ARTICLE
What Black Joy Means—and Why It’s More Important Than Ever
By Chante Joseph — 2020
Where society has told Black people to “be quiet”, or that we’re “too loud”, revelling in joy is an act of resistance. As our feeds become even more inundated with images of trauma, joy can help us heal, too. Here, writer and broadcaster Chanté Joseph examines the history of Black joy, and explains why it’s so vital.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
CLEAR ALL
BY TOPIC
BY TEACHER
BY TYPE
FILTER
TOPIC
- Happiness (103)
- Grit (96)
- Talk Therapy (77)
- Racism (74)
- Well-Being (58)
- Racial Identity (55)
- Indigenous Well-Being (53)
- Self-Mastery (53)
- Joy (51)
- Racial Healing (50)
- Self-Development (48)
- Racial Justice (47)
- Racial Discrimination (44)
- Anxiety (43)
- Trauma Healing (43)
- Self-Care (40)
- Depression (38)
- Self-Discovery (37)
- Neuroscience (35)
- Honoring Emotion (34)
- Empowerment (33)
- Cross-Cultural Dynamics (32)
- Social Justice (32)
- Stress Management (32)
- Athlete Well-Being (31)
- Activism/Service (30)
- Community Healing (30)
- Self-Reflection Practices (29)
- Women’s Well-Being (28)
- Identity (27)
- Life Challenges (27)
- Self-Healing (25)
- Finding Meaning (24)
- Gratitude (24)
- Habit Formation (24)
- Inner Strengths (24)
- Speaking Your Truth (24)
- Stress (24)
- Young Adult Well-Being (24)
- Buddhism (23)
- Female Empowerment (23)
- Mind-Body Connection (23)
- Mindfulness (23)
- Parenting (23)
- Race and Gender (23)
- Imagination and Creativity (22)
- Meditation (22)
- Self-Limiting Beliefs (22)
- Awareness (21)
- Creative Well-Being (21)
- Emotional Intelligence (EQ) (21)
- Fellowship and Community (21)
- Goal Setting (21)
- Intergenerational Trauma (21)
- Christianity (20)
- Fear (20)
- Spiritual Life (20)
- Connection with Nature (19)
- Courage (19)
- Entrepreneurship (19)
- Inner Peace (19)
- Relationship Challenges (19)
- Search for Purpose (19)
- Self-Actualization (19)
- Self-Esteem (19)
- Indigenous Rights (18)
- Self-Acceptance (18)
- Self-Love (18)
- Transformation (18)
- AAPI Well-Being (17)
- Authenticity (17)
- Confidence (17)
- Inner Life (17)
- Negative Self-Talk (17)
- Neuroplasticity (17)
- Positive Psychology (17)
- Child’s Emotional Growth (16)
- Physical Health (16)
- Positive Thinking (16)
- Spiritual Growth (16)
- Anger (15)
- Belonging (15)
- Compassion (15)
- Environmental Justice (15)
- Growth Mindset (15)
- Human Potential (15)
- Native American Beliefs (15)
- Brain Health (14)
- Grief (14)
- Habits of Mind (14)
- LGBTQIA Well-Being (14)
- Mindfulness Practices (14)
- Motivation (14)
- Optimism (14)
- Vulnerability (14)
- Kindness (13)
- Latinx Well-Being (13)
- Leadership (13)
- Memoir (13)
- Psychology (13)
- PTSD (13)
- Self-Worth (13)
- Shame (13)
- Spiritual Development (13)
- Suffering (13)
- Trauma (13)
- Communication Skills (12)
- Failure (12)
- Indigenous Healing Approaches (12)
- Peak Performance (12)
- Presence (12)
- Self-Realization (12)
- Addiction (11)
- Body Image (11)
- Cancer (11)
- Faith and Identity (11)
- Hope (11)
- Love (11)
- Self-Compassion (11)
- Self-Control (11)
- Social Responsibility (11)
- Whiteness (11)
- Youth Activism (11)
- Criticism and Rejection (10)
- Family Dynamics (10)
- Freedom (10)
- Gender Discrimination (10)
- Generational Healing (10)
- Mental Health Challenges (10)
- Breathwork (9)
- God (9)
- Positive Self-Talk (9)
- Post-Traumatic Growth (9)
- Self-Expression (9)
- Setting Limits and Boundaries (9)
