Black Joy
Black Joy
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28 Days of Black Joy: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered New Content When the Reruns Are Enuf
My Netflix account hates me. There are only so many emails, push notifications and alerts the streaming platform can send me (cough, and that I can ignore, cough) about watching the latest, most anticipated, or record-breaking series and movies before I potentially face some serious, unknown ramifications like a character in an episode of Black…
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28 Days of Black Joy: To Brandy, Our Black Cinderella
Originally, when I started thinking about what to write for this piece, I was gonna dedicate it to three Black women who have single-handedly gotten me through quarantine. I was gonna talk about how much joy I got from seeing Megan Thee Stallion throw it in a circle on Instagram, how much joy I got…
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28 Days of Black Joy: Here's Why There's Nothing More Therapeutic Than Jogging Through a Black Neighborhood
I live in the Blackest part of Stone Mountain, Ga.—which is predominantly Black anyway, but here it’s two churches and two chicken spots every two-mile radius Black. At 41, I feel I’m getting old. I know I’m getting old, actually, because the other day, one of the many curbside entrepreneurs of the Decatur area who…
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28 Days of Black Joy: Harold's Chicken Shack
In 1950, Harold Pierce decided to channel the divine power of a praying Black grandma and founded Harold’s Chicken Shack and introduced us to a uniquely seasoned bucket of freshly fried chicken, accompanied by a divine red-orange liquid creation. That divine creation is called mild sauce (Yes, D.C., I will never miss the opportunity to…
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28 Days of Black Joy: Mama's Hands
I’m one of those people who falls asleep in the salon chair. I don’t mean to. But there’s nothing more relaxing to me than someone’s hands in my hair doing what needs to be done. It is where I get my joy. #BlackJoy, even. And my relaxation. Whether it’s the luxuriousness of the shampoo bowl…
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28 Days of Black Joy: Watching This Soul Train Dancer Makes Me Feel Free
I can’t remember who I was debating the first time I came across the video featuring the bold and confident dancer who hopped on stage during James Brown’s performance of “Super Bad” on Soul Train, but I’m certain the reason for the dispute was about a James Brown lyric. (I’m also certain the person I…
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The Joy of Living Past Your Problems
I thought I would be dead by 27. I don’t know why I had this number picked out but I remember an old head rapping to me about life the way that old heads do, and at one point, he said something about when he was 27 and I remember thinking, “I don’t got me…
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28 Days of Black Joy: The Ties That Still Bind Us Together
I’m a Black woman who was born and raised in Jamaica, an island in the Caribbean you might have heard of (whether for its music or its food or its incredibly fast track stars). Being Jamaican can almost seem synonymous with being Black, since over 90 percent of the population is of African descent (I…
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28 Days of Black Joy: How I (Lost and) Found My Fit Family During the Pandemic
I taught my last spin class at Push Pedal NYC on March 9, 2020. That same week I flew down to my parents’ home in Miami for a quick weekend visit—and am now coming up on month 11 of my stay. Like many others, staying active has not only been key to me maintaining a…
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28 Days of Black Joy: Durags
If you thought “don’t touch my hair” only applied to Black women, you’re sadly mistaken. Every nap shall bow and every wave brush shall confess that a Black man’s durag is his first true love. Most people will say it was their moms, but SPOILER ALERT: That’s a Joe Jackson lie. From the first time…