Jake and Mary Jacobs marked their 70th anniversary of a happy marriage last year, but their journey wasn’t simple.
Mary, who is White, and Jake, who is Black, lived in the same city in 1940s Britain. At that time, there weren’t many Black men there.
Even though Mary’s father told her to leave, Mary chose love over easy choices.
“When I told my father I was going to marry Jake, he said, ‘If you marry that man, you will never set foot in this house again.’”
Mary and Jake first met at a technical college where Mary was learning typing and shorthand, and Jake was undergoing Air Force training. They met during the war when Jake moved from Trinidad to Britain.
Jake impressed Mary with his understanding of Shakespeare, and they got to know each other. One day, they invited Mary and her friend to join them for a picnic. Unfortunately, someone passing by saw them and reported Mary to her father. The woman was shocked to see two English girls talking with black guys. After this incident, Mary wasn’t allowed to visit her father again.
After Jake returned to Trinidad, they kept in touch through letters. A few years later, he came back to the U.K. to find a better-paying job.
Jake surprised Mary by proposing, and she, at 19, said yes. However, when she told her family, they kicked her out.
“I left with only one small suitcase. No family came to our registry office wedding in 1948.”
Mary’s father was upset about her marrying a black man, and Mary didn’t realize that society felt the same way.
The early years of their marriage in Birmingham were tough. Mary cried every day, hardly ate, and they faced many challenges. Nobody would talk to them, they couldn’t find a place to live because nobody would rent to a black man, and they had little money.
Even walking down the street together was hard because people would point at them, Mary explained.
Mary and Jake were excited to become parents, but at eight months, Mary gave birth to a stillborn child. She mentioned it wasn’t due to the stress she was under, but it deeply saddened them, and they didn’t have any more children.
As time passed, their lives improved. Mary became a teacher and eventually an assistant principal, while Jake found a job with the Post Office. They made new friends, but Mary felt the need to explain to people that her husband was black before introducing them.
“My father passed away when I was 30, and even though we reconciled by then, he never approved of Jake,” she shared.
Currently, Jake, 89, and Mary, 84, live in Solihull, a town south of Birmingham. They recently celebrated 70 years of marriage.
Jake said he has no regrets, but he also mentioned that today’s black youth may not fully understand the challenges he faced in 1940s Britain.
“When I arrived in the U.K., I faced abuse every day. Once, on a bus, a man rubbed his hands on my neck and said, ‘I wanted to see if the dirt would come off.’ Back then, working in an office as a black man with white girls wasn’t considered safe,” Jake explained.
Despite all the challenges, bias, and abuse, the pair is still deeply in love and has no regrets about being married. They have been happily married for more than 70 years.
These two are a true inspiration, and I wish them a lifetime of pleasure because of the love they have for one another.
FANS OUTRAGED: MARIAH CAREY’S RED CARPET OUTFIT SPARKS CONTROVERSY AT 54!
Mariah Carey is one of the most famous singers of her time. She is 54 years old now and recently got a lot of attention for an outfit she wore. Let’s see why people are talking about her clothing choice…
Mariah Carey caught many eyes at a big event full of well-dressed celebrities. People noticed her because she wore a very bold outfit.
At the third annual Recording Academy Honors, Mariah wore a dress that some people thought was unusual. It was a cream-colored dress that fit her body closely. The dress had a corset with sheer caramel-colored tulle details. It looked very good on her.
The dress also had a deep neckline that showed off her figure in a way some people thought was not appropriate.
While many fans loved Mariah Carey’s look, with one saying, “I like it,” and another saying the dress seemed to be “MADE for her,” not everyone felt the same way.
Some people thought the dress was not appropriate for someone her age. One person commented, “Maybe in the early ’90s, Mariah, but that’s not really something you should be wearing at 54.” Another person added, “At a certain age you just need to cover it up,” and a third said, “Someone needs to remind her that she’s 54, not 24.”
Mariah Carey is used to getting critical comments online. People often leave judgmental messages on her social media. In 2017, she posted pictures of herself with her then-boyfriend Bryan Tanaka on Instagram and got many mean comments about her weight.
One person wrote, “Mariah, you need to lose some weight because you’re starting to look like a whale.” Others said she looked “like a tease” and told her to “cover those airbags” or that she “looked gross.” Mariah has received many unfair comments like these over the years.
People always have a lot of opinions about what celebrities wear. However, what really matters is how the celebrity feels in their clothes. Mariah Carey has every right to wear a dress that some people might not like.
Leave a Reply