The Politics of Joy: Resistance Through Celebration

BY NICOLE LAU

Joy is a Revolutionary Act

"How can I celebrate when there's so much suffering in the world?"

This is the question that stops many from the Light Path.

The answer:

Your joy is not a betrayal of those who suffer.

Your joy is resistance.

Because systems of oppression depend on your despair. They need you broken, hopeless, too exhausted to fight.

When you celebrate in the face of oppression—

When you dance when they want you defeated—

When you sing when they demand silence—

You are refusing to be broken.

This article explores:

• Joy as political resistance and revolutionary act
• Case studies: Civil Rights freedom songs, ACT UP, Reclaim the Streets
• How celebration sustains long-term resistance
• Community resilience through collective joy
• Contemporary movements using joy as strategy

Because joy is not frivolous.

Joy is survival. Joy is resistance. Joy is revolution.

I. The Politics of Despair vs The Politics of Joy

A. How Oppression Works

Systems of oppression require:

• Despair: "Nothing will ever change"
• Exhaustion: Too tired to resist
• Isolation: Divided, we're weak
• Hopelessness: "Why bother fighting?"
• Dehumanization: Forget your worth, your beauty, your right to joy

Oppression wants you to forget you're human.

To forget you deserve joy.

To accept suffering as inevitable.

B. Joy as Refusal

When you celebrate despite oppression:

• You refuse despair: "I still have hope"
• You refuse exhaustion: "Joy gives me energy"
• You refuse isolation: "We celebrate together"
• You refuse hopelessness: "Another world is possible"
• You refuse dehumanization: "I am human, I deserve joy"

This is why joy is threatening to power.

Joyful people are harder to control.

C. Historical Examples

Enslaved Africans singing spirituals:

• Joy in the midst of horror
• Maintained humanity
• Built community
• Encoded resistance messages

Jews dancing in concentration camps:

• Defiant celebration
• Refused to let Nazis destroy their spirit
• Maintained culture and identity

Indigenous peoples maintaining ceremony despite colonization:

• Celebration as cultural survival
• Joy as resistance to erasure
• Passing traditions to next generation

Pattern: The oppressed have always known—joy is resistance.

II. Case Study: Civil Rights Movement Freedom Songs

A. The Power of Singing Together

Freedom songs were central to Civil Rights Movement:

• "We Shall Overcome"
• "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around"
• "This Little Light of Mine"
• "Oh Freedom"

Why they mattered:

• Built courage: Singing together before facing violence
• Created unity: Collective voice, collective power
• Sustained hope: "We shall overcome" = belief in victory
• Transformed fear into joy: Singing in jail, singing while beaten

B. Bernice Johnson Reagon's Insight

Bernice Johnson Reagon (Freedom Singer, scholar):

"The singing was the carrying agent... It was the singing that held us together, that gave us the courage to face another day."

Key insight:

• Not just protest songs (angry, demanding)
• But freedom songs (joyful, celebratory)
• Joy sustained the movement
• Anger alone would have burned out

C. The Albany Movement

Albany, Georgia, 1961-1962:

• Mass arrests (over 1,000 people jailed)
• Protesters sang in jail
• Turned jail into celebration
• Police couldn't break their spirit

Charles Sherrod (organizer):

"I can't tell you what that singing meant to us... It was our way of saying, 'You can lock us up, but you can't lock up our spirits.'"

This is the politics of joy: Refusing to let oppression steal your humanity.

D. Legacy

Freedom songs influenced:

• Anti-apartheid movement (South Africa)
• Solidarity movement (Poland)
• Pro-democracy movements worldwide

The lesson: Joyful resistance is contagious and powerful.

III. Case Study: ACT UP and Fierce Joy

A. Context: AIDS Crisis

1980s-90s:

• AIDS epidemic killing thousands
• Government inaction
• Stigma and discrimination
• LGBTQ+ community facing death and abandonment

Expected response: Despair, grief, hiding

Actual response: ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power)

B. Fierce, Fabulous Resistance

ACT UP's tactics:

• Die-ins: But theatrical, dramatic, impossible to ignore
• Protests: Colorful, creative, joyful even in rage
• Slogans: "Silence = Death" but also "Action = Life"
• Art: Bold graphics, guerrilla installations
• Celebration: Parties, dancing, fierce joy

Key insight: They refused to be victims.

• Yes, they were dying
• Yes, they were angry
• But they were also alive
• And they celebrated that aliveness

C. "We're Here, We're Queer, Get Used to It"

This chant embodied the politics of joy:

• Visibility: Refusing to hide
• Pride: Celebrating queerness, not apologizing
• Defiance: "Get used to it" = we're not going anywhere
• Joy: Chanted with energy, rhythm, even humor

Sarah Schulman (ACT UP member, historian):

"We were fighting for our lives, but we were also living our lives. The parties, the sex, the art, the joy—that was resistance too. We refused to let AIDS make us less than fully human."

D. Impact

ACT UP achieved:

• Faster drug approval processes
• Increased funding for AIDS research
• Changed public perception of AIDS
• Saved countless lives

How: Through fierce, joyful, relentless resistance.

IV. Case Study: Reclaim the Streets

A. Origins

London, 1990s:

• Anti-car, pro-pedestrian movement
• Critique of capitalism and car culture
• But method: Street parties

The tactic:

• Block major roads
• Turn them into dance parties
• DJs, sound systems, thousands dancing
• Reclaim public space through celebration

B. Joy as Disruption

Why it worked:

• Hard to suppress: Police uncomfortable breaking up parties
• Attracted participants: People came for the party, stayed for the politics
• Created alternative: Showed what streets could be (community space, not just car routes)
• Joyful, not grim: Protest as celebration, not sacrifice

Slogan: "Resistance is fertile" (playful twist on "futile")

C. Global Spread

Reclaim the Streets inspired:

• Critical Mass (bike protests)
• Occupy movement (some tactics)
• Climate justice actions
• Anti-globalization protests

The lesson: Joy makes resistance sustainable and contagious.

