Whitney

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Name: WhitneyHometown: Abia State, NigeriaAge: 23Age You First Fell in Love: 19, he was my first real boyfriend.Love Is: The feeling I had was a feeling of absolute fullness. I felt as if I had found my soulmate. I wanted nothing but to spend all my time with my love. It was a feeling of completeness, having someone to always be with, cuddle with and hold. I felt as if I could give this person the world if he asked for it. Unfortunately, it didn't work out, which I think made me hard on the inside. I became more distant and cold when it came to love, because the feeling of loneliness and emptiness was unbearable. As for being African, I think it made me want to find love and not just settle for anyone. African culture stresses that girls, especially, get married at an early age. So I think that I'm at the age where I feel pressured to find love, but deep down still reluctant to find it.

Nnene

Name: NneneHometown: Lithonia, Georgia and Imo State, NigeriaAge: 23Age You First Fell in Love: At this stage in life, I haven't experienced true love.Love Is: Love is beyond mushy romance, it is recognizing the flaws in the other individual and still working to enhance and transform each other. It is someone caring about your mental, spiritual and physical state and growth. I think it is society that has misconstrued the idea of love, it has lost its meaning. As a Nigerian, I have seen that love is a part of life and that you can have everything and still feel incomplete without someone to share it with. Not waiting for components; there again why Nigerians go from single to married is because we look for the right person, there's no need to date multiple people. African culture taught me to also pray to receive real love and to not be fooled by everything that glitters.

Edmund

Name: EdmundHometown: Riverdale, Georgia and Accra, GhanaAge: 21Age You First Fell in Love: 16Love Is: I was sixteen when I first fell in love with someone, who at the time, I felt was my soulmate. Everyday, I felt as if I couldn't live without that person and I didn't get over [them] for two years. Personally, what I have learned from love is being able to love a person based on their faults and using it to bring out the best in that person. Coming from [Ghana], my views on love generate from my parents. Which shows me that love is unconditional and love overcomes all weaknesses between two people. But it has also taught me that beliefs, morals and values play a role in a relationship filled with love. I have always been taught to pick someone who shares those beliefs that I have and have found that dating within one's ethnicity accompanies that value strongly.

Suwilanji

Name: SuwilanjiHometown: Atlanta, Georgia and Democratic Republic of CongoAge: 25Age You First Fell in Love: 22Love Is: Love is giving, it is sacrifice. I give all of myself to those who I love and who I fall in love with. Love is continuous charity. I thought I'd fallen in love at 18, but it wasn't until my current relationship that I realized I wasn't in love at 18. I wasn't willing to give anything of myself when it really mattered. I truly fell in love at 22. Being African shaped of view of love; how I have learned to SHOW love is very subdued. I did not grow up around outward affection, but never doubted my parents loved one another. Love was shown with time and being provided for. Not words of affirmation, hugs and kisses. I had to learn how to be affectionate in my adult life and it's a continuous learning process.

Tola

Name: TolaHometown: Snellville, Georgia and Ibadan, NigeriaAge: 24Age You First Fell in Love: 21Love Is: The ability to be out of yourself and value someone else as important. It is what allows you to sacrifice your time and life resources, everything that compromises you for another. It can be tested but it is hard to kill completely. Being African made me stifle love at first and made it hard for me to express it, but it is also what I think makes me able to embrace love in its fullness. Hard to explain beyond that.

Neka

Name: NekaHometown: Doraville, Georgia and Port Harcourt, NigeriaAge: 24Age You First Fell in Love: 19Love Is: In all senses of the word it is by far the most powerful human emotion that there is. Love's greatest attribute, I think is its power to overcome fear. So in the romantic sense, love is the ability to be fully vulnerable with someone without reservation. Culturally, my idea of love is intertwined with the understanding of the importance of family. Through love, even the tough variety, all issues within family can be resolved. God is love, fully.

Jackie

Name: JackieHometown: Kennesaw, Georgia and Delta State, NigeriaAge: 25Age You First Fell in Love: 23Love Is: I think there's a difference between being in love and loving someone. I've said I've been in love, but I don't think I meant it. I do think that love is being connected mind, body and spirit. My fear in love is that it won't have God at the center, if He's not at the center then it's not love. My culture definitely influenced my idea of love. I felt like I was given a guideline on finding the ideal man and that love would come if he met the requirements. He had to have financial stability, be educated, handsome and African. I was so wrapped [up] in the concept of the ideal man that love took a backseat, along with my religious beliefs. It was not until this year that I realized that although having a guideline is important, I also have to make sure that God takes center stage in pursuit of love.