Hi Ingrid, I am a musician and Ive been creating music and performances that bring joy and also have an activist/educational component. But there's also another side, not only to just African diaspora forms of joy, but the joy in many communities. My mother, and three sisters: Jean Cooper, Zwazzi Sowo and Lillian Mark! Bitch Media Editor-in-Chief Evette Dionne put it best in a recent Instagram post: "Joy is a revolutionary force. Adreinne Waheed, photographer and author of the photo book Black Joy and Resistance documents, in its purest form, that the essence of happiness and enjoyment are inextricably linked to resistance. Communal joy provides a kind of glue that unifies a group. As Cara Page says in an interview with Adrienne Maree Brown, If were not imagining where were going, then it will constantly just be pushing back outside from inside of cages, as opposed to imagining whats happening outside of cages. Hope is a form of emotional vision that stokes our motivation and fans the flames of change. Wa-ching! Dr. Carter G. Woodson, with funding from several philanthropic foundations, told the story of African American history and the largely overlooked achievements of Black Americans which were not available to the public. Acceptance and support is what encourages Autistic kids like Knox to advocate for themselves. The first chimp to spot the caretaker begins hooting loudly. Your joy is an act of resistance. It's a parade of my Grandfather's wit, it is all the shit haircuts I've ever had. Her mother said, "There's always a sunrise and always a sunset and it's up to you to choose to be there for it. If we relinquish our joy, we not only lose a profound source of unity, strength, and resilience, we also lose the point of it all. What are spaces in which you yourself find joy? Their music and message empowered my girlfriends and me to feel that we were enough, without needing boyfriends or to look and act a certain way. Willie Jennings: Yeah. $j("#generalRegPrompt").hide(); Willie Jennings: You hope if the space is working, you hope for a kind of infection. Amplifying Black voices through news that matters. Studies show, for example, that feeling joyful can mitigate something called the own-race face bias, where people tend to recognize differences in faces of their own race while failing to distinguish faces of other races from one another. Come and join me and my colleagues on the AFP NYC IDEA Committee where we not only embrace inclusion, diversity, equity and access but we further these ideals within the Fundraising profession through planning, collaboration, implementation, and of courseJoy. One of the ways it does this is by affirming our humanity. John Keats Your success and happiness lies in you. In the current national climate, it is more crucial than ever that we resist and repel the misogynist forces arrayed against us, and that we unconditionally stand with the women and LGBTQI people who are put at risk under the dangerous policies of the current administration. When thinking about how you can celebrate African American History month this month and throughout the year, remember that poet Toi Derricotte said, "Joy is an act of resistance." I am printing this post in order to keep the many good points at hand. On the other hand, the novel shows that even in her fearful passivity, Offred does manage to resist her oppressors in the small ways that are available to her. What would that space look like for you? Celebrations function in much the same way in human life. I can only imagine it must have been extraordinary to hear him speak. I met Jack Gilbert a couple of times. by FANTANAMOBAY. //