- Spiritual Healing (9)
- Work Challenges (9)
- Acceptance (8)
- Building Culture (8)
- Climate Change (8)
- Connection (8)
- Divorce and Breakup (8)
- Exercise (8)
- Forgiveness (8)
- Global Challenges (8)
- Immigration and Assimilation (8)
- Inspiration (8)
- Intention (8)
- Letting Go (8)
- Offering Support to Others (8)
- Romantic Relationships (8)
- Self-Reliance (8)
- Spiritual Awakening (8)
- Suicide (8)
- Veteran Well-Being (8)
- Work-Life Balance (8)
- Addiction Recovery (7)
- Anger Management (7)
- Children’s Well-Being (7)
- Collective Trauma (7)
- Diet and Nutrition (7)
- Environmental Exploitation (7)
- Focus (7)
- Healing Approaches (7)
- Healthy Eating (7)
- Mindfulness Meditation (7)
- Philosophical Approaches (7)
- Self-Pressure (7)
- Sexuality (7)
- Spirituality and Politics (7)
- Tibetan Buddhism (7)
- Visualization (7)
- Aging (6)
- Burnout (6)
- Child’s Trauma (6)
- Chronic Anxiety (6)
- Curiosity (6)
- Disconnection (6)
- Empathy (6)
- Endurance (6)
- Guilt (6)
- Imposter Syndrome (6)
- Integrative Medicine (6)
- Motherhood (6)
- Neuropsychology (6)
- Perception (6)
- Poverty/Economic Inequality (6)
- Relationship with Money (6)
- Relationship with Time (6)
- Ritual (6)
- Spiritual Practices (6)
- Storytelling (6)
- Values (6)
- Access to Education (5)
- ADD/ADHD (5)
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (5)
- Consciousness (5)
- Dysfunctional Childhood (5)
- Eating Disorders (5)
- Guided Meditation (5)
- Masculine/Feminine Dynamics (5)
- Poetry (5)
- Psychology and Spirituality (5)
- Religious Experience (5)
- Self-Reckoning (5)
- Sleep (5)
- Social Psychology (5)
- Sustainability (5)
- Yoga (5)
- Adaptability (4)
- Affirmations (4)
- Asking for Help (4)
- Body Positivity (4)
- Building Character (4)
- Caregiver Well-Being (4)
- Chronic Health Conditions (4)
- Death or Loss of a Loved One (4)
- Decision Making (4)
- Economic Justice (4)
- Ecospirituality (4)
- Faith (4)
- Feminism (4)
- Forest Bathing (4)
- Friendship (4)
- Generosity (4)
- Incarceration (4)
- Inner Child (4)
- Interdependence (4)
- Intimacy (4)
- Journaling (4)
- Kids and Sports (4)
- Loneliness (4)
- Manifestation (4)
- Mentoring (4)
- Moral Philosophy (4)
- Neurodiversity (4)
- Othering (4)
- Passion (4)
- Performance Anxiety (4)
- Productivity (4)
- Social Anxiety (4)
- Somatic Practices (4)
- Soul Mission (4)
- Spiritual Direction (4)
- Trust (4)
- Willpower (4)
- Work Relationships (4)
- Autoimmune Disease (3)
- Awe (3)
- Child’s ADD/ADHD (3)
- Chronic Pain (3)
- Clinical Depression (3)
- Coming Out (3)
- Compassion Meditation (3)
- Dharma (3)
- Embodiment (3)
- Energy Healing (3)
- Enlightenment (3)
- Genetics (3)
- Higher Calling (3)
- Holism (3)
- Integrity (3)
- Jealousy/Envy (3)
- Military to Civilian Re-entry (3)
- Nutritional Medicine (3)
- Oneness (3)
- Play (3)
- Prayer (3)
- Problem Solving (3)
- Retirement (3)
- Stoicism (3)
- Women’s Rights (3)
- Zen Buddhism (3)
- Abandonment (2)
- Accepting Love (2)
- Alcohol Addiction (2)
- Attachment Theory (2)
- Biofeedback (2)
- Child’s Anxiety (2)
- Child’s Autism (2)
- Codependency (2)
- Competition (2)
- Cross-Cultural Parenting (2)
- Digital Life (2)
- Disabled Well-Being (2)
- Domestic Abuse (2)
- Doubt (2)
- Drug Addiction (2)
- Ego Transcendence (2)
- Fiction (2)
- Gender Identity (2)
- Gender Justice (2)
- Global Food Supply (2)
- Goddess (2)
- Grace (2)
- Heartmath (2)
- Highly Sensitive People (2)
- Hypnosis (2)
- Illness and Injury (2)
- Jungian Analysis (2)
- Karma (2)
