“Nurturing Black Disabled Joy” by Keah Brown
Summary: First Brown talks about how disabled communities are typically barred from experiencing joy or hope. Brown is unapologetic about her joy and proceeds to talk about the aftermath of publishing her first book. Brown counters the arguments against her book through realizing that the reason the readers were upset was because the book was not centered on their experience. She talks about starting her movement #DisabledAndCute and how it enabled her to start living life unapologetically. Brown continues to talk about how she searches for joy and hope and ends with sharing her joy with the world and commitment to living her life fully.
Quotes: “So I live as unapologetically as I can each day- for myself, of course, but also for those who will come up after me, who will walk through the doors I hope to break down” (118).
“On those days, it’s important not to mourn the lack of joy but to remember how it feels, to remember that to feel at all is one of the greatest gifts we have in life” (119).
Reflection:
I think that Brown’s essay is a great example of how transformative joy and hope can be. I think for a lot of people, disabled people especially, there can be a compulsion to cling to the dreary. As someone with mental illness, I know that there were plenty of times in my life when I said, “I am too depressed to be happy”. And the moments that I did feel happiness later became twisted because my brain inserted facts that did not exist, marring my perception of whatever had just made me happy. But the moment that joy is sought after and accepted is transformative. Not only can it help your own mental health, but it can help the mental health around others too. It is important to pursue joy in your own life, not only because you deserve it but also because you deserve to share your joy with others. Joy and hope are contagious, and recognizing joy in others creates a sense of belonging and hope for a positive future. You can recognize when things are difficult or painful, you can validate those feelings as they come. But it is important to train yourself to understand that those feelings won’t last forever. That it is okay, even desirable, to have hope for the joy that is to come. I know that the concept helped pull me out of some dark spaces, and I have also used my search for joy to help fuel others, recognizing that living is a community process, and we all help each other one step at a time.