D. Philosophy

From Reclaim the Streets manifesto:

"The revolution will be a party or it will be nothing... We are not fighting for a grim future of sacrifice, but for a joyful present and future of abundance, creativity, and celebration."

This is the politics of joy articulated.

V. Why Joy Sustains Resistance

A. Burnout is Real

Traditional activism often leads to:

• Exhaustion
• Despair
• Infighting
• Dropout

Why:

• Constant focus on suffering
• No celebration of wins
• Martyrdom culture ("suffering = commitment")
• No joy, no rest, no play

Result: Movements collapse from internal exhaustion.

B. Joy as Fuel

Joyful resistance is sustainable because:

• Energizing: Joy creates energy, doesn't deplete it
• Bonding: Celebration builds community
• Hopeful: Joy reminds us what we're fighting for
• Resilient: Joyful people bounce back faster
• Attractive: People want to join joyful movements

Joy is not a break from the work. Joy IS the work.

C. The Long Game

Social change takes decades:

• Civil Rights: Centuries of struggle
• LGBTQ+ rights: Ongoing
• Climate justice: Generational fight

You cannot sustain decades of resistance on anger alone.

You need joy.

You need celebration.

You need to remember why life is worth fighting for.

D. Prefigurative Politics

Prefigurative politics: Embody the world you want to create.

• Don't just fight against oppression
• Live the alternative now
• Create the joyful, just world in your movement

Examples:

• Occupy: Horizontal decision-making, free food, community care
• Zapatistas: Autonomous communities, celebration as resistance
• Black Lives Matter: Joy as resistance to anti-Black violence

The revolution must be joyful or it's not worth having.

VI. Community Resilience Through Joy

A. Collective Trauma

Oppressed communities face:

• Ongoing violence
• Systemic discrimination
• Intergenerational trauma
• Daily microaggressions

This creates collective trauma.

B. Joy as Collective Healing

Communities heal through:

• Celebration: Festivals, parties, gatherings
• Music and dance: Cultural expression
• Ritual: Marking transitions, honoring ancestors
• Storytelling: Sharing joy alongside pain
• Humor: Laughing at oppressors, finding absurdity

Examples:

• Black joy: Cookouts, family reunions, church celebrations
• Queer joy: Pride, ballroom culture, chosen family gatherings
• Indigenous joy: Powwows, ceremonies, cultural revitalization
• Immigrant joy: Cultural festivals, maintaining traditions

C. Joy as Cultural Survival

For marginalized communities:

• Joy is not frivolous
• Joy is survival
• Joy maintains culture under threat
• Joy passes traditions to next generation
• Joy says: "We're still here, we're still us"

Toni Morrison:

"In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent... We do language. That may be the measure of our lives."

And part of that language is joy.

VII. Contemporary Movements

A. Black Lives Matter

Alongside protest:

• Black joy as resistance
• Celebrating Black life, beauty, culture
• "We deserve to be alive AND joyful"
• Cookouts, dance parties, art

Hashtags: #BlackJoy, #BlackGirlMagic, #BlackBoyJoy

Message: We refuse to let anti-Black violence steal our joy.

B. Climate Justice

Extinction Rebellion:

• Colorful, creative actions
• Music, dance, art
• "Rebellion is joyful"
• Sustainable activism through celebration

Youth climate strikes:

• Creative signs, chants
• Energy and hope
• Refusing climate despair

C. Feminist Movements

Women's marches:

• Pink hats, creative signs
• Singing, chanting
• Joyful solidarity

Las Tesis (Chile):

• "Un Violador en Tu Camino" (A Rapist in Your Path)
• Choreographed protest performance
• Went viral globally
• Dance as feminist resistance

D. LGBTQ+ Movements

Pride:

• Celebration as resistance
• Visibility through joy
• Refusing shame
• Party as protest

"We're here, we're queer" continues in new forms.

VIII. Practical Applications

A. For Activists

1. Build joy into your organizing:

• Start meetings with celebration
• End actions with dance parties
• Celebrate small wins
• Make space for play

2. Practice community care:

• Check in on each other
• Share meals
• Create rituals
• Rest together

3. Use joy as tactic:

• Creative actions (not just marches)
• Music, art, performance
• Make resistance attractive

B. For Everyone

1. Your joy is political:

• Especially if you're marginalized
• Your joy is resistance
• Don't let oppression steal it

2. Celebrate your community:

• Cultural festivals
• Family gatherings
• Chosen family celebrations
• Maintain traditions

3. Support joyful resistance:

• Attend actions that celebrate
• Share Black joy, queer joy, Indigenous joy
• Amplify joyful resistance

Conclusion: Joy is Not Frivolous

Your joy is not a betrayal.

Your joy is not frivolous.

Your joy is not selfish.

Your joy is:

• Resistance to systems that want you broken
• Survival in the face of oppression
• Revolution embodied in the present
• Refusal to let them steal your humanity

When you dance—

When you sing—

When you celebrate—

You are saying:

"I am human."

"I deserve joy."

"You cannot break me."

"Another world is possible."

"And I'm living it now."

This is the politics of joy.

This is resistance through celebration.

This is revolution.

So celebrate.

Fiercely.

Defiantly.

Joyfully.

Your joy is a revolutionary act.

Next in this series: "Joyful Parenting: Raising Children in Light" — exploring how to model joyful spirituality for children, family celebration rituals, and raising the next generation in joy.