But
isn’t it funny?
[…]
all they are interested in is our pain,
as if the joy-parts were accidental.I write love poems, too,
but
you only want to see my mouth torn open in protest,
as if my mouth were a wound
with pus and gangrene
for joy. –Koleka Putuma, “Black Joy,” Collective Amnesia
People misunderstand Blacks in America. When we rise up against police brutality and other racial and social injustices in this country, when we speak the truth of our pain, we are not saying our lives are utterly miserable. There is joy, and–at the risk of sounding essentialist–that is part of our beauty and strength as a people.
I’ve run across many people who are interested in our pain, as the poet Koleka Putuma notes, but few who are invested in our joy. This strips us of our humanness and reduces us to “objects.”
I assure you. There is joy.
In spite of the pain that often comes with living in this world with Black skin, in spite of the economic barriers, in spite of the educational and health disparities, in spite of systemic oppression, we are able to thrive and embrace joy. We are able to live and worship and laugh and love and support our communities. We are able to forgive, to comfort, to heal. In spite of the struggle, there is much that is joyful and beautiful in our lives.
About the image: The photo was shot at my Dad’s 80th birthday party five+ years ago. I was searching my Flickr album for a completely different photo, but there was so much joy in this photo that it oozed off the screen and into my spirit on this gloomy not-so-wordless Wednesday.
Pics and Posts 
So much joy here. I assume your dad is the one in the middle? Thank you for this reminder.
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Nope. My Dad’s the [then] 80-year old in the hat with the grey beard. :-). I’ll tell that other guy that he looks 80. :-p Kidding, of course. I’d never do anything like that. 😀
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My heart hurts and i am very angry with tge news
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Please find some joy. You must.
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YES. THIS.
Thank you.
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Thank YOU for reading and knowing…
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Love the picture
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My Dad having a good time with the party guest. Thank you for loving it.
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I liked the descriptions of normal life in Michelle Obama’s book, particularly her upbringing contained that. No need for one hundred percent anger just to be aware that the situation is in dire need of improvement.
The stark contrast between normal life and the crimes/discrimination people suffer is even more eye opening about white privilege than 100 % of anger would be.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/22/black-bank-manager-wrongly-arrested-dale-semper-sue-met-police-racial-profiling
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I’ll have to share with you someone’s trollish response to the bio that appears at the end of a post about racism I wrote that was published on another site. He felt my description of my pleasant life of doodles and sunflowers contradicted the post. I guess, I’m supposed to be miserable and angry every waking moment. [Insert strong eyeroll]
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Germans have a word: Fremdschämen – vicarious embarrassement. That is what I feel whenever someone I have something in common with behaves like an idiot.
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Hmm…I like that word. I’ll have to borrow it from time to time. 😉
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YOU are JOY Chandra! Thanks for sharing. And AMEN! We MUST find JOY where we can.
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Thanks, Sheila!!! Yes, indeed, we must. Otherwise, 2020 will drive us all mad.
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Thanks so much for sharing your joy! To believe that the black experience is only unhappy is, in a sense, to make you one-dimensional and deny your humanity – one thing we should be trying NOT to do.
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