Jen is white and grew up in Philadelphia, while Ermias is black and Eritrean. They met in Eritrea in 1995 when Jen was there as a Peace Corps volunteer. They had a long distance relationship for a while and just when Ermias was on the verge of leaving to come to the US, war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea.They eventually got married shortly after the war ended in … [Read more...]
Episode 23: Joshu and Marleny
Joshu and Marleny met online in 2011. After a potentially disastrous first date, they hit it off and eventually got married in 2014. They now live in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood.Joshu is white and Marleny is black and was born in the Dominican Republic. She grew up speaking Spanish the fact that Joshu is a fluent speaker helped him quickly and easily integrate into … [Read more...]
Episode 22: David and Belinda
David and Belinda were part of each other's worlds before they even met. David would ride his bike to and from work in Pleasantville, NJ and Belinda would occasionally wave to him, a passing stranger, as she drove by. It so happened that they worked for the same company and later met at a training event at work.Although Belinda was initially reluctant, they eventually began … [Read more...]
Episode 19: Shawn and Jen
Jen and Shawn met in 2004 under sad circumstances when they lost a mutual friend. Eleven years later, they got married and now live in Lansdowne, PA with their 2-year-old son. Shawn is African American, and grew up in South Philadelphia while Jen is white, and spent her early years in Central Pennsylvania before her family moved to suburban Philadelphia.In this episode of … [Read more...]
Episode 18: Kate and Courtney
Kate and Courtney met while they were both students at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. Courtney is black, and grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. Kate is white, and grew up in Buffalo, New York. They've lived in Baltimore and Washington DC, and now make their home together in Philadelphia's Fishtown neighborhood.They've been together since 1999, and married in 2014 after … [Read more...]
Episode 17: Steve and Christine
Christine is black, and grew up in Glassboro, NJ; while Steve is white and was raised in Philadelphia, PA. They met in Philadelphia in the 1960's against the backdrop of the civil rights and Black Power movements. They made their home in the city's Powelton Village neighborhood, which had a strong counterculture community. Later the couple moved to New York City, where they … [Read more...]
Episode 16: Lesley and Cord
Lesley and Cord met while Lesley was working at Duke University and Cord was a graduate student at the school. In their very first conversation, Lesley impressed Cord with her critique of his favorite medieval author, St. Augustine, even though they had very different impressions of him. Despite their differences, the two became friends, and eventually began dating while both … [Read more...]
Episode 15: Eric and David
Eric and David married nearly 5 decades after the Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage, but just a year after another Court ruling that made same-sex marriages like theirs legal across the United States.Eric is black, and grew up in a black neighborhood in Baltimore. David is white and grew up in a small town in Oregon; the couple met in … [Read more...]
Episode 12: Florence and Ed
Florence and Ed met in the 1960's in Nashville while they were in college - Ed at Vanderbilt and Florence at Fisk University. They began dating after getting to know each other as co-facilitators for the Upward Bound program and got married in 1968, just over a year after the Loving v. Virginia decision. They have two adult sons and a granddaughter.In this episode of the … [Read more...]
Episode 11: Michelle and Melissa
Michelle and Melissa met in college and were together for 12 years before getting married in 2017. Although they are both Philadelphia natives, they hail from very different parts of the city.Melissa, who is white, grew up in Bridesburg, a neighborhood with a reputation for racism, while Michelle, who is Black, hails from Mount Airy, an area well known for diversity and … [Read more...]
Episode 10: Lori and Manuel
Lori and Manuel have been married since 1999. Manuel is white and grew up in Spain. Lori is black and grew up in Wisconsin. They met at university in Spain, where Lori was studying abroad; eventually Manuel joined her in the United States where they lived first in New York and then in Philadelphia.In this episode of the Loving Project podcast, Lori and Manuel talk about … [Read more...]
Episode 8: Anastasia and Symeon
Anastasia and Symeon met online while they were working at the same university. They got married in 2011 and live in Philadelphia with their two young sons. Symeon's family is from Philadelphia, but he grew up in rural New York state, while Anastasia grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana.In the episode, they discuss the things they have in common, such as a love of travel, close … [Read more...]
Episode 7: Craig and Donna
Donna and Craig have been married since 1988. Craig is White and grew up in Queens, New York. Donna is Black and was born in the United States, but lived in Belgium for about 10 years before returning to New York, where she and Craig first met.The couple lived in New Jersey for a while before settling down in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where they raised two children who … [Read more...]
Episode 6: Beth and Helaina
Beth and Helaina are an interracial couple living in Philadelphia's Mount Airy neighborhood. They got married in a wedding ceremony in Philadelphia in 2007, before gay marriage became legal nationwide. They later had a legal ceremony in California while Helaina was carrying their first child. The couple now has four children, all biracial.In this episode of the Loving … [Read more...]
Episode 5: Shaina and Brahim
Shaina is a white Jewish woman from Texas. Brahim is a black, Muslim, Berber, Arab man from Morocco.They met while Shaina was volunteering for an organization Brahim started in a small village in Morocco. It was clear to them both very early in their relationship that they wanted to be together long term so after Shaina returned to the United States, they began the … [Read more...]
Episode 4: Courtney and Dave
Dave and Courtney met while working together at a photography company in Philadelphia. They married in 2010 and now live in West Philadelphia with their 18-month old son.Courtney is African American and Dave is White. While the experience of being part of an interracial couple plays out differently for each of them, they are both equally anxious about what it means to raise … [Read more...]
Episode 1: Liz and Chavis
Chavis and Liz have been married since 2003. They have a 12 year-old son, and the family lives just outside of Philadelphia.Liz is white and Chavis is African-American. However, his skin coloring and hair texture often lead others to classify him as White or as some race/ethnicity other than African-American, giving Chavis an unusual insight into race relations in modern … [Read more...]