- Learning Styles (2)
- Living with Illness (2)
- Longevity (2)
- Lovingkindness (2)
- Lovingkindness Meditation (2)
- Marriage (2)
- Men’s Well-Being (2)
- Non-Duality (2)
- Nonbinary Well-Being (2)
- OCD (2)
- Panic Attacks (2)
- Reproductive Health (2)
- Rest (2)
- Sacred Feminine (2)
- Science and Spirituality (2)
- Self-Discipline (2)
- Sexual Assault or Abuse (2)
- Shadow (2)
- Situational Depression (2)
- Social Media Addiction (2)
- Spiritual Crisis (2)
- Spiritual Quest (2)
- Spirituality and Health (2)
- Time Management (2)
- Toxic Relationships (2)
- Transgender Well-Being (2)
- Traumatic Grief (2)
- Unconscious Bias (2)
- Unfulfilled Career (2)
- Veganism (2)
- Work Ethic (2)
- A Course in Miracles (1)
- Academic Struggles (1)
- Acupressure (1)
- Adoption (1)
- Altered States (1)
- Archetypes (1)
- Art Therapy (1)
- Autism (1)
- Blended Families (1)
- Cannabis/CBD (1)
- Child’s Challenging Behavior (1)
- Cognitive Psychology (1)
- Comparing Belief Traditions (1)
- Compassion Fatigue (1)
- Conscious Evolution (1)
- Dark Night of the Soul (1)
- Deciding to Have Children (1)
- Despair (1)
- Diamond Approach (1)
- Discrimination (1)
- Dreamwork (1)
- Ego (1)
- EMDR (1)
- Energy Balancing (1)
- Facing Own Death (1)
- Family Acceptance (1)
- Fate (1)
- Fatigue (1)
- Female Friendship (1)
- Gender and Spirituality (1)
- Gender Challenges (1)
- Handling a Child’s Illness (1)
- Hero’s Journey (1)
- Homophobia (1)
- Identity Shifts (1)
- Intuition (1)
- Islam (1)
- LGBTQIA Children (1)
- LGBTQIA Parents (1)
- Life-Altering Injury (1)
- Living as an Empath (1)
- Loss of Partner/Spouse (1)
- Magic (1)
- MDMA (1)
- Memory (1)
- Midlife Crisis (1)
- Mythology (1)
- Narcissism (1)
- Patience (1)
- Performance Pressure (1)
- Personality Disorders (1)
- Personality Typing (1)
- Pregnancy and Childbirth (1)
- Psychedelic Journey (1)
- Psychedelic Research (1)
- Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (1)
- Psychoanalysis (1)
- Qi (1)
- Quantum Physics (1)
- Quitting Your Job (1)
- Regret (1)
- Sex (1)
- Slumps (1)
- Social Presence (1)
- Sound Healing (1)
- Spiritual Fasting (1)
- Subconscious (1)
- Sutras (1)
- Synchronicity (1)
- Taoism (1)
- The Feldenkrais Method (1)
- The Unconscious (1)
- Transitions (1)
- Transpersonal Psychology (1)
- Trauma-Informed Therapy (1)
- Unity (1)
- Vegetarianism (1)
- Vitamin Supplementation (1)
- War (1)
- Weight Concerns (1)
- Wholeness (1)
- Witchcraft (1)
FILTER
TEACHER
- Mona Polacca (8)
- Cornel West (7)
- Neil Pasricha (7)
- The Dalai Lama (7)
- Ed Diener (6)
- Louise Erdrich (6)
- Resmaa Menakem (6)
- Agnes Baker-Pilgrim (5)
- C. S. Lewis (5)
- John Bradshaw (5)
- Lisa Feldman Barrett (5)
- Nikki Giovanni (5)
- Ta-Nehisi Coates (5)
- Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance (4)
- Daniel Amen (4)
- Gabor Maté (4)
- Luisah Teish (4)
- Martin Luther King Jr. (4)
- Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (4)
- Oprah Winfrey (4)
- Ruth King (4)
- Toni Morrison (4)
- Winona LaDuke (4)
- bell hooks (3)
- Brené Brown (3)
- Brian Tracy (3)
- Dan Buettner (3)
- don Miguel Ruiz (3)
- Gretchen Rubin (3)
- Jenée Johnson (3)
- Joseph M. Marshall III (3)
- Lama Rod Owens (3)
- Linda Graham (3)
- Marci Shimoff (3)
- Misty Copeland (3)
- Ralph De La Rosa (3)
- Terri Cole (3)
- Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (3)
- Amishi Jha (2)
- Andrew Harvey (2)
- Andrew Solomon (2)
- Andrew Weil (2)
- angel Kyodo williams (2)
- Bernie S. Siegel (2)
- Bruce Lipton (2)
