This Week's Opening Thought: February 6, 2023

This week’s opening thought: a lot of generational and societal trauma comes with being Black in the United States. There’s no way it couldn’t. But the existence of this trauma does not mean that being Black is a joyless experience.

Far from it.

Please believe that Black communities live joyfully and engage in growth, love, and creativity despite the constant trauma outside our windows. Black joy is a daily occurrence, not a one-off or a unicorn. It always has been, and it always will be.

If you’re non-Black and you’re reading this (especially if you’re white or benefit significantly from your connections to white privilege and white supremacy), don’t allow the white supremacist-driven narrative that existing while Black is unhappiness and pain to permeate how you view Black joy. Instead, take a moment to understand and digest the amount of Black joy you witness in the music, art, culture, fashion, innovation, and discovery you get to consume every day. That joy and expression, regardless of peril, are what being Black truly is. Then take a moment to respect that joy, not as something unbreakable (the unbreakable myth is bullsh--) but as something vital to the health of our minds, bodies, and souls. View Black joy as a tool of Black survival and mindfulness in a world that views us as less than human. And acknowledge that when this white world hurts us, it can also harm our joy but never make that joy go away. Black communities find ways to keep those joy tanks full because we know how integral it is to breaking the chains of generational trauma. It’s not unbreakable; it’s like water.

Recognize that Black joy is Black history, a history crafted with hope and love despite the hatred that led to our enslavement on unceded land and the vestiges of that hatred that we are still subjected to every day. Quit looking at Black history as Black misery. It can exist as both pain and triumph, heaviness and joy.

Also, please take a moment to digest that the byproducts of Black joy we share with the world are beautiful things you’re getting to witness and engage with that impact your life daily. It’s not for you to commodify or exploit. It is for you to see the strength and glory of a people who could’ve easily succumbed to white supremacy yet are still here, thriving and contributing to a world that views our existence as dangerous with love and joy. Pay your respects accordingly.

And to my Black folx reading this: I wish you all the joy, not just during this short-ass month they “gave” us but the other 337 days of the year too. You deserve joy. Embrace your joy. Connect or re-connect with your joy. Let your joy fly freely. I am sending all the love and support I can from my soul to you and yours.