“Marriage was something that you couldn’t give up on, she couldn’t let things continue to go the way they are. She refused...Ella took a deep breath, this wouldn’t be the first time that she tried to make things work, but for her marriage she would try again and again.”
-Nako
If We Ruled the World: An Atlanta Love Affair
Ella Janae Young was a woman who never really had many family members or friends. She had dreams and ambition, though. To pay her way through college, she became a stripper. She was never really happy with her job, but it paid the bills. One night while she was working, Mayor Antwon Young walked into the club and it literally changed her life forever...
Antwon was a complex character. He was ambitious and determined to become the President of the United States, but it was almost as if he was incapable of loving a woman the way she needed to be loved. Although he really did love Ella, he was an arrogant, selfish workaholic who demanded that Ella leave the club, marry him, and have babies—all for the sake of votes.
Regardless of her hesitation at first, Ella decided to do what was best for her man. After all, they really were in love, they were just speeding up the process to advance his career. But over time, Antwon felt the pressure of being the leader of the free world. And when his beloved grandmother died, that proved to be more than he could handle. He was snappy, rude, worked more than usual, and did not support his wife the way he should have. It wasn’t until he suffered a heart attack that he truly realized what he had in his family.
What did Ella do? She supported her man as she always did. Ella and women like her, deserve to be recognized because although it is so difficult to submit, sacrifice, and work through times that may seem unbearable, marriage truly is a commitment that deserves to be honored. Despite the increasing divorce rate among black couples, it’s not impossible for Black Kings and Queens to prevail and rule the world together. Keep pushing.