- Carolyn Baker (2)
- Chelsey Luger (2)
- Daniel Gilbert (2)
- Daniel Goleman (2)
- Daniel J. Siegel (2)
- Debbie Ford (2)
- don Jose Ruiz (2)
- Edith Eger (2)
- Elaine Aron (2)
- Elizabeth Lesser (2)
- Forrest Hanson (2)
- Gabrielle Bernstein (2)
- Gary Zukav (2)
- Geneen Roth (2)
- Gregg Braden (2)
- Jack Canfield (2)
- Jacqui Lewis (2)
- James Baraz (2)
- James Doty (2)
- Jan Willis (2)
- Joan Borysenko (2)
- John C. Parkin (2)
- John Sarno (2)
- Karla McLaren (2)
- Ken Wilber (2)
- Lodro Rinzler (2)
- Lorin Roche (2)
- Lucille Clifton (2)
- Malcolm X (2)
- Marcus Aurelius (2)
- Maria Sirois (2)
- Martin Seligman (2)
- Matthieu Ricard (2)
- Maya Angelou (2)
- Michele Borba (2)
- Monnica Williams (2)
- Pema Chödrön (2)
- Queen Afua (2)
- Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance (2)
- Rita Pitka Blumenstein (2)
- Sonia Sanchez (2)
- Stephanie Y. Evans (2)
- Tal Ben-Shahar (2)
- A. H. Almaas (1)
- Aama Bombo (1)
- Adam Grant (1)
- Alain de Botton (1)
- Alan Watts (1)
- Albert Einstein (1)
- Alexandra Elle (1)
- Alice Walker (1)
- Anne Lamott (1)
- Arianna Huffington (1)
- Ashley Neese (1)
- Bertrand Russell (1)
- Bessel van der Kolk (1)
- Biet Simkin (1)
- Blaise Aguirre (1)
- Brendon Burchard (1)
- Carol Dweck (1)
- Chalene Johnson (1)
- Charles Johnson (1)
- Charlese Antoinette (1)
- Chip Conley (1)
- Connie Zweig (1)
- David Surrenda (1)
- Desmond Tutu (1)
- Dilip Jeste (1)
- Eckhart Tolle (1)
- Edward Hallowell (1)
- Edward Hoffman (1)
- Emiliana Simon-Thomas (1)
- Esperanza Spalding (1)
- Frank Ostaseski (1)
- Gaylon Ferguson (1)
- Glennon Doyle (1)
- Gordon Neufeld (1)
- Grandmother Flordemayo (1)
- Harriet Lerner (1)
- Huston Smith (1)
- Hyla Cass (1)
- Iskra Lawrence (1)
- Iyanla Vanzant (1)
- Jack Kornfield (1)
- James Hollis (1)
- Jana Long (1)
- Jay Shetty (1)
- Joan Chittister (1)
- JoAnna Hardy (1)
- Joanna Macy (1)
- john a. powell (1)
- Jon Bernie (1)
- Jon Kabat-Zinn (1)
- Jonathan Haidt (1)
- Judith Blackstone (1)
- Judith Orloff (1)
- Judson Brewer (1)
- Julieta Casimiro (1)
- Kamilah Majied (1)
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1)
- Kathy Freston (1)
- Kelly McGonigal (1)
- Konda Mason (1)
- Krista Tippett (1)
- Kristin Neff (1)
- Larry Ward (1)
- Latham Thomas (1)
- Leah Guy (1)
- Linda Hogan (1)
- Lindo Bacon (1)
- Lise Van Susteren (1)
- Lori Gottlieb (1)
- Mantak Chia (1)
- Margaret Behan (1)
- Maria Alice Campos Freire (1)
- Mark Nepo (1)
- Mark Victor Hansen (1)
- Martha Beck (1)
- Matt Kahn (1)
- Matthew Fox (1)
- Michelle Obama (1)
- Moshé Feldenkrais (1)
- Myokei Caine-Barrett (1)
- Nataly Kogan (1)
- Neale Donald Walsch (1)
- Nelson Mandela (1)
- Nicole Cardoza (1)
- Nicole LePera (1)
- Nikki Mirghafori (1)
- Nina Simons (1)
- Noah Elkrief (1)
- Noah Levine (1)
- Norman Fischer (1)
- Paramahansa Yogananda (1)
- Philip Goldberg (1)
- Piero Ferrucci (1)
- Poppy Jamie (1)
- Ram Dass (1)
- Rebecca Solnit (1)
- Rich Roll (1)
- Rob Bell (1)
- Robert A. Johnson (1)
- Robert Augustus Masters (1)
- Rosie Molinary (1)
- Roxanne Dault (1)
- Ruby Wax (1)
- Rudolph Ballentine (1)
- Russell Brand (1)
- Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1)
- Shakti Gawain (1)
- Sharon Salzberg (1)
- Spring Washam (1)
- Steven Johnson (1)
- Steven Kotler (1)
- Swami Mukundananda (1)
- Tara Brach (1)
- Thubten Chodron (1)
- Toni Bernhard (1)
- Tony Gaskins Jr. (1)
- Tony Robbins (1)
- Tsering Dolma Gyaltong (1)
- William Bloom (1)
- Wim Hof (1)
- Yung Pueblo (1)
- Zainab Salbi (1)