Go Ahead, Joke About the Pandemic
The public-health power of humor on Black Twitter
Jokes are rich notions. The Black comedic and satirical traditions have for decades fascinated scholars and comedians, many of whom have converged on the idea that trauma is a defining feature of Black comedy. W. E. B Du Bois wrote in The Humor of Negroes that humor is partly “a defense mechanism; reaction from tragedy; oppositions set out in the face of hurt and insult.”
Much of today’s Black humor is driven by , a community that is nebulous in construction but focused in execution. Humor is one of its chief weapons, and it lives even in sad moments.
