Image created by Yoli Bergstrom-Lynch
WCSU Library is celebrating Black History Month by curating this mini collection of books, music, art, films, talks, podcasts, and notable websites. The collection includes books you can borrow from the Haas and Young Libraries and from the libraries in the CSCU library consortium (i.e., the 12 Community Colleges, 4 Connecticut State Universities, and the CT State Library).
"Taking inspiration from Oakland’s Black Joy Parade, the Black Joy Storywindows, Kleaver Cruz's The Black Joy Project, and The Museum of Black Joy, this mini collection features books that center Black joy as an act of resistance. In relating the significance of joy to Black survival, Kleaver Cruz explained, "Black joy is not . . . dismissing or creating an 'alternate' black narrative that ignores the realities of our collective pain; rather it is about holding the pain and injustice . . . in tension with the joy we experience. It's about using that joy as an entry into understanding the oppressive forces we navigate through as a means to imagine and create a world free of them" (see "Black Joy: Resistance, Resilience and Reclamation" by Elaine Nichols). Put differently, in his book Inciting Joy, poet and essayist Ross Gay asks, “What if joy is not only entangled with pain or suffering, or sorrow but is also what emerges from how we care for each other through those things?” (p. 4). For Dr. Yaba Blay, “The idea of Black joy as a liberation strategy is an honor to our ancestors” (see Black Joy)." Yoli Bergstrom-Lynch
Grab your headphones and check out our librarian curated Spotify playlists celebrating Black music and be sure to explore Carnegie Hall's Timeline of African American Music.
