Black Joy Quotes

“I embraced joy as my birthright. Radical black joy is inherent as a human need and not some special trinket you get after you rise high enough on the social-economic ladder or unlock some special level of desirability or accomplishment. –Tanya Denise Fields, “You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience and the Black Experience” (edited by Tarana Burke and Brene Brown)”
― Tarana Burke and Brene Brown

“For who else would teach rhythm to the world that has died of machines and cannons? For who else should ejaculate the cry of joy, that arouses the dead and the wise in a new dawn? Say, who else could return the memory of life to man with a torn hope?… They call us men of death. But we are the men of the dance whose feet only gain power when they beat the hard soil”
― Léopold Sédar Senghor, Chants d'ombre suivi de Hosties noires

“...there is more to Blackness than our struggle.”
― Angela Shanté, When My Cousins Come to Town

“Happiness is day drinking in the middle of Oxford Street whilst dancing to Megan Thee Stallion on a busy weekend after having mixed up all your meds because surprises are fun, and sometimes it's important to be reminded of why you first moved to this weirdly wonderful, obscenely overpriced city. That is happiness and you don't need a therapist or a witchy, wasted transwoman to tell you that shit. Invest in a bombass vibrator, be nice to sweet old ladies on the tube because if you're really lucky, you too will one day grow old and you'll want someone to treat you with a modicum of kindness and care. And stop making yourself go grey with needless stress! Now get the fuck out of my house. You're starting to harsh my buzz.”
― Diriye Osman

“Besides, the only reason
I want to make this is for that first scene anyway: the little black boy
on the bus with a toy dinosaur, his eyes wide & endless

his dreams possible, pulsing, & right there.”
― Danez Smith, Black Movie

“radical joy isn't just a pursuit; it's an act of defiance. a reclamation of our right to thrive in the face of systems that seek to diminish us.”
― Malebo Sephodi

“Don't let white men steal your joy. Do not let these motherfuckers win.”
― Shilletha Curtis, Pack Light: A Journey to Find Myself

“To every Black girl breathing, always remember: this joy we have—the world didn't give it, and the world will never take it away.”
― Jasmine Marie, Black Girls Breathing: Heal from Trauma, Combat Chronic Stress, and Find Your Freedom