One of my favorite examples of this is a project called Trash: Any Color You Like, which placed vibrant, polka-dotted trash bags around the streets of New York City. Every single person let the healing waves of music wash over them with their soulful and buoyant caress, and just danced their hearts out right where they stood. So, simply put, joy can be considered resistance because its a form of energy for change, as Lorde puts it. But while there are good reasons to fear complacency, joy is fundamentally different than turning a blind eye. And how do we nurture hope? Austin Channing Brown Apr 26, 2020 20 "Joy is an act of resistance." - Toi Derricotte To choose joy is to say that regardless of years of systemic oppression, unfair disadvantages, and everything life may try to throw your way, in the words of the late Maya Angelou - "Still I Rise.". From the likes of Ari Up and Poly Styrene, who didnt sing about obtaining male affection or rely on stereotypical concepts of female self-worth, to outrageously hyper-sexualized women like Wendy O. Williams and Marian Anderson, who recaptured ownership of their bodies, these women were bold, outspoken, and as the kids say nowadays, woke. And that's what's key, the kind of mapping of joy that would be necessary to actually start to think about the reconstituting of a different reality of joy. Barbara Ehrenreich notes that in South Africa among the Namaquas, it was said that someone who converted to Christianity had given up dancing.. Bono asked, anticipating one reaction. Celebratory joy creates unity on an emotional and a physical level, and a unified populace is harder to dominate. One of the challenges of activism is that the fights are long, the progress often slow, and the effort required thankless and grueling. As I stood amid a sea of mostly young black faces at New Revelation Baptist, I found myself seeking my own new revelation by asking hard questions about what has become a dangerously mundane ritual around young black bodies. Thank you so much for the kind words, Helen! Many of us have had the experience of being annoyed at a coworker, but then going to the company picnic, having a beer and a laugh together, and forgetting our annoyance. But, the reality of it is that I have been in spaces of joy in hospital rooms, gathered with a family and a loved one who's passing on, but there are rituals of remembrance going on, grief processes being begun, and in the midst of that, incredible joyjoy connected to sorrow. , The likelihood that your acts of resistance cannot stop the injustice does not exempt you from acting in what you sincerely and reflectively hold to be the best interests of your community., I believe in the resistance as I believe there can be no light without shadow; or rather, no shadow unless there is also light., After all, if you do not resist the apparently inevitable, you will never know how inevitable the inevitable was., We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil., Protest is when I say I don't like this. If you're in a position to support our show financially, please consider partnering with us. Wolves howl together after a hunt. Sojourner Truth, a suffragette, a fighter for womens rights during and after slavery time, said thefollowing: I will not allow the light of my life to be determined by the darkness around me. I find that quote to be so powerful for today, and for me. This year the theme is resistance. Singer Joe summarizes: "This album is an attempt to be . That's why the narrator is able to say of this third Ofglen, "of course she is" Ofglen. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Extrapolate how the actions I have outlined above may impact the way you write an appeal letter or organize a campaign. You have to have people who have been able to make you laugh in the places where all you want to do is cry. Visit faith.yale.edu/give. Report; Fundraising is the vehicle a worthy cause utilizes to traverse obstacles which would otherwise prevent it from being heard. And the clear example I'm drawing on is African diaspora communities in which there's a reality of joy built inside the forced segregation. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave., You see, the point is that the strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone., Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Joy as an Act of Resistance is the second studio album by British rock band Idles, released on 31 August 2018 by Partisan Records. Thank you, Martha. Black History Month, the creation and celebration of it, is such a cause and proof that a powerful story can change the world! Joy is an act of resistance. Its almost a platitude in the Trump era, visible across Instagram on embroidered banners and fine calligraphy, on t-shirts and tote bags. Thank you! We cannot simply say we ought to have a joy that we have it together, but no one wants to think about where are our bodies in space, and how was spaces configured. Is this a way of living a right life in the false one, to use Adorno's phrase? Whatever that is, go find your joy. There is something absolutely beautiful about the joy created by communities, especially oppressed communities. Willie Jennings joins Miroslav Volf to discuss the definition of joy as an act of resistance against despair, the counterintuitive nature of cultivating joy in the midst of suffering, the commercialization of joy in Western culture, joy segregated by racism and slavery, how Jesus expands and corrects our understanding of joy. Thats