Update on December 22, 2015 by Pastor Jack Wellman. The power of celebrations goes beyond the energy they create. Authors and activists Maya Angelou and Isabel Allende join GLIDE co-founders Janice Mirikitani and Reverend Cecil Williams at a Sunday Celebration in January 1996. You were born to heal, to grow, to be of service to yourself and community, to practice, to experiment, to create, to have space, to dream, and to connect.". Joy is an act of resistance. We rely on the generosity of individuals like you to make our work possible. And as if nobody there missed a beat, Ms. Myricks, and everybody there knew that it was time to dance in his honor. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words., Where there is power, there is resistance., It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end., People get used to anything. a : the inherent ability of an organism to resist harmful influences (such as disease, toxic agents, or infection) b : the capacity of a species or strain of microorganism to survive exposure to a toxic agent (such as a drug) formerly effective against it 3 : an opposing or retarding force 4 a We don't think spatially as we should. In the current national climate, it is more crucial than ever that we resist and repel the misogynist forces arrayed against us, and that we unconditionally stand with the women and LGBTQI people who are put at risk under the dangerous policies of the current administration. Like Romeo, Juliet sees love as a kind of freedom, "boundless" and "infinite.". "Resistance is the secret of joy." Alice Walker 20. 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. I will read it again with an open mind and see if its just my over sensitivity to political messages and political leanings when Im looking for neutrality and joy for all. $j("#generalRegPrompt").hide(); It's almost like joy is this plant that is more easily springs in adversity than it does in a kind of plenty and posh kind of life that breeds more indifference. We're grateful that you're listening to this podcast. And I think this is one of the problems theologically in talking about joy that we don't put it on the ground sufficiently, to grasp the way in which joy is always embedded in the flows of community logics, the cultural logics of particular communities. Professor Jennings, it's great to have you with us. Other soldiers wrote home requesting flower seeds to plant. }); Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I began to realize this when I was studying animal celebrations. 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. But what does it mean when you're at some place where the world's trash comes to you and out of that trash, you have to do something. And there's something very powerful about that because as one artist says, "It's how, especially oppressed in poor people, can make something really beautiful out of what has been thrown away." Not enjoyment. Can you expand on that? Your submission has been received! Willie Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Africana Studies, and Religious Studies at Yale University; he is an ordained Baptist minister and is author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race,Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate, and most recently, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. If someone puts their hands on you make sure they never put their hands on anybody else again., We live in capitalism. I am printing this post in order to keep the many good points at hand. And if you're not, please continue listening and engaging the content. Last week I attended a dinner party inspired by Marsha P. (P for pay-it-no-mind) Johnson, who ignited the Stonewall Rebellion. Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks. Are you going to have a good day or are you going to have a great day? In 2017, they formed the Resistance Revival Chorus, a collective of women and non-binary singers whose central tenet is that joy is an act of resistance. $22. We must walk a path of joy even against our doom. 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." The church, the hospital room, the barber shop and beauty shopsthings are going to be better". Whether its the transcendent joy of sacred ritual or the simple joy of cultivating a garden, the pursuit of joy amid great struggle is a way to tend our humanity when it is most threatened. 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. Willie Jennings: As I like to say, I'm a child of the church. All in all, the church and multiple churches have been places of extreme joy, surprising joy, and to quote the title of a famous book by CS Lewis, places where I've been absolutely "surprised by joy," stunned by joy. ("Joy of the Sabbath") and founded by historian Emanuel Ringelblum (1900-44). Without that belief, theres no point in fighting. Joy Is An Act of Resistance By Delonte Gholston, Contributor Pastor, Artist, Organizer Jun 23, 2017, 11:54 AM EDT | Updated Jun 26, 2017 This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. And when the horse drawn carriage with the bullet riddled body of her slain son passed by, someone from the family in the slowly driven car behind the carriage once again did something that I did not expect. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. Sensory joy is a form of care that contrasts with traumatic circumstances and helps cultivate the resilience needed to counter oppression. Released 31 August 2018 on Partisan. If you're new here, please hop onto my email list so I can send you weekly emails full of GIFs (and also podcasts, articles, and generally amusing cheerleading for . This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. A funeral is held. The throngs of mourners and supporters lined the isles of the church, crowded the lobby and balcony areas, and spilled out of the church onto the outside lawn. This sleeve has quite a fragile wide spine. 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. They moved the needle forward by challenging stereotypes in a very aggressive and sometimes shocking manner, forcing important gender issues to the forefront while demanding equality in how women were seen and treated. Dr. Engram's "Black Joy as an Act of Resistance" takes the listener on a journey through the life of Black millennials. Well, as the organist played and the choir sang, Jesus is My Help, she was dancing. So for today, Sojourner Truth is my inspiration. Joy as an Act of Resistance., an Album by Idles. And it's commercialized. 