Section 3: Black Joy as a Form of Resistance
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In Section 3, we explore Black joy as a form of resistance to anti-Blackness. Black joy is a breathtaking view of the Colorado mountains4, contemporary works from artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald or classic pieces from Jean-Michel Basquiat and Faith Ringgold, the iconic reflections of Nina Simone through song, or the enduring words of poet and author Langston Hughes. The Black experience is not all pain and struggle--it takes a whole lot of love and high spirits to persist through adversity.
DAY 11 - August 21
In 2017, Georgetown Law’s Center on Poverty and Inequality published a pivotal report, Girlhood Interrupted: The Erasure of Black Girls’ Childhood. Using statistical analysis to assess the sentiments adults hold for Black girls, researchers found that adults believe that Black girls as young as 5 years old "…need less nurturing, protection, support and comfort than white girls of the same age." In "How Black Girls Aren't Presumed to Be Innocent," The Atlantic's Adrienne Green reviews the study and its implications that bias robs Black girls of their innocence and childhood joy.
READ: How Black Girls Aren’t Presumed to Be Innocent (June 29, 2017 | 9 min)
How Black Girls Aren’t Presumed to Be Innocent (PDF)
In her perspective piece, "My Daughter Reminded Me Black Joy Is a Form of Resistance," Tracey Michae'l Lewis-Giggetts shares the surprising moment of peace she experienced amid a pandemic wrecking Black communities and social unrest at the urgency to protect Black lives.
READ: My Daughter Reminded Me Black Joy is a Form of Resistance (June 19, 2020 | 8 min)
My Daughter Reminded Me Black Joy is a Form of Resistance (PDF)
DAY 12 - August 24
Black joy is also creating virtual spaces for Black people5 to gather in community to advocate, mobilize and laugh in light of the struggle--not to minimize the impact of anti-Blackness, but to reaffirm our existence and find renewed strength to carry onward. The Root takes us through the last 10 years of Black Twitter in "How Black Twitter Changed the World." The video details the impact of Black Twitter on everything from popular culture to confronting racial injustice.
WATCH or LISTEN: How Black Twitter Changed the World (December 11, 2019 | 10 min)
In a piece by Smithsonian Magazine, "Black Tweets Matter," we look more closely at how vital Black Twitter is to elevating Black voices and issues impacting the Black community. The article looks specifically at online events that turned into national calls to action to support Black people and artistry.
READ: Black Tweets Matter (September 2016 | 22 min)
DAY 13 - August 25
Sonia Sanchez, a noted leader of the Black arts movement6 of the 1960s through the 1970s, said, "The black artist is dangerous. Black art controls the ‘Negro’s’ reality, negates negative influences, and creates positive images." In "Black Art is Dangerous," Guardian columnist Hannah Giorgis recounts how Black art is used as a medium for rebellion, political activism and self-love.
READ: Black Art is Dangerous (February, 22, 2015 | 10 min)
Residents of Flint, Michigan have been fighting for their government to provide them with safe, clean drinking water since their local water supply was diverted from Detroit to the Flint River in 2014. The water has exposed residents to toxic levels of lead, fecal bacteria, and the "third-largest outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease recorded in US history"7. Visual artist LaToya Ruby Frazier was commissioned to do a photo essay on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. In this video, Frazier reflects on environmental racism in both Flint and her hometown Braddock, Pennsylvania, and how a collective of Black artists managed to bring clean water to a city in crisis.
WATCH, LISTEN or READ: A Creative Solution For the Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan (September 2019 | 12 min)
A Creative Solution For the Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan Transcript (PDF)
DAY 14 - August 26
Today, we invite you to engage with Black artistry through perspectives in poetry and musical selections that demonstrate the breadth of the Black experience with joy and pain.
Poetry Selections
- Between the World and Me - Richard Wright (Listen to this poem)
- Harlem - Langston Hughes (Listen to this poem)
- 1977: Poem for Ms. Fannie Lou Hamer - June Jordan
- Who Said it was Simple - Audre Lord (Listen to this poem)
- The World Rising - Alice Walker
Musical Selections
- Lift Every Voice and Sing - James Weldon Johnson (lyrics) & J. Rosamond Johnson (music)
- Revolutions (Parts 1 and 2) - Nina Simone
- Mississippi Goddam - Nina Simone
- To Be Young, Gifted and Black - Nina Simone
- Backlash Blues - Nina Simone
- Lovely Day - Bill Withers
- A Change is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
- Living for the City - Stevie Wonder
- Glory - Common and John Legend
- Freedom - Beyonce (featuring Kendrick Lamar)
DAY 15 - August 27
Day 15, the celebration continues! Today we get a brief lesson on the experience of Black Latinx Americans in music and explore a few overlooked Black Latinx artists.
READ and LISTEN: 9 Overlooked Black Latinx Artists (October 2019 | 1hr 15min)