A Union That Felt Like ‘a Love Letter to Black Culture’

“That first date consisted of music, food and exploration,” he said. “After that, every other date kind of followed that same formula.”

In June 2016, Mr. Thompson moved to New York. “He immediately was like, ‘What are we doing?’ And I was like, ‘We’re continuing a friendship,’” she said. That fall, he said he would start dating other people. “Tristan was definitely getting tired of me prolonging it, so he applied the pressure,” she said. And it worked.

On Dec. 2, 2016, they had their first kiss at a friend’s birthday party. And on Dec. 31, 2016, right before the ball dropped at midnight, he asked her, “Will you be my girlfriend?” at Troy Liquor Bar in New York. At the first minute of the new year, she responded, “Of course.”

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They moved in together in an apartment in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, in March 2020. Currently, they are staying in Mount Vernon, N.Y., with Mr. Thompson’s family.

Both value community and the celebration of Black culture, and in January 2020, they started a group called the Legacy Network. The group consists of eight people — four couples, all of whom are now married — to discuss wellness, social justice and entrepreneurship.

In April 2021, the group had a summit at an Airbnb in Danbury, Conn., where the members spoke about their goals and their vision for the future.