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. Miroslav Volf: Things are going to be better. However, I also found that some thoughts expressed seemed unnecessary and negatively pointed, producing uneasiness rather than joy. We danced like Darius was right there with us. 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. Miroslav Volf: So you walk and you think, "I need to walk into a space of joy." We can do without pleasure, but not delight. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. But there's also another side, not only to just African diaspora forms of joy, but the joy in many communities. Nature, whether the wild forest or a manicured garden, has the power to soothe anxiety, reduce rumination, and restore the ability to focus. That is, especially in the face of a brutal and oppressive empire, the power to have joy is the power to resist. Miroslav Volf: So you need a kind of public spaces and public rituals possibly. There IS hope!! This is joy for our time. faith.yale.edu/media/joy-and-the-act-of-resistance-against-despair. And here I'm not thinking primarily about African-American or African diaspora communities, but I'm thinking about the way in which multiple communities, their joy is inside of a hard segregation. Folk or traditional music is typically condemned, such as in Nazi Germany, which targeted Jewish music. Fundraising is the vehicle a worthy cause utilizes to traverse obstacles which would otherwise prevent it from being heard. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Rated #20 in the best albums of 2018, and #2063 of all time album.. By Crystal Fields-Sam Chair IDEA Committee . Get 'JOY AS AN ACT OF RESISTANCE' - https://idles.lnk.to/joy Miroslav Volf: They're slightly drunk, in any case. Stop. Seeing her and PARCES gives me hope for Colombias future. They rolled the windows down, and turned the music all the way up to play one of Dariuss favorite songs. Justice is denied. What's killing your joy? As a Christian pastor, I could not help sense that I was bearing witness to the embodiment of Isaiahs prophecy that you have turned my mourning into dancing, my sorrow into joy. New Submission. AFP New York City Chapter Evan Rosa: For the Life of the World is a production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School. There is that space. Brutalism Tracklist T-Shirt. Celebratory joy creates unity on an emotional and a physical level, and a unified populace is harder to dominate. I want our guests to know that I love them and appreciate them. How lucky to have met him. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. It is a parade of naivety, of a warm embrace, it is Young Thug's dress. Im sorry that this post left you sad! In China under Mao, listening to the music of Beethoven was a crime. Check out our joy act resistance selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. How would you put it? Marsha was a performer and activist who dedicated herself to supporting the most vulnerable LGBTQ New Yorkers with clothes, food and resources. Their music and message empowered my girlfriends and me to feel that we were enough, without needing boyfriends or to look and act a certain way. For women, this has meant a suppression of the erotic as a considered source of power and information within our lives. The denigration of feminine forms of joy, such as romance novels and films, fashion and home decor, is another manifestation of this insidious form of repression. 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 . They have always showed me how to hold boundaries but still be loving and hopeful to someone. Joy is the currency that is flowing between hands in such situation. Willie Jennings: Yeah, this is where I wonder out loud if the life of Jesus, a kind of Christological intervention, is what's necessary for us to re-conceive joy that opens us out rather than encloses. Play. PTKF2158-2J . Would you say that these are joyful times? This week, with one year to go until the next U.S. presidential election, it seemed a good time to dig in and share a kind of blueprint for the intentional use of joy to foster change. At EL Education's 2022 National Conference: A World of Good, Sydney joined school counselor Dominique Sawyer and fellow SAC members Stephanie Kacou and Marissa Barnwell for a panel . Recognize that pleasure is a measure of freedom, writes Adrienne Maree Brown, author of a book called Pleasure Activism, which takes as its premise that the states of being that activists are striving for, justice and liberation and wellbeing, are highly joyful states, and therefore pleasure can be a powerful tool for helping us achieve them. 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. But contemporary hits are just as suspect; the Soviet Union, for example, censored songs by artists as varied as AC/DC, Tina Turner, and Julio Iglesias. Thanks for listening. Stories are told, jokes are told, people walk in, comments are made, and without you being spoken to directly, you've been spoken to. But in context where that isn't fully, hasn't fully taken hold, the people's work of creating joy is there. Rest Is Resistance Quotes Showing 1-30 of 84. Jesus tells us to use joy as an act of rebellion when he says: "Love your enemy, bless the one who curses you, do something wonderful for the one who hates you, and respond to the very ones who persecute you by praying for them." (Matthew 5:44) Share joy by sharing love, which drives out fear, which leads to joy. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. Kathleen Hanna, like Marian, suffered from sexual abuse at a young age and used the stage to not only wrestle with her pain, but also to establish the riotgrrl movement. Following the success of their debut album Brutalism, the band started recording new material for their next album. Some of the containers holding the archives were dug up from . Ethologists have observed chimpanzees celebrating the arrival of a caretaker delivering a bunch of blackberry vines, a favored food, to their enclosure. 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. 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. Hope is an elusive yet vital ingredient for activism. 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