Celebrate 'Black Joy' and Positive Black Experiences Javascript must be enabled to use this site. Please enable Javascript in your browser and try again. × Search search POPULAR SEARCHES SUGGESTED LINKS Join AARP for just $9 per year when you sign up for a 5-year term. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Leaving AARP.org Website You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.

What Black Joy Means and How It Grew

Practice joy and honor the movement by celebrating positive Black experiences

Getty Images As a caretaker for her parents, Latasha Matthews has had to find unique ways to connect with them as they age, especially during the . Matthews, a 49-year-old Black woman from Lawrenceville, Georgia, turned to creative projects to bond with her parents who are both in their 70s. For her, are what encapsulates Black joy. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. "We can allow our uniqueness to carry over with an older population just by becoming creative and just going back to some simple things,” Matthews says. With her parents, “we color, we sing songs, we do art. Those are some of the things I believe anyone can tap into.” Those moments and rituals, like Sunday dinners, road trips, family cookouts and faith-based practices create small sparkles in daily living and can be more meaningful than a big event, says Matthews, who is a licensed professional counselor. Leaning into community is essential. As the country honors , celebrating Black joy has become a focal point. Along with calling attention to struggles related to , there’s a concerted effort to draw attention to the delight that can be drawn from events, relationships, art, music and experiences intrinsic to black culture. To Matthews Black joy boils down to “the essence of understanding our culture, where we came from and really where we're going,” she says. “It embodies our ability to be creative and tap into who we are as a culture.”

Finding the roots of Black joy

AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe and the first predominantly Black religious denominations were founded in America in the late 18th century, according to the Pew Research Center. For many in the Black community — especially those who are older — church is not only for worship but also a place of community and uplifting through praise and song. The concept of Black joy has garnered more attention in recent years, in part because the version of Black history taught today focuses largely on pain and struggle. Images of and inequity are common in the media. And even as the world collectively faces the COVID-19 crisis, for example, Black Americans and other people of color are , adding to the traumatic impact of the virus. Reflections on the Power and Breadth of Black Joy While those problems are real and important to call attention to, they don't encapsulate the entirety of Black life, says Kleaver Cruz, a New York City-based writer and educator. In 2015, Cruz began , by sharing photos of Black joy on social media to counter images of tragedy. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers > "We inherit so much of trauma and all this other stuff — not to mention whatever we actually experience in our personal and collective lives —that we deserve healing,” Cruz says. Black joy isn't about erasing the difficulties of the Black experience, but showing the whole truth by creating balance, he says. Cruz is now turning the materials he's collected on the topic and using his experiences of the past few years to create a book on the topic. “Black joy is a form of resistance,” he says. The world may be working against us, he adds, but in the face of that it is really an activist movement for Black people to still choose and find joy.

Create resilience for hard times

Practicing Black joy doesn't have to be a grandiose endeavor. In fact, it can be quite simple. In addition to Cruz's project, social media can help connect people, create community and spread images and ideas about sources of joy, says Randal Jelks, a professor of American studies and African and African American studies at the University of Kansas. AARP NEWSLETTERS %{ newsLetterPromoText }% %{ description }% Subscribe AARP VALUE & MEMBER BENEFITS See more Health & Wellness offers > See more Flights & Vacation Packages offers > See more Finances offers > See more Health & Wellness offers > SAVE MONEY WITH THESE LIMITED-TIME OFFERS