"But did you know...": Joy, myth, and Black liberation

• In Event: 30851 - The Racial Politics of Joy

Abstract

Bell suggests that the study of Black storytelling for social justice reveals that 1) myth-making is not only an unintentional tool for sense-making but in imminently valuable, intentional tool for resistance, and 2) the tension between “joy as resistance” and “joy for the sake of joy” is fruitful for constructing futures that defy a pessimistic present. She will conduct participant observation and semi-structured interviews with a collective of Black oral storytellers with a justice orientation whose work around New England is a source of “joy for the sake of joy” but also joy for the sake of resistance. Bell will also incorporate autoethnography to explore how her own process of crafting a creation myth within this community of griots informs her justice efforts in the community as well as her pedagogy and research.

Author

• Jocelyn Bell, Bryant University