In Love and Struggle

“Everything we do, everything we are as Black women…is in love for ourselves and each other and in struggle for what we grow and have grown into.” —Rebecca Carroll, In Love and Struggle

What does it mean to live as a Black woman in America? That’s the central question of In Love and Struggle—a series that centers the lived experiences of Black women through storytelling, music, and comedy.

First developed as a live event at the intersection of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, In Love and Struggle premiered in 2020 at the Audible Theater at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York City featuring Anita Hill, Sasheer Zamata, Alicia Garza, and more.

Curated by cultural critic Rebecca Carroll with director/producer Monica L. Williams (chief curator and director of programs at 651Arts) and creative advisor Kamilah Forbes (executive producer of The Apollo Theater), In Love and Struggle was also released as an Audible audio special. The series takes its name from an encounter Carroll had with Alice Walker at a bookstore nearly 30 years ago.

Now, a year later, Carroll and Forbes have returned as executive producers with a new work exploring the real lives of Black women at every age. In In Love and Struggle: A Black Woman Grows in America, 11 women, ages 17 to 90, share stories about love, work, microaggressions, mothering, and just being. Directed by Noleca Radway, this powerful new Audible Original features everyone from TikTok star Ve’ondre Mitchell to two-time Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage—and together their stories add up to a spellbinding collection.