Film director Lena Waithe once said, “Being Black is beautiful but it is also traumatizing. In the aftermath of the Derek Chauvin trial, outbreaks of other shootings of young black & brown men occurred, thus reversing the trajectory back to its’ original claim: #BlackLivesMatter.
There is a scripture from the Bible that reads, in the book of Psalms 30:5 “for his anger endureth but a moment, and in his favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”. Activist, artist, and Black Lives Matter Co-Founder Patrisse Cullors spoke recently on the shootings of George Floyd and Daunte Wright and urged for the Black community to create moments of Black Joy to capture. She argued that often times Black people have been at the helm of some of the most catastrophic events in America’s history and that Black people can and should tap into their own autonomy to galvanize and capitalize on creating moments of Black Joy.
In the generation that bred the hashtags #BlackGirlMagic and #BlackBoyJoy, social media channels have become one of the grounds through which moments of Black Joy have emerged. America has lived its best and worst moments in front of the peanut gallery that is and friends and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, etc.
Writer Amayah Spence, in here 2021 article for Oracle, “Radical Self-Care: The Importance of Self Care for Activists & Where to Start”, writes, “Anger is an important catalyst for social change and a normal and valid response to non-stop justice; but consistent rage, frustration, and sadness can be crippling instead of energizing.” Spence argues that in a place of anger and sorrow, self-care not only is encouraged, but it is necessary.
There is an age-old saying, “you can’t be what you can’t see”. How is one supposed to create moments of Black Joy without seeing them first? How can one believe moments of Black Joy are possible without seeing them first? Resilience is one of the many things that has defined the African American community. In moments of crisis, catastrophe, and chaos, moments of triumph, testimony, and trail blazing have been etched into history for all to know.
If that has been the case from Middle Passage to post Jim Crow, surely Black Joy is possible in the era of #BlackLivesMatter.
