Joy As Resistance
From the archives (Feb 2021)
Dear Troublemakers,
Every once in a while I like to dig in the archives and share something that resonated upon re-reading. For me, today, it was this. I hope you enjoy. Thanks for being here.
The poet Toi Derricotte revolutionized Black feminism with one line in a poem, “joy is an act of resistance.” With that one line, she gave Black women an opportunity to rethink the work of racial justice. Finally we were given permission not to just be mules for the work of racial justice- carrying a kicking and screaming country into a better future. We were given permission to also see our joy as giving a middle finger to white supremacy. And when we stop to think about this one beautiful sentence, it unlocks a world of truthfulness. Historically, America has both been completely uninterested in the joyfulness, the happiness of Black women and has actively worked to villianize our joy. Our dancing. Our hair. Our laughter. Our desire for luxury and access and opportunity. Our sexuality. Our dress and jewelry. Our jokes and conversation. Our songs. Black girls and Black women alike have our joy misconstrued as disrespectful, arrogant, or perpetually inappropriate. Our joy is suspicious. And what right have we to joy when we have so much work to do? Ms. Derricotte, with the wonder that only poetry can unearth, gives an answer. We arent just pursuing racial justice when we are organizing or voting or protesting or speechmaking or volunteering or working… we are also pursuing justice when we indulge in joy.
This was my entrance into joy, and I am so grateful for Ms Derricotte opening the door, through the lens of resistance, so that I dont work myself to death- believing that is the only way to speak truth to power. Her words gave me permission to indulge. And now I want more, not only as a part of the resistance, but because I am human and my human dignity demands that I, too, experience unadulterated joy.
So I am opening my life for a joy as thick as my thighs. A joy that jiggles and wiggles. A joy with some heft and tiger stripes. I want a joy as big as my belly, rolling over on top of itself with abundance. I want a joy that inhabits every curly coil on my head, thats weaved through every twist, every braid, and yes, every wig. I want a joy as full as my lips, as wide as my nose, as bright as my eyes. I want a joy that tumbles out of me.
Im a girl that laughs easily and loudly. I always have. I delight in people who are funny, in people who tell the truth, in people who do or say the unexpected, in people who are weird. And when I delight in their presence and express that delight through laughter, people notice. I chuckle. I snort. I wink. I give high fives. I guffaw because I love when people are being their true selves and speak from who they are. And Im so self-conscious of it. I dont necessarily laugh at inappropriate times, but I laugh when no one else is. I am very easily amused by people. And for awhile, I tried stop. Tried to tamper myself down. Tried to force myself not to laugh- even when I really wanted to. I tried to appear more serious, tried to pretend you had to work to get a reaction out of me.
It didnt last long. Because I want to enjoy my joy. I want to be with people who delight in my laughter, in people who understand what Im communicating my delight. I dont want to put a lid on my joy- I want it to overflow.
Ms Derricotte said I could, so Im going for it.
Can I tell you one more thing? I pursue racial justice because it too brings me joy. This does not mean that its always easy or never disappointing. This doesnt mean that I am always happy or ever hopeful. I simply mean that the pursuit of Black freedom brings me joy. And so when I talk about racial justice and the silly absurdity of white supremacy, I am compelled to laugh. In the words of Zora Neale Hurston, “I like myself when I am laughing and then again when I am looking mean and impressive.”
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Typos aplenty just so you can prove your love and grace unto me and my humanity.
A FEW MORE THINGS FOR YOU THIS WEEK…
I would be silly not to remind you that preorders are still open for my new book… and to share with you what you get as a thank you gift for pre-ordering!
SO CUTE, RIGHT??? All you have to do is preorder the book and head to this form and a paper doll kit will be mailed to you! oh yeah and you get a digital copy of a chapter from the new book!
BOOK EVENT! Oh and for anyone in the Grand Rapids area, I’ll be doing a book event on my book launch date at Schuler Books - all the details are here!
FOR MY LIGHT SKIN… a poem by Toi Derricotte
A WORD…
“We are all wounded by racism, but for some of us those wounds are anesthetized. None of us, black or white, wants to feel the pain that racism has caused. But when you feel it, you're awake.”
― Toi Derricotte
Stay wild and holy and free,
Austin
THAT PART..”we are also pursuing justice when we indulge in joy.” I love this and it’s life transforming. I think sometimes people have to be taught to know how co-exist!with joy- even at times like this. Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been trying to find this spaces, conversations and cultivate those kind of relationships ! Thanks for the turn of events in your life that has shown us we can give ourselves permission to work on joy as justice.
I am a white woman
Even as a young girl I cringed when people used the n-word, even my dad whom I loved like crazy. I came of age in the 60s so it was a time of "waking up" for so many, both white and black. My dad actually changed miraculously after he came to know Jesus when I was a young married adult with one child. However, my heart is broken by what's happened in our country in the past 6 years.. actually longer. There's been an increase in racism against blacks, especially men, young men. We have several friends that are POC and they talk about teaching their children, especially their sons, lessons in how to and how not to interact with police officers if stopped. I am ashamed of our race and broken-hearted for all the families we know and those we don't that are impacted by such terrible, irresponsible and unbelievable behavior by people the same color as I am.