“The Politics of Love: How Black Women Writers Use Love to Envision Freedom”

 Marleigh Clark 

Dr. Harris 

English 2017 

20 April 2025 

“The Politics of Love: How Black Women Writers Use Love to Envision Freedom” 

Love is a strong emotion that goes beyond affection or attraction and is deeply rooted in care,  commitment, and respect. It can be manifested in many forms, those being self-love, familial,  romantic, friendship, or communal. Love is a force so powerful it can transform politics, heal  those who suffer historical trauma, and liberate. Black women writers have a slightly different  

perspective on the idea of love. To them, love isn't just a personal emotion, but political. It has  become a means to survival, imagination, and resistance. Writers such as Toni Morrison and bell  hooks write love as a political act. In Salvation: Black People and Love, hooks talks about love  ethic. She asks for those affected by racism and systemic oppression to use love ethics to heal  themselves and their communities. Similarly in Sula, Morrison gives a complex version of love  between all aspects of life, showing how it liberates and breaks things apart. These authors  explore how love can become a powerful force that can resist oppression, reclaim identity, and  help paint a picture of freedom. 

Bell hooks argues that love has been neglected as a political force within Black  communities. This is partly due to the individuals that have suffered historical trauma and feel  disconnected from its power. In Salvation, she says, “To love Blackness is a political choice” 

(hooks 55). This suggest to the reader that love is a radical decision in a world that teaches Black  people to internalize self-hatred. Hooks views love not as a practice and something that is created  through respect. She makes it clear that love has to begin with oneself. By this she means that  Black people must be able learn to value themselves.  

In Sula, Morrison shows the consequences of living without self-love. She shows this  while also portraying love as rebellion and a source of strength. Morrison does this through two  characters from her book – Sula and Nel. These two Black girls grow up in a racially segregated  town called the Bottom. Sula challenges traditional rules of womanhood, family, and loyalty.  She never was concerned with falling into society’s norms and is the embodiment of  independence. Her actions are often viewed as selfishness, but this is a misinterpretation.  Morrison uses Sula’s story to show the divide between individual freedom and communal  belonging. Sula’s rebellious self-love and refusal to go along with social norms revels the limits  placed on Black women. (Morrison 118). Hooks and Morrison both explore how love can shape  identity. Morrison dramatizes what happens when love is conditional, while hooks calls for love  rooted within politics. Both authors make it clear that the fight against oppression has to begin  with self-acceptance in a world where Black people are denied that basic human right.  

In Salvation, hooks talks about the importance of community love. She calls it “the  foundation of resistance” (hooks 63). Love between neighbors, friends, and other loved ones that  aren’t necessarily related to you. These connections are the main ingredient for building  solidarity. Hooks believes that without love, justice cannot be achieved. She argues that for  Black women, love is a way to restore humanity after years of dehumanization. Love is a force  that people can draw strength from to heal trauma, care for each other, and achieve freedom. 

Community-based love is also deeply reflected in Sula, especially with Sula and Nel’s  friendship. They start off as childhood friends and their friendship represents a mutual understanding and safety. Their relationship allows them to express parts of their selves that they  can't elsewhere. The love they shared for one another offered both girls emotional freedom in a  community that limited their choices. This dynamic changes as they grow older, and things  become strayed when Sula leaves the bottom. Their friendship is destroyed when Nel feels  betrayed by Sula for sleeping with her husband. Morrison uses this connection in her story  because even though it wasn't perfect it was still the most meaningful love either girl experienced  in their life (Morrison 143).  

Morrison also uses this relationship to show that romantic or family love isn't the highest  form of connection. She draws attention to female friendship and shows how it can be liberating. Although the two women are no longer as close, the memory of their friendship is still there.  When Sula passes at the end of the novel, Nel didn’t need to suffer a romantic or familial loss.  The emotional dept of their lifelong friendship was enough for Nel to feel a loss. Similar to  hooks, Morrison offers a version of love that is rooted in shared experience.  

In Salvation, hooks makes it clear that healing cannot be done if love is not present. For  the people and communities that have experienced generational trauma, love is a tool for healing  and change. She says, “love is an action, a participatory emotion,” and it must be practiced in  order for the healing to take place (hooks 64). Hooks views love as the grounds from which  liberation can be created and oppression can be fought.  

Morrison repeatedly mentions the idea of love as a healing force throughout Sula. An  example of this is the community's rejection of Sula. Her presence in the bottom unites the  community in a shared interest or judgment. After Sula’s death, however, there was no longer 

anything to keep this unity together (Morrison 153). Morrison uses this to show even when love  is gone, its absence is noticed along with the ability to heal. Sula was a misunderstood individual  who could love fiercely, but only on her terms. 

Together these authors explore and explain the idea that healing is not possible unless  love is practiced. They make it clear that love needs to be practiced with commitment and  honesty. Love helps Black women gain their self-worth and build futures without pain. It allows  for personal and collective transformation. Through the works of bell hooks and Toni Morrison,  love is painted as a political and human force. In Salvation, hooks informs the reader of the  practice of love and how it begins with oneself and extends to help heal families and  communities. Through fiction, Morrison informs the reader that although love may take different  forms, it all ends in the same pursuit of freedom. Both authors acknowledge that achieving love  ethics is not easy but they do stress the importance of it. It's with love that not only Black  women, but the Black population can confront racism and learn to heal. Love is the key to liberation and resistance.  

Works Cited

hooks, bell. Salvation: Black People and Love. William Morrow, 2001 Morrison, Toni. Sula. Vintage International, 2004