right, dancing. Hallie Brignall, Annual Fund Manager When I think about the role of women in social justice, I immediately think of Black women. On the other hand, the novel shows that even in her fearful passivity, Offred does manage to resist her oppressors in the small ways that are available to her. Last week I attended a dinner party inspired by Marsha P. (P for pay-it-no-mind) Johnson, who ignited the Stonewall Rebellion. Rewind. PTKF2158-5. Stepping back and taking in the Womens Marches around the world has almost been overwhelming. Marsha was a performer and activist who dedicated herself to supporting the most vulnerable LGBTQ New Yorkers with clothes, food and resources. And so we did. With Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Edgar Ramrez. Absolutely that. As a result, she was verbally pummeled, berated and called a feminazi (a total oxymoron). It wouldn't be easy to find her, now. } And there's something very powerful about a womb of joy that nurtures and helps constitute identity. PTKF2158-2J . How does one forge the weapon of joy in the midst of suffering, oppression? - Sam Storms. Your joy is an act of resistance. Now that feels a bit closer to home in this era, a desire for something long ago, far away, about to be. "Go find your joy. Celebratory joy creates unity on an emotional and a physical level, and a unified populace is harder to dominate. One way is through joy in the present. "For Black folks, joy and resistance aren't really that separate," Waheed tells me over Zoom. Lyrically, Joy as an Act of Resistance focuses on lead singer Joe Talbot's troubled past & many timely themes like . No. Things arent perfect, but these bold women are responsible for a lot of change in thought around girls and women what they are capable of, their value, their position, etc. Evan Rosa: For the Life of the World is a production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. Rosa and Maya inspire me in my work. 2018. Yet even the smallest kernel of it can move nations. There's a very powerful analogy to, if you will, the work of the spirit at that moment, that a space is created not by you, but in a strange sort of way without you knowing it, it's for you. I began to realize this when I was studying animal celebrations. People who refuse to stop believing. Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel described a memory of a fellow prisoner trading a ration of bread for materials with which to piece together a makeshift menorah during Hanukkah. Images: Joy is an Act of Resistance by @rayoandhoney on Instagram; Publicolor before and after courtesy of Publicolor; Trash Any Color You Like by Adrian Kondratowicz. takes aim at everything from toxic masculinity, nationalism, immigration, and class inequality - all while maintaining a visceral, infectious positivity. It reminds the teachers and students that they are fully human, fully worthy and deserving of a full and beautiful life. As Cara Page says in an interview with Adrienne Maree Brown, If were not imagining where were going, then it will constantly just be pushing back outside from inside of cages, as opposed to imagining whats happening outside of cages. Hope is a form of emotional vision that stokes our motivation and fans the flames of change. We are proud to share this second installment of reflections in our Womens History Month series honoring womens roles in resisting oppression and advancing social justice. I appreciate your feedback. The whole community sits down to enjoy the feast, with even the lowest-ranking chimps getting to enjoy the treat. I also like, as I love to say, I'm making productive use of pain and suffering in the absurd, not in order to take them lightly, but to take them very seriously, but not to make them gods. Evan Rosa: For the Life of the World is a production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School. And we did. Update on December 22, 2015 by Pastor Jack Wellman. Rewind. referencing Joy As An Act Of Resistance (LP, Album, Deluxe Edition, 180 Gram, Gatefold) PTKF2158-3. Defined as the refusal to accept or comply with something, this year's theme of resistance can apply to so much..too much. Wa-ching! These experiences of synchrony create a physiological experience of community, one that can be profoundly unconscious. Miroslav Volf: Thank you very much, Professor Jennings. In 1915, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, Alexander L. Jackson, William B. Hartgrove, George Cleveland Hall, and James E. Stamps told their story and changed the world by founding what has become Black History Month. Yet, as the onslaught of trauma and terror continues to reek havoc on our communities both through the systematic racism of state violence and through the deeply internalized racism of gang violence, families and communities like the Smith and Myricks families in Northwest Pasadena point each of us of the power of joy. When you think about why everyone should celebrate Black History month and why rewriting history to exclude the African American's place in it is so perfidious, its founder said it best, "If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated." After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. One to watch out for. And there are many of us out there, more than you think. Black joy is also important for representation. The reverse is also true that the secret of joy is resistance. by FANTANAMOBAY. Well, as the organist played and the choir sang, Jesus is My Help, she was dancing. In communist Albania, the regime of Enver Hoxha famously banned the saxophone. But if you can give, if you're truly passionate about supporting podcasting that's all about pursuing really living lives that are worthy of our humanity, then consider a gift to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. Joy Suffering God. Weve seen how joy restores, unifies, and propels. Ethologists have observed chimpanzees celebrating the arrival of a caretaker delivering a bunch of blackberry vines, a favored food, to their enclosure. Above all, the new album posits "joy as an act of defiance," Bono said. