In a world often filled with challenges – racial, systemic and personal – pursuing joy sometimes can feel like an elusive dream. But for Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts, an author and “curator of joy,” this pursuit is not only a personal journey but one she shares with people who are ready for their own joy journeys.
On April 24, the NAACP Image Award winner is coming to Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books, at 5445 Germantown Ave., for a workshop to help people identify and tap into their joy. For Lewis-Giggetts, Uncle Bobbie’s is the ideal place for the session because it is “a center of that community… a gathering place or a holding space for our issues and the conversations that we’re having."
Lewis-Giggetts is in New York with her daughter, a “theater kid,” for spring break. The pair packed their schedule with five Broadway shows in four days. That’s a lot of Playbills. “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Gypsy" have been the highlights of a whirlwind tour. “The introverted mama is tired,” she says, but seeing her daughter’s delight keeps her going.
Watching her daughter experience joy is one of the milestones in Lewis-Giggetts' journey, but not the first one. "I think the first milestone on the joy journey is the moment I realized that I could hold grief and joy simultaneously," she reflects. This realization came during a period of intense sorrow.
"I was wrestling with a lot of grief,” she said. “I lost a family member to racial gun violence. It was devastating to our family."
Her diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work at a college further complicated this period, which brought "a lot of hostility and pushback." Her body began to break down under the weight of it all. "I was in this perpetual state of grief, and my therapist asked me a very pointed question: What does joy feel like in your body?" Lewis-Giggetts found she couldn’t answer.
Not being able to respond wasn’t shocking; she says people would never describe her as buoyant or joyful. Friends and colleagues would use descriptors like strong, resilient or creative. Still, this moment in therapy was pivotal.
There’s another layer to her feelings. "Joy, especially for Black, brown and marginalized folks, is something we hold simultaneously. We have to because it's the way that we heal and are resilient," she says.
She started to explore these themes, resulting in her 2022 book, “Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration.” When talking about Black joy, Lewis-Giggetts clarifies, "Black joy is all of that [universal joy] that is lived in a particular context, historical, present day and cultural context."
Lewis-Giggetts recognizes that unpacking personal trauma and finding joy can be intimidating and frightening, but she says it is ultimately worthwhile. To help, she wrote “Black Joy Playbook: 30 Days of Intentionally Reclaiming Your Delight.”
“I find it so fascinating that I've kind of taken on this mantle of the joy lady, so to speak,” Lewis-Giggetts says with a laugh.
“For people generally and Black people specifically, this world can be a tough place to just simply exist,” Uncle Bobbie’s general manager, Justin Moore, said in an email interview. ”Joy, at times, is the only thing folks will have to hold on to in difficult times. We must do what we are able to create and sustain environments that bring joy.”
In preparation for the workshop, Moore has been thinking about where he finds moments of joy. “I find a lot of joy in my job,” he says. “I've said on several occasions that what makes me happy about my job is knowing that, if I'm doing a good job, I'm bringing Black people joy. I also find joy in my family. Being able to come home to people that make you smile is a blessing.”
For 90 minutes, Lewis-Giggetts will take attendees through exercises designed to help individuals access their own joy. One of the key exercises in her workshops involves "mining the memories of their childhood." She talks about her own childhood memory that opens the joy floodgates. “That singular moment for me always is a story about loving to get on the swings at the park,” she said. “I'll be bee-lining right to the swings, and I'm getting on one and swinging as high as I can as a kind of freedom. And back then, I could jump out!”
Tickets for this event are $19.99. For information and tickets, visit unclebobbies.com/events.
