When BlackLove.com launched in 2018, it was more than a digital extension of the acclaimed “Black Love” docuseries — it was a cultural home. A place for honest, nuanced, and healing-centered conversations about love in all its forms, created by and for Black people. As we reintroduce BlackLove.com in 2025, our mission remains the same: to reflect the realness of Black relationships, to celebrate our stories, and to offer tools for building stronger connections — flaws and all.

Founded by Tommy and Codie Elaine Oliver, the creators of “Black Love” on OWN, BlackLove.com was born out of a desire to counter the overwhelming narrative that Black relationships are failing, fragile, or fractured. Through more than six seasons of the series, audiences saw real Black couples open up about everything — intimacy, infidelity, financial stress, blended families, illness, raising children, discovery of self-love and healing from relationship trauma. These conversations rippled engagement across social media and begged for a digital space where those stories could live on, evolve, and expand. That’s the heartbeat of BlackLove.com.

Today let’s get an overview of the topics covered in our relationships section:

• Why This Platform Matters Right Now
• Building a Foundation in a Relationship 
• Red Flags in a Relationship
• Green Flags in a Relationship
• Relationship Trauma
• Black Celebrity Relationships
• Relationship Advice for Married Couples

Why This Platform Matters Right Now

Politically and socially, the need for uplifting Black love and partnership has never been more urgent. While national divorce rates hover around 40-50%, data suggests that Black couples often face higher rates of separation. Yet, the couples featured on Black Love have maintained an astounding 92% marriage rate as of this writing. That statistic doesn’t suggest perfection—it points to the power of community, vulnerability, and intentionality. These couples aren’t immune to hardship, but they’ve built the tools to withstand it.

BlackLove.com exists to share those tools. We’re a living library of relationship advice for married couples, single folks navigating dating apps, blended families redefining “traditional,” and everyone in between. We create space for stories that span the spectrum — from how to define monogamous relationships to asking can a relationship survive infidelity. Our platform explores the light side of the love with articles like Valentine’s day ideas for long distance relationships, yet we also we have grown up conversations about goal setting in relationships. 

Additional topics that live on BlackLove.com include:

Building a Foundation in a Relationship 

Building a foundation in a relationship takes honesty and patience; sustaining it takes accountability and maturity. When contributor Briana Johnson-Sims wrote about the essentials of building a strong relationship foundation, she emphasized respect, communication, and chemistry over superficial attributes.

Red Flags in a Relationship

One of our most-read pieces breaks down common red flags in relationships — from love bombing and control to inconsistent communication and unresolved childhood trauma. These signs often get ignored in the early stages of love, but understanding them is essential for healthy dating and long-term partnership. As Mama Kourtney from The Mama’s Den podcast once shared, “Ignoring a red flag doesn’t make it go away. It just sets the stage for a breakdown you didn’t prepare for.”

Green Flags in a Relationship

And while we reveal the dangers of red flags, we also share how to navigate green flags in relationships.

Relationship Trauma

Whether it’s the trauma of witnessing divorce as a child or experiencing betrayal as an adult, unhealed wounds can reopen when we’re triggered. Through in-depth chats with experts like Dr. Allycin Powell-Hicks, we’ve learned that healing has to start within the individual in order for the couple to heal as a whole. In the “Couch Conversations” episode, “Is Marriage A Necessity?” couples discussed what it meant to do the work individually before showing up as a partner. “I had to learn to forgive myself first,” one guest reflected.

At BlackLove.com, we know that relationship trauma doesn’t disappear overnight. From our guides on trauma bonding to episodes of “Couch Conversations” that explore emotional triggers, we provide tools for healing. If you’ve ever Googled “red flags in a relationship,” you’ll find articles here that go beyond the basics — looking at how trauma, attachment styles, and generational habits shape how we love.

Black Celebrity Relationships

We also examine how public Black love stories influence private ones. Whether it’s the enduring bond of Denzel and Pauletta Washington, the vulnerability shared by Ciara and Russell Wilson, or the layered journey of Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade, BlackLove.com doesn’t idolize these couples — we analyze what they reflect back to us. From boundary-setting to blended family dynamics, these relationships help us see possibilities and pitfalls alike.

Relationship Advice for Married Couples

Marriage doesn’t come with a handbook—but if it did, it would probably include articles like “How to Discuss Finances With Your Partner and When” or “The Black Love Guide to Love, Sex and Intimacy.” We lean on insights from couples on the “Black Love” docuseries like David and Tamela Mann, who’ve spoken openly about learning each other’s love languages over time. Or KevOnStage and Melissa Fredericks, who modeled what it looks like to grow up and grow together.

What makes BlackLove.com more than a content hub is our people. Our community of readers, contributors, and featured voices continues to grow because we don’t sugarcoat. We feature essays from single mothers, divorced dads, newlyweds, polyamorous folks, queer couples, and elders who’ve been through five decades of ebb and flow. Love is not one-size-fits-all, and we won’t pretend it is.

Why Black Love Stories Matter—Flaws and All

We believe that telling our stories is revolutionary. Not just the fairytale endings, but the heartbreak, the rebuilding, the compromises, and the unexpected joys. BlackLove.com is where you can read about the couple who divorced, then found their way back to each other. Or the woman who chose herself after five years of being second in her own relationship. On “The Mama’s Den” podcast listeners hear Black mothers get candid about co-parenting, resentment, sex after kids, and the invisible labor women often carry. On “Couch Conversations,” couples and singles gather to hash out everything from prenups to prayer.

Whether it’s a second chance at healthy love or discovery of self-love after divorce, it’s covered in articles on the site. These are not anomalies — they’re mirrors. Love stories remind us that we are not alone. They give us language for our pain and inspiration for our healing. 

“The need to highlight and celebrate Black love in all forms is critical. Black Love aims to do that day in and day out,” says Codie.

She adds, “We still need to see our community being loved on from romantic relationships to parent/child, self-love, and community. 

BlackLove.com features original content and also highlights TV shows and films that represent the layered facets of this journey. Our recent Youtube video, “BlackLove Loves Forever” complements the Netflix romantic drama, FOREVER by showcasing real-life Black couples whose unbreakable bond mirrors the themes of young love, growth, and resilience depicted in the fictional series. Ashley, who has been locked in with her husband, Rios since their teenage years – more than 25 years ago – shares, “We grew up together. Our love matured as we did, teaching us patience and understanding.” After dating, separating, and then reconnecting years later, Eastern shares about her partner Chris, “Life brought us back together when we were ready to appreciate the depth of our connection.”

Along with the intensity of young love, FOREVER also also portrays the love Black parents have for their children. “Sometimes, love does the hard thing,” Justin’s (Michael Cooper Jr.) mom says while teaching him a lesson about relationships. These narratives underscore the real-life parallels to love’s inevitable evolution. The Black Love  platform is an ambassador of that evolution. It requires self awareness, vulnerability, and intentionality. We are here to provide a blueprint for the various ways to nurture our relationships. 

BlackLove.com is not about perfection, it’s about making an impact as the premier resource for 360° of Black love and life. With the relaunch of the site, we invite you to explore new content, revisit fan favorites, share your own stories, and even get merch to celebrate Black love. Dive into topics that scare you. Sit with the ones that challenge you. Bookmark the ones that give you hope.

BlackLove.com exists because YOU deserve it.. You deserve love. Black love is sacred. It’s joyful. It’s bold. It’s worth fighting for and most importantly — it’s yours.