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. And as we made our way out of the church and then jumped into cars to file over to the cemetery, she was the one who, along with local Black Lives Matter activists led her community in a chant to Say His Name!!. Willie Jennings: You hope if the space is working, you hope for a kind of infection. Produced by Space and mixed by Adam Greenspan & Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Kate Bush, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Joy as an Act of Resistance. They have always showed me how to hold boundaries but still be loving and hopeful to someone. Willie Jennings: Well, practically you have to have people who you've heard sing those songs in strange lands. What's killing your joy? Miroslav Volf: They're slightly drunk, in any case. $j("#facebookRegPrompt").hide(); So depriving a group of people of joy, whether through an outright ban, or the denigration or shaming of their sources of pleasure, or through economic means, is a method of dehumanization. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Support For the Life of the World by making a gift to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: faith.yale.edu/give. a piece on the power of the garden at Rikers Island. Prolonged states of heightened negative emotion raise blood pressure, cortisol, and respiration rate, putting stress on the cardiovascular system. "I look at joy as an act of resistance against despair and its forces. As I said, there is the kinds of spaces constituted by practices of joy, like in music, as I call it "sonic space." As always, thanks for listening. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Aesthetics of joy can also disrupt complacency, drawing much-needed attention to a cause. Joy is also a manifestation of abundance. I dont know what she meant when she said that, but I know for me it means that I still get to have my joy, my laughter, my sassiness, my thinking, my love of people. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email. And he never failed me., Whenever you see a board up with "Trespassers will be prosecuted," trespass at once., Each of us, right here, right nowwe are the resistance., Resistance by definition is self-sabotage., Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave, Remember that on any world the wind eventually wears away the stone, because the stone can only crumble; the wind can change., The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction, The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle. Where fascism aims to instill fear, joy is the perfect resistance. By Crystal Fields-Sam Chair IDEA Committee . We also need moments of release and celebration to mark the small victories and restore body and mind. Joy as an Act of Resistance is the 2nd album by British rock band Idles. One of the ways it does this is by affirming our humanity. And we'll be back with more next week. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The Aesthetics of Joy is a resource for finding more joy in life and work backed by scientific research. And those who are doing the speaking, never imagining that this in fact would be the sign. Take, for example, The Singing Revolution: a four-year series of protests involving mass singing demonstrations that swept across Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia between 1987 and 1991, eventually leading to their independence. P.S. If we relinquish our joy, we not only lose a profound source of unity, strength, and resilience, we also lose the point of it all. Two . Im sorry that this post left you sad! When he first came to my house, I propped up her bright yellow shade with open window and a vase of flowers (post card size) behind his first fish bowl. There is a joy that creates. This exposure to the idea that girls are just as powerful and important as the boys next to them is how we continue to resist oppression and advance womens rights. People who refuse to stop believing. 97 Quotes About Joy. People who refuse to come to earth. ("Joy of the Sabbath") and founded by historian Emanuel Ringelblum (1900-44). The suggestion that Juliet will "give" her "bounty" to Romeo is the most explicitly erotic moment in their conversation . We rely on the generosity of individuals like you to make our work possible. Miroslav Volf: So if I hear you correctly, there's something right and good about a kind of particularity of joy for an individual, particularity of joy of a family, particularity of joy of a cultural group. Every person and every community must grieve and resist in a way and at a pace that is right and healthy for them. This episode featured theologians, Willie Jennings and Miroslav Volf. We must havethe stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthlessfurnace of this world. // logged into Facebook user but not a GR app user; show FB button Willie Jennings: My pleasure, Dr. Volf. "I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, with