The 34st The Black History Month edition is coming to an end. Its theme this year was “All That We Are.” A month to celebrate, honor, but also remember past and present struggles. February marks all of this and, symbolically too, the assassination of Malcolm X.
But since 1965, how has the resistance of Black communities been reinvented? Among its forms, there is Black joy. In Montreal, it's been visible in public spaces thanks to the Black Joy MTL collective. A movement that does not call for revolt, but that resists in other ways. Because claiming joy is also a militant act. The objective of the collective? Allow Black people to reclaim their history, to see themselves through the prism of celebration, not only of struggle.
2020 was a turning point. It was in the heart of the global upheavals caused by the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that Claire-Anse Saint-Éloi and Diane Gistal decided to create Black Joy MTL.
“It was suffocating. We needed to breathe, to see something other than pain and anger,” says Diane Gistal. “We were really in a very negative space, exhausted,” adds Claire-Anse Saint-Éloi.
Both recall feeling deeply tired of the omnipresent representation of violence against Black bodies in public and media spaces. “You have this anger that consumes you, which must be transformed. And we said to ourselves that resistance can also come through joy,” says Diane.
Black joy as an intentional act
For the co-founders, Black joy lies in the simple pleasures of life: family, community, healing. It all started with a photo project and a picnic in La Fontaine Park in Montreal. The idea is simple: bring Black women together for a moment of celebration, with no other excuse than to be together.
“Seeing a dozen Black women, all in yellow and orange, laughing and sharing a moment was unusual. We felt this joy, but also the effect it had on others,” recalls Claire-Anse. This seemingly trivial moment became a powerful symbol: that of the ability to exist outside of stories of pain.
“Unfortunately, often, when we meet, it's to demand something. Finding ourselves without having to talk about our identity, but simply to celebrate it, it made us feel good,” she underlines.
For her, therefore, Black joy is an intentional act. “This intentionality of finding each other, of becoming a community. I think that's how it comes about, this black joy,” she continues.
This is also what Joyce, a student at Collège de Maisonneuve, thinks, even though she was not familiar with the Black joy movement as such. “I am very much into reconciliation,” she says. "The past was awful, but living in the past is like shutting yourself down.” For her, while there is systemic racism in Canada, there is still a place for Black joy to exist.
Beryl, an engineering student, shares this view, but she, too, was not familiar with the Black joy movement. After learning what it was, she says she favours Black joy on a daily basis, while stressing the lack of representation of Black communities in her field of study.
Changing the paradigm: celebration above all
Black Joy MTL has chosen not to focus its activities on issues of racism and discrimination. The primary objective is to create spaces where members of Black communities, regardless of age, can meet and celebrate their cultures through a variety of activities.
“One day, a young person came to me and said, 'Why are there so many Black children here? I think it's good, it doesn't happen to me often,'” says Claire-Anse. This episode, far from being isolated, highlights the importance of spaces devoted to Black joy, which nourish a sense of belonging.
Claire-Anse also highlights the complexity of being a Black person in spaces where you often have to watch yourself. “I have to watch the way I speak, the ardour, the tone with which I can speak. So for me, being in this space, being able to form a community, it allows me to maintain my strengths as well and to be able to have safe spaces where I can simply be me, without conditions. And that's rare, because everywhere, I have to be in the performance, unfortunately.”
Have a lasting effect
Going forward, Claire-Anse hopes that Black Joy MTL will continue to create these spaces for reflection and celebration, while having a lasting effect on Black communities. “Our identities are changing. Having these places to discuss it is essential. I have faith in the future. I hope that we can invest even more space and reach more people.”
The collective is currently at a turning point. “We are asking ourselves the question: are we becoming an organization? What are the next projects we are going to carry out? ” explains Diane. With Claire-Anse, they want to further structure their approach, by reflecting on the values, mission and mandate of Black Joy MTL.
In this process, they see that demand for their events remains strong. “We are contacted regularly to find out when our next activities will take place. We feel that there is a need”, concludes Claire-Anse. However, the co-founders want to make sure they do it right, by securing partnerships and funding that will ensure the accessibility of their initiatives. “Our latest project was able to be free thanks to a major partner who allowed us to cover accessibility costs, such as transporting children,” reports Diane.
They are also considering setting up a committee to avoid speaking in their own name alone. “We are sometimes asked to have a voice that represents the whole community, but we really want to create an intergenerational and intercultural dialogue. There are cultures within Black cultures, and you want to be intentional in everything you do,” she concludes.
Black Joy MTL reminds us that there are a thousand ways to honour the heritage of Black communities. By choosing joy as an act of resistance, the collective is redefining the spaces of memory and identity, thus affirming that celebrating is also a way of transmitting. Through their events, Claire-Anse and Diane open a path where being Black is lived to the fullest, without justification or struggle. A way to anchor, well beyond Black History Month, Black joy in the collective landscape.