Living within a society that denies their beauty, power, and existence, Black women can find that recognizing their own joy is an act of resistance. However, Black joy and the African spirit are survival practices perfected under slavery. Throughout generations, Black joy has persisted through both covert and overt acts of resistance that affirmed humanity when the world refused to do so.
These traditions remind us that joy is survival and that collective freedom guides Black women toward wholeness.
Honoring Black daughters of the diaspora means acknowledging that Black women have always practiced joy amidst struggle. Black joy has been passed down intergenerationally as a gift that provides pathways to reclaiming the African spirit, despite systems designed to contain or extinguish it. Joy has always belonged to Black women, and diasporic Black women lived in ways that embodied Black joy long before colonialism, enslavement, and global anti‑Blackness attempted to deny their identities. The decolonization of joy is a homecoming, affirming that joy is a sacred inheritance that predates oppression and outlives it.
What is Black Joy?
Black joy exists everywhere: in classrooms, churches, hair salons, healing circles, sister circles, and in the safety found (Combs, 2023) in digital spaces (Bailey, 2021; Musgrave et al., 2022; Simpson et al., 2025). Black joy is academic empowerment (Jackson, 202; Stringfield, 2022); creativity and storytelling (Bailey, 2021); music, dance, and song (Collins, 2006; Ekpe et al., 2023; Simpson et al., 2025); community and radical activism (Bailey, 2021; Lorde, 1984, 1988; Sobande & Emejulu, 2022); and meaning (Goodwill, 2024), wellness, and restoration (Goodwill, 2024; Lewis‑Giggetts, 2022; Luna et al., 2024; Winters, 2020).
Black joy is wellness in a society that conspires to make Black women ill, physically and emotionally. It rejects societal standards that exclude Black women and instead creates new definitions that reject damaging roles and claims its own standards for wellness. Black joy embraces sexual autonomy free from dehumanizing stereotypes (Purdie-Vaughns & Eibach, 2008) that have been weaponized by colonization. It encourages collective healing that challenges the Superwoman schema (Woods-Giscombé, 2010) and the Strong Black Woman stereotype (Donovan & West, 2015). Black joy coexists with fear and distrust (Ekpe et al., 2023; Lewis-Giggetts, 2022), yet persists as a source of healing and resistance, fueling the energy to dismantle racist systems (Ekpe et al., 2023; Lewis‑Giggetts, 2022).
The sacredness of Black joy is rooted in collectivism. It is rest in a culture that normalizes “doing more”; it is sisterhood that shows up in sorrow and laughter, challenges overwork, and supports decisions to seek healing. Black joy embodies community and deep connection (Neville, 2024). It is the salve that heals wounds from racism and violence (Sanders et al., 2025). It is the radical hope (Neville, 2024) that highlights the intersection of where activism and joy coexist (Sanders et al., 2025). Black joy exists within trauma, bias, and discrimination, and remains present even when institutions mislabel equity efforts as discriminatory.
Black joy is everything and everywhere. It is the reclamation of an African spirit that no system can extinguish. As we continue to honor, protect, and cultivate Black joy, we must also remain committed to spaces that center our healing, scholarship, and collective growth.
We invite you to deepen your engagement in this work by registering for the 57th Annual ABPsi Convention and joining a community dedicated to advancing Black mental health and collective wellness.
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