Black Boy Joy

What is Joy?

Photo by Renee Sogueco

The condition of joy that I believe to be “Black Boy Joy” (yes capitalized) is about cultivating a belief of self and loving all parts of your life as one.

This must be nurtured without harming the freedoms of others and is based on a perspective of the minority experience rejecting systemic and cultural norms that seek to destroy their unique individuality.

Everything is a process, even joy.

Happiness doesn’t need to be paired with negative for the happiness to be genuine. Anyone who thinks they’re joy is more important and therefore puts others down to get it, is unfortunately misusing it as well.

Joy is complicated.

When I hear the term “Black Boy Joy” I have to start with defining some conditions of joy I believe, then breaking down the two preceding terms of “Black” and “Boy” — both have connotations and meanings. They recreate joy to a particular cultural and gender aspect that gives it life, but also helps speak to our singularity in the world as it relates to one another.

Joy

When I think of joy, I think of the sustained pleasure and happiness that is yours to experience. I also think that this joy is something no one can take, despite any popular beliefs. Finally, the state of happiness we are looking for doesn’t exist because nothing in life is constant. Joy is seeing all the positive and negative moving along the spectrum of finding and securing happiness.

Black

Black is an identity, a race, and a title. It gives name to a community of people. This group of people have been marginalized, stereotyped, and oppressed for centuries, and continue to be to this day. Black is divided inside each other with various class, color, and economic issues.

Black is also rich in cultural history and aesthetic beauty. Black has built infrastructures, political and social change, and technological developments. Black has invented art forms through all mediums of creativity and has provided blueprints for other cultural groups that have remixed and appropriated their creations.

Boy

Boy is youthful, exuberant, and experimental. Boy is seeking adventure. Boy is…