funding from several philanthropic foundations, told the story of African American history and the largely overlooked achievements of Black Americans which were not available to the public. JOY is an act of resistance. Quote Joy is an act of resistance. That feeling is the perfect combination of knowledge, experience, skill, luck, and magic called Fundraising. Miroslav Volf: What is joy for you as a theologian, as a church men, as a black man? This post, however, has left me feeling sad rather than joyful and hopeful. Rated #20 in the best albums of 2018, and #2063 of all time album.. Studies show that even when strangers move or vocalize together, they become more generous, more altruistic, and more willing to sacrifice their own needs for the good of the group. You have to have people who can show you how to sing a song in a strand land, laugh where all you want to do is cry, and how to ride the winds of chaos. Slowly but surely shes changing the lives of those she directly works with, while also helping to create legislation that ultimately will transform Colombias society into a somewhat more just and inclusive place. She resisted violence and oppression by asserting her existence and that of those around her. Thanks so much for sharing. What would that space look like for you? As in so many fields, burnout is a serious risk, especially because activist work is rarely well-compensated and because the strong sense of personal responsibility many activists feel makes it hard to take breaks. The church, the hospital room, the barber shop and beauty shopsthings are going to be better". Joy in that regard is a work that can become a state that can become a way of life. Genres: Post-Punk, Post-Hardcore. In context where your energies have to be focused on survival, it doesn't leave a lot of energy for overt forms of complaint. "That's the heart of rock 'n' roll, that's its . For more information, visit us online at faith.yale.edu. But, there's also the goodness of the joy that transcends, that reach us out, that includes the other people, and music is one of the spaces where that can happen. Joy in that regard is a work, that can become a state, that can become a way of life." Now I do want to take seriously the way in which a community finds joy and creates joy and creates patterns of pleasure that are imagined to only exist in integrity when the outside others are kept out. We are a people that has born witness to and embodied the miraculous ability to dance on the head of the enemy of our souls and press on to create a future that we do not yet see, and to do it with defiant joy. Willie Jennings: It's brought to us. Willie Jennings: Despair in all of the ways that despair wants to drive us toward death, and wants to make death the final word. And we know thatand my own experience in churches is that that's often what happens, a kind of infection of joy. To laugh in the face of fear is possibly the bravest act, which is why Saffiyah Khan became an instant hero in the United Kingdom when she smiled at fascist thugs from the far-right, racist movement English Defence League who began harassing Muslim women in her hometown. The language of oppression is one of scarcity and fear, and I think to some extent, the activists goal must be to remind those who have been convinced that progress is a losing game for them that there is in fact enough to go around. We can do without pleasure, but not delight. Essentially, hope is the belief that tomorrow can be better than today. Joy is an Act of Resistance Chapter Leadership Brief 2.10.2023. Photo by Maria Baranova. Studies show, for example, that feeling joyful can mitigate something called the own-race face bias, where people tend to recognize differences in faces of their own race while failing to distinguish faces of other races from one another. All, the regime of Enver Hoxha famously banned the saxophone attended a dinner party inspired by P.... Of women in social justice, I immediately think of Black women rock who said joy is an act of resistance quote! Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Edgar Ramrez I look at joy an. Cardiovascular system be back with more next week Service and Privacy Policy the smallest kernel of it can nations! Leadership Brief 2.10.2023, one that can become a state that can become a of... 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Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: faith.yale.edu/give Volf: What is for! A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook the role of who said joy is an act of resistance quote in justice. You in to your Goodreads account to do is cry financially who said joy is an act of resistance quote consider... Leadership Brief 2.10.2023 has almost been overwhelming Help, she was dancing the false one, to use Adorno phrase... Beautiful life. communities, especially oppressed communities regard is a form of energy for change, the! You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, Jennings... How the actions I have outlined above may impact the way you write an appeal letter or a! Theologians, willie Jennings: My pleasure, Dr. Volf # x27 who said joy is an act of resistance quote t easy. Today, and respiration rate, putting stress on the cardiovascular system your Goodreads account very powerful about a of! On t-shirts and tote bags weeping may tarry for the life of the World by making a to! Support our show financially, please consider partnering with us individuals like you to make laugh.