Black Joy means many different things to many different people. It can be about freedom, resistance, and survival, but it can also be about achievement, inspiration, and revival. It is about understanding that when we talk about telling our nation’s full history it is not just the narrative of a march from slavery to the ending of Jim Crow. Black Joy comes from the history of people and places in that narrative, those who lived, worked, and dreamed in spite of, rather than because of, events beyond their control.

Black Joy is a feeling. It is family. It is love.

As Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation said, “An ethos and core belief that I have had is that preserving Black history is an act of radical love and joy. Everyday, I see so much joy and love in the local communities as they successfully protect our cultural legacy. “

As we commemorate the 2024 Juneteenth holiday—the day in 1865 when Union Army General Granger issued General Order No. 3 ordering the freedom of over 250,000 enslaved people in Texas—the staff of the Action Fund share stories of people and places connected to Black Joy.

Black Joy is Perseverance

Lawana Holland Moore, Director, Fellowships & Interpretative Strategies

“For me, Black joy is represented at the Hutchinson House, the oldest house in Edisto Island, SC. Built by Henry Hutchinson in 1885 for his new bride Rosa, it sheltered not only their family, but 50 of their neighbors during the deadly Sea Islands Hurricane of 1893.

It is a testament to love, to family, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship and perseverance. So often, the focus of our stories are pain and struggle, but while there inside the house among the cool breezes on a summer day, you can imagine laughter and warmth. That happiness is a part of our story too.”

Black Joy is Freedom of Expression

Melissa Jest, Senior Manager, Preservation Projects

“Black Joy comes in the form of a story. The story told by Mrs. Frank Melvin Luster III at the 2024 Main Street Now Conference where she recalled the laughter and live music that flowed from the music clubs near her family home, the Lyons Luster Mansion in Oklahoma City. It is both heartening, and comforting to know that Black folks in Oklahoma were free to express and experience such joy less than two generations after Emancipation.

Mrs. Luster travelled to the conference in Birmingham, Alabama to share her memories and to present Black Joy as a resource we must cultivate in our preservation work. She is one of several stakeholders who participated in the Action Fund feasibility study of the Lyons Luster Mansion and another NE Oklahoma City asset, the Brockway Center. Mrs. Luster said she is committed to ensuring that the African Americans who lived, volunteered, and worked in the historic buildings are recognized and celebrated.”

Black Joy Is Fellowship

Leslie Canaan, Senior Manager, Preserving Black Churches Project

Black Joy is Community

Morgan Forde, Editorial Consultant

"For me, Juneteenth is about celebrating the strength we can find in community. The first Action Fund site I had the chance to visit was Nina Simone’s Childhood Home in Tryon, North Carolina. I grew up with her music, but getting the chance to walk through the yard where she played, the house where she slept alongside her family, and the church where she first fell in love with music, was a powerful reminder of how place and community can shape so much of who we are.

Simone’s roots in the South and in the Black church come through in her music, her activism, and her own invocations of Black joy and excellence throughout her career. I am excited for the future of her home in Tryon, as the Action Fund works hand-in-hand with the local community to preserve her legacy and enable it to be a place of inspiration, rest, and artistic expression for future generations."

Black Joy is Healing

Brandon Bibby, Senior Preservation Architect

"Joy, both in laughter and tears, is one of the most transformational emotions we can experience. I think of joy as the permanence of happiness, which is why the phrase 'you can't steal our joy' is such a powerful statement. Joy is affirmation and a state of being that allows for healing and liberation.