What is love?

 Is it a feeling, is it a practice, is it unconditional, is it a way of life?

Black love is a freeing force that is powerful, it is revolutionary, it is healing, it is unapologetic, it is proud, and it is unifying. Black love is unwavering and fearless: it stands in the face of opposition and proclaims admiration, joy, commitment, and an honoring of our ancestors.   

What does it mean to love in a world that tells you that you are unlovable; that attempts to make us not love ourselves and each other? A world that has specifically created and perpetuated trauma and thus, a need for profound healing. What does it mean to love in a world that attempts to make us not love ourselves and each other? If we can look to love in opposition to fear, if we can offer each other things that have been taken away, if we can be soft where we have been made hard, and if we can hold where we have been torn apart, Black Love will heal. 

We Need Love features artists from across the diaspora whose work reflects layers of love: as celebration, as complicated, and as beautiful. Working within the mediums of photography, painting, sculpture, video, textile, and mixed media, these artists peel apart self-love, romantic love, love for our communities, and love of our people. Black love is woven through time and space, across waters, and land.