Let me be clear: your joy is not a luxury. It is not a reward you earn after suffering. It is not a permission granted by systems that oppress you. Your joy is a radical act of resistance.
In a world built on your exhaustion, your burnout, your shame—choosing joy is rebellion.
And not just any joy. I’m talking about sacred joy. Rested joy. Unapologetic, belly-laugh, barefoot-in-the-grass, dancing-in-the-middle-of-the-struggle kind of joy.
Let’s reclaim it. Together.
Three Takeaways
1. Tiredness Is a Tactic of Control
The systems we live under reward exhaustion. You’re praised for working through pain. Respected for being always-on. But this isn’t a virtue—it’s control. If you’re too tired to dream, to dance, to fight—you’re easier to manage. Joy replenishes what systems deplete.
“If joy only comes after suffering, that’s not liberation. That’s programming.”
2. Joy Is a Birthright, Not a Bonus
Black joy. Queer joy. Neurodivergent joy. These are not anomalies—they are ancestral. Our people have always carved joy from resistance. Joy isn’t what comes after the fight—it’s what fuels it.
“I wasn’t rejoicing because we won. I was rejoicing no matter what.”
3. Joy is Communal, Not Capitalist
Real joy doesn’t come from a price tag. It comes from potlucks and playlists, from barefoot dance parties and polished-at-home pedicures. The kind of joy that says: we don’t need to buy our belonging.
“Community multiplies joy. Always has.”
Featured Clip
“Joy has always been a threat to systems of domination. Because a joyful, rested, well-fed, well-loved person is harder to control. This episode is your reminder: your joy is not extra. It is sacred. It is strategy. It is survival.”
Recap
This episode unfolded from the space between burnout and belly laughter. I walked you through my own week, from fighting for my son’s educational rights to watching him graduate third grade like it was a college ceremony. We celebrated anyway. Not because we got the outcome, but because we showed up.
That’s what joy as rebellion looks like: choosing to celebrate in the midst of, not after.
We unraveled:
Why joy isn’t a reward for good behavior
How colonial systems taught us to earn joy through suffering
What it means to find joy in the margins, the mundane, the moment
I reminded us: joy is not just healing. It’s disruptive.
Practice Your Praxis
Choose one area to embody this week: Self, Home, or Work
SELF: Make a Joy List.
Write down 10 things that bring you joy for no reason at all.
Delilah radio, fuzzy socks, line dancing, good gospel—whatever it is.
Pick one and do it this week. Not later. Not earned. Now.
HOME: Potluck joy. No balloons, no pressure. Invite folks to bring food, songs, or stories. Sit outside. Let the kids run wild. Let the aunties laugh loud. Multiply the joy in your own backyard/space.
WORK: Audit Your Joy Barriers.
Where is your workplace (or your business) stealing joy through urgency, hierarchy, or hustle?
Make one change that honors joy—no emails after hours, music during admin tasks, joy breaks between calls.
🌐 Further Resources
The 15 Pillars of Supremacy Culture (pay-what-you-can)
Substack Membership $8 a month, $80 a year, $120 a year. Equity Partner Info
Conclusion
Joy is sacred.
Joy is strategic.
Joy is what they don’t expect us to still have.
Let this be your reminder:
You do not have to suffer first to deserve your smile.
You do not need permission to dance.
Joy, in all its forms, small and loud, quiet and silly, is how we win.
Thank you
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