‘I’m Focused on Loving Myself’: Sanaa Lathan Talks About the Pressure on Black Women to Get Married

It’s not that Sanaa Lathan is opposed to having a long-term relationship, she just doesn’t think it’s the most important thing in the world.

The actress spoke about relationships and marriage at CultureCon in Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday, where journalist Taylor Rooks said, “There is this weird obsession with Black women [to] marry.”

According to Lathan, the whole idea of a woman needing a husband comes from childhood.

“We read all these fairy tales, ‘Snow White,’ ‘Cinderella,’ they’re being chosen by a man,” said Lathan. “That’s when you win, when you are chosen by a man. That’s not the truth. I’ma choose me first.” 

In the past, Lathan has been linked to French Montana, which she talked about during an episode of “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.” She was also in a relationship with her “Love & Basketball” co-star Omar Epps many years ago.

But for most of her career, Lathan has appeared single, and when it comes to getting married, she doesn’t seem to be very keen on the idea.

“You see how many relationships aren’t working,” she stated. “The divorce rate is, I don’t know, it has got to be over 50 percent. So I wouldn’t invest in something with less than 50 percent. That’s more than half of failure.” 

But Lathan isn’t casting out the idea of romantic love altogether, nor a long term relationship but it has to be done in the right way. The 48-year-old also said she’s giving love to herself, which can only help in the future.

“I do believe in love and I want that for myself, but right now I’m focused on loving myself and the truth is when you start loving yourself, you attract a better quality of situation,” she explained.

“I want somebody who wants me shining, who is not scared of that, who will be there after the day’s over and actually cares about what’s going on in my life,” she added. “And I want to do the same for someone.”

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