When I was a child growing up in the '60s, I recall Valentine's Day being about more than romantic love. It was not just for couples. Valentine's Day celebrated love in all its forms, including the love of parents for their children, the love of family, and the love which is found in friendships.
As Joan E. Gosier, author of Cotton Pickin' Paycheck, writes in More Black Success Volume 5, where are the positive images of Black families?
Where are the images of normal, healthy Black families with two parents?
This is one of the questions addressed in the film Happily Ever After: A Positive Image of Black Marriage, which was screened by Black History Studies last night in London.
The film contains a series of interviews with couples talking about their experiences of marriage, in which they share the joys as well as the challenges of marriage.
See also: What Is Black Love?
The couples talk about the importance of having the Obamas as role models of a happy, loving and stable couple and family.
One person refers to a 12-year-old boy who has been quoted as saying "Marriage is for white people".
The film makes the point that, if we have never seen something, we are unlikely to aspire to it.
Visualization is so important for our development. If you can see it, you can be it. I talk about this in my book Success Strategies for Black People.
This is why we need to have positive images in Black literature, film, and every art form.
This is also one reason why it is vital for us to learn about Black history. It is vital for us to know about Black achievers, past and present, and about those who have challenged injustice and oppression.
If you have not seen Happily Ever After: A Positive Image of Black Marriage, I urge you to see it.
Our true power lies within. Check out my article: 
describes how a completely illiterate street thug transforms himself to become a respected and mega-successful businessman.
, Nedyne Shorts Nettles creates true-to-life characters in realistic
, Renee Wiggins asks, what’s keeping you from reaching your full potential and becoming all that you can be? 
books. 
by Karen Shablin. 
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. She will be interviewing our guests on her blog at 
Edited by Nikki Giovanni. 
Cynthia James, author of 
, promises to move you from pain to passion in seven weeks. 
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a research unit of The New York Public Library, is recognized as one of the leading institutions of its kind in the world. 
, a film about Kwanzaa narrated by Maya Angelou, on 21st December. 
explores some of the issues teenage girls face today, including, for example: 
was the writer, director and producer of more than 40 African American films. He made his first feature film in 1919/20. 
, Eugene Crowley gives us a fascinating exploration of different spiritual traditions, their origins and their impact on history.