better job with the diversity of stories selected for the second half. The first was right on. The second was suspect.

Favorite Quote:
Love is a Verb—Kim McLarin
307—“Lovelessness leaves a mark that makes it harder to get love and to receive it, which leaves a mark, which makes it harder, and round and round. The people who most need love, the ones with the biggest holes in their hearts from childhood wounds, are the ones least likely to get it, because those same wounds create in them attributes and personalities that frighten or drive love away.”

[Joshunda Sanders · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved this book, even the essays I didn't make it through. My favorite was by Doreen Baingana, a writer I discovered through this collection who wrote the first essay about meeting a man younger than herself and having a strong response to him. It's beautifully written, spare, passionate without being over the top; a hard balance to strike when writing about affairs of the heart. I adored Marita Golden's essay about her marriage and about writing as sorcery. Some proceeds go to the Hurston/Wright Foundation and that, too, makes it a collection worth exploring. Plus, Gwendolyn Brooks' "Wedding Song" poem, one of my favorites of all time, is near the beginning of the book, so, that's added incentive in case you needed it.

[Karah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luscious, vibrant, engrossing. I'd buy this book for myself and someone else. Someone black, whether or not they were proud of their blackness. Maybe even to a nonblack individual who wanted a wider vista of Black people. It made me joyous to learn about new black authors. Sonsyrea Tate, E.Ethelbert, Nicole Bailey-Williams, to name a few. Glorious

[Katta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uplifting with lots of great writers. Wasn't expecting the fiction sections but it was all very well-written.

[Adrienna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I should've paid closer attention when getting this book from the library. I am not a big fan of anthology and rarely read ones that are good/great but may have some hidden talents. I did see a few in this book as I started but once I got past the poetry section and skimmed through the pages...I realized this isn't what I was looking to read in the first place when requested. Therefore, I stopped and will return back.

Leisure read, 2014

[Malika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice collection of Essays and Stories. It's rare to see a compilation of Love stories centered on African Americans. One would think, based on stereotypes and news/tv portrayals, that the Black Family is fractured and a rarity. But this book shows real love stories and fiction that reminds you that love is love...and every culture feels love deeply and spiritually.

[Letitia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each story and poem reminds me that we have gotten away from literature. The author obviously choose their words wisely so that the reader becomes a part of the stories. They do this in 6-7 pages at times. I see love differently after this book--Awesome!

[Juanita Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories about children and friends were the best ones. They are completely on point. Since I recently lost my dear sister-friend, this book affirmed the love that I had for her. It affirms that our soulmates come in all shapes, sizes, and relationships.

[Ali Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening and inspiring. Wonderful stories of Black Love.