We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. "Peace without justice is tyranny." - William Allen White. Willie Jennings: Despair in all of the ways that despair wants to drive us toward death, and wants to make death the final word. 13. There is a joy that creates. It is counter-intuitive in that regard. Above all, the new album posits "joy as an act of defiance," Bono said. But, there's also the goodness of the joy that transcends, that reach us out, that includes the other people, and music is one of the spaces where that can happen. When he first came to my house, I propped up her bright yellow shade with open window and a vase of flowers (post card size) behind his first fish bowl. But strong and destructive, too. And something else, I think to myself. And the clear example I'm drawing on is African diaspora communities in which there's a reality of joy built inside the forced segregation. Im so, so glad to hear it resonated with you! And this is the kind of joy that no evil power can extinguish. And I think this is one of the problems theologically in talking about joy that we don't put it on the ground sufficiently, to grasp the way in which joy is always embedded in the flows of community logics, the cultural logics of particular communities. Joy is not necessarily the absence of suffering, it is the presence of God. I thought it might give him something to look at, like the center of a house you keep coming back to . Continue to get inspired by watching the movie Hidden Figures which features brilliant women like Dorothy Vaughn who used mathematical formulas to launch John Glenn into space. If someone puts their hands on you make sure they never put their hands on anybody else again., We live in capitalism. We owe it to ourselves to actively cultivate it as part of our political practice." . There's also the other ways in which space exists. Photo by Amy Pion Justice is denied. a piece on the power of the garden at Rikers Island. Joy: Directed by David O. Russell. Henri Nouwen" 3. Audre Lorde sums this idea up this clearly in her 1978 essay, The Uses of the Erotic, In order to perpetuate itself, every oppression must corrupt or distort those various sources of power within the culture of the oppressed that can provide energy for change. She goes on to point out that this has often been marshaled in patriarchal societies for the oppression of women. // logged into Facebook user but not a GR app user; show FB button Joy is an Act of Resistance Chapter Leadership Brief 2.10.2023. The rainbow pride flag is one example of a joyful symbol that both unifies activists while also disarming detractors. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.". Joy has an edge, it doesnt exist in vacuum. - Sam Storms. Marsha was a performer and activist who dedicated herself to supporting the most vulnerable LGBTQ New Yorkers with clothes, food and resources. For me, the work of an organization like Publicolor, which paints neglected New York City schools with vibrant colors, restores abundance to a place where this false scarcity has been imposed. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Willie Jennings: They had dreams of power. I'm Evan Rosa, and I edited and produced the show. In Trinidad, the British banned drumming. Three weeks ago today, on Friday June 9, hundreds of family members, friends, and well wishers packed into the New Revelation Baptist Church to pay their last respects to Darius Smith, a 15-year-old child who was killed by an off-duty customs agent in Arcadia, California. I want our guests to know that I love them and appreciate them. You can try to pin me down with a hundred thousand arms, but I will find a way to resist. As I like to say, Christians, we are geographically adrift. The whole community sits down to enjoy the feast, with even the lowest-ranking chimps getting to enjoy the treat. I suggest you look to some literary greats who not only captured the relevance and significance of the African American life but lived extraordinary experiences themselves like, Ida B. And death in this regard is not simply the end of life, but it's death in all its signatures: death, violence, war, debtall the ways in which life can be strangled, and presented to us as not worth living. Then, think about the direct service work you do with your organization. The theologian Willie James Jennings said it better than we can: "I look at joy as an act of resistance against despair and its forces all the forces of despair." He said that in 2014, long . Professor Jennings, it's great to have you with us. Love the ones you claim. When I think about the role of women in social justice, I immediately think of Black women. $j("#connectPrompt").show(); There's also the Black Joy movement, sprouted alongside Black Lives Matter, which celebrates the happiness,. Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya's portraits in Times Square celebrating the expansive diversity and individuality of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in New York City as part of the public art series We Are More. C.S. Skip to content ThePodcasts TheCollaborations TheSummit TheEdit TheHost TheLockdown Lists As I began to slip in the depths of my own sorrow and yield to the temptation to surrender my heart to the dreadfully stark nihilism in this ritual around black bodies, I looked up and saw Dariuss mother, Rishawna Myricks. Resistance creates suffering. Stepping back and taking in the Womens Marches around the world has almost been overwhelming. New Submission. Black Joy as an Act of Resistance Erica Lasan (Photo: Robert Carter) Erica Lasan BS'09 (Metro) Joy Strategist By Kenna Caprio Erica Lasan, BS'09 (Metro), deals in joy. Dr. Engram's "Black Joy as an Act of Resistance" takes the listener on a journey through the life of Black millennials. And we'll be back with more next week. Jesus tells us to use joy as an act of rebellion when he says: "Love your enemy, bless the one who curses you, do something wonderful for the one who hates you, and respond to the very ones who persecute you by praying for them." (Matthew 5:44) Share joy by sharing love, which drives out fear, which leads to joy. And it's commercialized. One of the challenges of activism is that the fights are long, the progress often slow, and the effort required thankless and grueling. Every person and every community must grieve and resist in a way and at a pace that is right and healthy for them. And how do we nurture hope? Things arent perfect, but these bold women are responsible for a lot of change in thought around girls and women what they are capable of, their value, their position, etc. They moved the needle forward by challenging stereotypes in a very aggressive and sometimes shocking manner, forcing important gender issues to the forefront while demanding equality in how women were seen and treated. While we can justifiably be concerned about rainbow-washing, its a measure of success that brands and companies see LBGTQ pride as something theyre eager (even desperate) to be associated with. Not enjoyment. Miroslav Volf: What is joy for you as a theologian, as a church men, as a black man? Take this 3-minute quiz and find out. //]]>. If one is forever cautious, can one remain a human being?, Resistance is always lying and always full of shit., We are like water, arent we? Singer Joe summarizes: "This album is an attempt to be . But for those two minutes we turned that cemetery from a place of death and mourning into a place of life and honor. Now, obviously we're talking beyond a kind of cultural tourism or kind of theological tourism. Stop. We respect your privacy. My pleasure. No doubt you won't find many people who regularly think about their lives in this very moment and associate joy. They have always looked out for the marginalized and supported them in how to equalize themselves and not victimize themselves. Even though looking back now I have some mixed feelings on the group, at the time they did provide a new type of role model to young women and paved a path for other women in the industry by not fitting into the existing generic mold. Wells and Zora Neal Hurston. Something went wrong while submitting the form. When psychologists study people engaged in communal singing, dance, or other rhythmic forms of entertainment, they find that we become connected on a physical level. Seeing her and PARCES gives me hope for Colombias future. It could not have lasted for any more than two minutes. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The Aesthetics of Joy is a resource for finding more joy in life and work backed by scientific research. They rolled the windows down, and turned the music all the way up to play one of Dariuss favorite songs. ALLI is a paid 10-week teen leadership intensive where 25 youth are trained in artistry, social justice, and organizing. This week, with one year to go until the next U.S. presidential election, it seemed a good time to dig in and share a kind of blueprint for the intentional use of joy to foster change. Reply Helpful. If we relinquish our joy, we not only lose a profound source of unity, strength, and resilience, we also lose the point of it all. "In contexts where your energies have to be focused on survival, it doesnt leave a lot of energy for overt forms of complaintyoure spending a lot of energy just trying to hold it together. Black History Month, the creation and celebration of it, is such a cause and proof that a powerful story can change the world! Men told you what to listen to, what to like. You have to have people who have been able to make you laugh in the places where all you want to do is cry. So did the divine right of kings. Thank you, Gail, and thank you for sharing! And the Yale Center for Faith and Culture conducted a three-year study of joy and its connection to the good life. We're passionate about making this work consistently accessible to people who are genuinely concerned about the viability of faith in a world racked with division, contested views about what it means to be human, and what it means to live life well. This year the theme is resistance. How lucky to have met him. I am not suggesting here that joy will always be present in times of mourning. } else { This episode featured theologians, Willie Jennings and Miroslav Volf. (More on this form of joyful activism here.). //