Black life matters

i originally contacted Elaine’s team under the context of COVID-19. Elaine and Jonathan’s viral stoop wedding is a beautiful example of love conquering all—even during a pandemic. I thought their story aligned perfectly with a bigger feature we were doing around weddings and the impact of the virus (see page 134). But just a few weeks into our conversations came the harrowing and tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of the police. A killing that had been preceded by Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless other Black people. As protests took place across the US and the world, it became clear that Elaine and Jonathan’s voices should be heard in the context of Black Lives Matter.

Even with the weight of the current situation getting heavier by the day, when I connected with Elaine and Jonathan over Google Hangouts, their energy was joyful and positive. “One thing we’ve been talking about is this term ‘Black Life Matters’ as well,” Jonathan tells me. “It’s important to smile, it’s important to find moments of joy, it’s important to find peace in the storm, it’s important to find gratitude even when it’s diffcult.” He points out the sad fact that this isn’t anything new for Black people. “This thing is loud right now, but African-Americans and Black people have been dealing with tragedy