Male Energy

Francis (my husband) and Cris

When I got home yesterday the long awaited disc containing the professional photos from our wedding had finally arrived, photos I have looked at many times already by now and which I look forward to looking at hundreds of time again.  I am constantly moved by the tiny beautiful, funny and endearing moments captured in the prep photos of myself, the bridesmaids, flower girls, my mother and mother in law and all the women in the bridal party. But when I see the prep photos of the men in the grooms suite I am always just so touched at the ways in which they are captured taking care of one another and helping each other out. My husband has always been one of the few men I've ever known who truly values his friendships with his male friends and family members and I have always loved that about him. And for the most part I've also always really loved his friends and family members male and female alike. There are a few that I've known for a long time, since the day he and I met and others that he's made friends with along the way. His friends really care about him and it shows in the way they show up for him. It's a wonderful to see given the reputation may men have for being flaky, insensitive and non-committal and let's not mention dispelling the heaps of negative stereotypes about Black men, that they are mostly violent, lazy, irresponsible and jobless.

Derrick (Best Man) and Francis

It's not often we really celebrate the more loving side of men, black men in particular, towards one another. In the months leading up to my wedding I committed to collecting only images of Black and of color people getting married on my wedding pinterest board which meant I was restricted mostly to Munaluchi bride which was really fine since they have a prolific feed of "Real Wedding" images and and Engagement Sessions to look at and sort through. It was such a wonderful thing to be able to see black men and women getting married, to read their stories and to follow the narrative of their wedding day through thoughtful and inspiring images. Men may be very different creatures from women but their capacity for love, nurturing and support is great. In Black men this is a quality which is severely underestimated and underrepresented by American culture. I am thankful to have been raised by one of the most supportive and nurturing Black men I know, my dad, to have an equally loving, hilarious and supportive brother and to be married to a man who encompasses all of those qualities and more.