What’s Love Got to Do With It? Loving Differently in Afro-Descendant Families.

What’s Love Got to Do With It? Loving Differently in Afro-Descendant Families

In many Afro-descendant families, love has not always been expressed through words. It has often taken the form of sacrifice, responsibility, protection, discipline, or silence. Shaped by histories of colonialism, migration, survival, and resilience, these ways of loving have helped families endure — while also leaving questions, misunderstandings, and at times emotional distance.

This event offers a space for reflection and dialogue on how love is lived, transmitted, and transformed within Afro-descendant families. Inspired by the cultural reference What’s Love Got to Do With It?, participants are invited to explore their emotional legacies: How did we learn to love? How was love expressed between parents and children, across generations? What was passed down — intentionally or not?

The discussion will be facilitated and moderated by social workers, therapists, and individuals from interdisciplinary professional backgrounds, ensuring a respectful, safe, and nuanced space. Without adopting a therapeutic framework or assigning blame, these facilitators will support dialogue, encourage attentive listening, and help hold space for diverse lived experiences.

Designed for an intergenerational audience, this event welcomes anyone interested in better understanding Afro-descendant family dynamics and reflecting on love as an inheritance, a language, and a space for collective transformation.