Activating Black Joy

What if I told you your existence is resistance? Because you exist, though the world has tried many a time to ensure you do not. You live life surmounting hurdle after hurdle that is purposely thrown your way.

What if I told you that the mere audacity to have joy is the greatest form of activism? Because this world stared in shock at your audacity to exist and then stared even more at your audacity to exist with joyful radiance. Cultivating joy in all our melanin-y goodness is the ultimate way to surmount white supremacy in our everyday lives both individually and systemically. It's easy to overthink what it's like to utilize joy as a tool for resistance. The ideas are simple, but the execution can be hard. It's difficult enough to merely exist as a Black person under the thumb of white supremacy, much less existing joyfully.

I'm here to tell you to tailor your Blackness and make it joyful!

1. Exist. Exist in all your authentic Blackness. Take up space and refuse to give that space up.

 2. Self-love. Self-love is an ongoing process. It's work. Consistent work. In a world that says your Blackness is ugly, scary, dangerous, not enough,be BOLD and know that you aren't any of those things and are WORTHY.

3. It's the little things! Yes, you've heard this concept before. Yes, it's quite simple, but it's often forgotten about. Take stock of the little things. This is a great mindfulness technique that'll help you cultivate moments of Black joy in so many ways.

4. Share tangible Black joy. It's easy in this world of social media to get caught up in the Black Twitter drags, terrible news stories of the next victim, and all the chaos. Make sure to share images of Black joy in adults, children just being. Videos of our consistent lit dance routines full of smiles and dripping with swag and melanin. Get comfortable seeing and sharing tangible Black joy. 

5. Avoid images of Black suffering or pain. This is easier said than done. Society profits off Black trauma porn and our reactions to it. It fuels the ongoing grueling machine that is white supremacy. Avoid Black suffering and pain at all costs. Guard your peace and be okay with whatever that looks like.

 6. Don't be afraid to set boundaries to whiteness. Black joy can sometimes look like being away from whiteness and avoiding white spaces. It's okay to want space that's all Black everythang. It's more than okay... it's self-care in its highest form.

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever." - John Keats

What brings you joy can be something as simple as a good book, or as complicated as completing a long-term goal that takes years. The beauty of joy is that it's specifically tailored and even within one person looks different every time. Joy isn't the same as happiness because joy is a choice. It happens in spite of. That's what makes Black joy so unique. In spite of...There's so much in spite of and yet we are daring to have joy. Consciously living joyfully in each second.

As we sit in dark times faced with a pandemic, the ongoing villainization of Black skin resulting in mass murders by those in power, the system of poverty and famine plaguing Black bodies across the country, it's easy to forgo activating our joy. Make no mistake, everything in this world is meant to bring down Black spirits and break Black bodies. It was created that way and it continues to be maintained that way.

It's important that we look for and find all the joy we can in simply existing and being Black. In finding that joy and expressing it, we are demonstrating the ultimate form of activism that is present despite the darkness being thrust on us. We show the radical idea that we can and will exist freely and lovingly. We are our ancestors' wildest dreams and more! Call on the joy of generations that have come and will come. Call on your own power and manifest regularly the beauty that is your Black joy.

https://blog.resy.com/2020/10/black-joy-our-greatest-form-of-activism/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/experiencelife.com/article/the-art-of-joy/amp/

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/joy

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.self.com/story/black-joy/amp