Kimberly Lauren Stokes and Dexter Clay Mason did not meet until adulthood, but their paths could have crossed much earlier in life.
Ms. Stokes and Mr. Mason are both from Detroit. Both were members of Jack and Jill of America, a social organization for Black families. Both of their mothers, who happen to be former co-workers, are members of the Links, a nonprofit organization for Black women. And both are members of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, known as the Divine Nine, which is composed of historically African-American fraternities and sororities.
Ms. Stokes, 32, is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority and a doctoral candidate in the counseling psychology program at Wayne State University in Detroit, where she also received a Master of Arts in counseling psychology. She received a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s in elementary education from Howard University.
Mr. Mason, 33, is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and the executive director of Change Collective, a civic leadership development program begun by former President Barack Obama in Washington. Mr. Mason holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, and a master’s in sports industry management from Georgetown University.
And yet, it was not until a rather awkward encounter at Howard’s homecoming in 2013 that the two finally connected face to face. Mr. Mason introduced himself at a tailgate event, but Ms. Stokes was forced to cut their exchange short.
“She was like, ‘I’m so sorry, I have to go,’” Mr. Mason said. Ms. Stokes confirmed that she “had to swiftly leave to find a restroom.”
They didn’t see each other again for another three and a half years. This time, sparks flew.
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After living on the East Coast, the two each returned to their hometown. In January 2017, they saw each other at the North American International Auto Show in downtown Detroit. Mr. Mason struck up a conversation with Ms. Stokes by saying, “I was just talking to my frat brother, and I heard you moved back home.”
Ms. Stokes was confused but intrigued. “I was like, ‘Who is he talking about?’”
The frat brother in question was actually Ms. Stokes’s father, Louis Charles Stokes, who joined Kappa Alpha Psi through the Detroit alumni chapter.
They exchanged numbers at the auto show, but it took a few months and the encouragement of one of Mr. Mason’s close friends (who asked Mr. Mason, “‘What is wrong with you?’”) before he asked Ms. Stokes out.
That April, they went on their first date at the Detroit Athletic Club. They spent hours discussing “generational blessings,” which Mr. Mason described as the couple’s shared belief that generations before them planted seeds and laid the groundwork for their success. After dinner, they went fowling — a Detroit pastime that involves throwing a football at bowling pins.
Their first date evolved into a courtship. They connected over family values and the realization that they both are products of the Great Migration, in which millions of Black people relocated from the South to the North, Midwest and West through the first half of the 20th century. They also shared a love of travel, Connect Four and have attended 20 weddings together. Both described their budding romance as one that “only God could orchestrate.”
In November 2022, Mr. Mason invited Ms. Stokes to the Detroit Opera House for a “special board members-only event,” as he described it. The grand lobby was decorated with life-size photos of the couple. As they walked upstairs, a singer performed an a cappella version of John Legend’s “All of Me.” As the song concluded, Mr. Mason proposed in front of 75 loved ones.
On Aug. 24, the couple were married before 325 guests at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church in Detroit, where Ms. Stokes’s parents were married in 1983. The Rev. B. Kevin Smalls, the senior pastor of Hope United Methodist Church in Southfield, Mich., led the ceremony, with Portia Lockett, Ms. Stokes’s sorority sister and a close friend of Mr. Mason’s mother, taking part.
The couple followed the African American tradition of jumping the broom. Their broom was decorated with brooches from women in their lives who represented qualities that would serve as the foundation for their marriage: compassion, wisdom, faith, creativity and courage.
Following the ceremony, the newlyweds danced at their reception at the Henry Hotel in Dearborn, Mich. The couple’s sorority and fraternity sweetheart songs were sung, as is customary at weddings of Divine Nine members.
“One thing that stuck out about Dexter to me is that he’s a dreamer,” Ms. Stokes said. “He has a real soul and visions that he’s passionate about.”
“We’re definitely dreamers,” Mr. Mason added. “Together.”
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