Vital Voices: Joy as a Radical Act
Amid life’s myriad uncertainties and losses, where do we individually and collectively find and sustain joy? What is that joy, and how does joy move beyond “happiness”? What is there about joy that affords a peace beyond resignation? Facilitated by Project Humanities Founding Director, Dr. Neal A. Lester, and Dr. Jacqueline Trimble, poet and Chair of the Department of English at Alabama State University, this session features Dr. Trimble’s poem, “The Language of Joy,” rendered as a short film by filmmaker Ouida Washington. Dr. Trimble’s poem encourages thoughtful discussions on joy, especially in the face of trauma and how joy contributes to mental wellbeing, particularly of Black women. As a Vital Voices event, attendees are invited (but not required) to bring a piece to share—a poem, a passage, a song, a story, a photo or other something—that connects you with Black joy in particular. Is joy racialized, gendered, classed and aged?