Tiffany D. Cross has looked back at the last decade of her life and chronicled both the highs and the lows. She’s been viewed as a rising star on cable news with “The Cross Connection” on MS Now, saw one of her dream jobs taken from her, then witnessed Donald Trump once again take the presidency and endure a painful breakup back-to-back-to-back.
On Tuesday, Cross’ new book “Love, Me: A Letter to Black Women in a Toxic Country, Career, and Relationship” hit bookshelves and the political commentator joined her former “Native Land” colleagues Angela Rye, Andrew Gillum and Bakari Sellers and explained that while she felt a desire to love and felt an overabundance of love, she felt that love “emptying” from her.
“I had to find a way to plug those holes and get that faucet turned back on for myself,” Cross said, relating her journey to that of Megan Thee Stallion following her public breakup with NBA star Klay Thompson.
On her journey, Cross explained that she hopes her new book offers hope not just to Black women but also to Black men. In her eyes, “Love, Me” offers a glimpse into what Black women are going through in modern times, from being underemployed to being a target of the Trump Administration through layoffs and more.
“I hope it offers insight that you won’t get anywhere else because I do say the quiet parts out loud,” Cross began. “I say those dark thoughts that I have out loud that women might be afraid to say at brunch tables with each other. I try to share that. And the hope is giving ourselves something to believe in.”
She continued, “When we talk about black women, particularly in politics, we’re talked about as a political commodity. So before you ask me to go out here and save America, I need you to realize I’m a whole human being right here with a beating and broken heart. And my heart is breaking for a lot of reasons. So before I can get back out here and save something that hasn’t really served me in a righteous way, given what I poured into this place, I need to heal myself.”
That healing isn’t just about politics; it’s about love itself. Cross bears plenty within “Love, Me,” tracing the pain she felt losing her show, losing love and feeling like Black women have lost the country, like it was all building to one explosive moment. In a day and age where Black women have seen their love and what they pour into being extinguished in various avenues, Cross is letting her hurt be public for the world to see.
She admits she doesn’t have the answers, but she knows Black women are taking a pause and remains steadfast in her hope for change.
“I need everybody to give us a second to breathe,” she said. “Don’t mistake our ‘out of office’ like we not out here doing sh-t and moving strategically, but I need to for a second give myself something to believe in. So to me, that’s the hopeful part.”
