Black Joy

Written by Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts

Narrated by Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts

Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Instructional

With deeply personal and uplifting essays in the vein of Black Girls Rock!, You Are Your Best Thing, and I Really Needed This Today, this is “a necessary testimony on the magic and beauty of our capacity to live and love fully and out loud” (Kerry Washington).

When Tracey M. Lewis-Giggetts wrote an essay on Black joy for The Washington Post, she had no idea just how deeply it would resonate. But the outpouring of positive responses affirmed her own lived experience: that Black joy is not just a weapon of resistance, it is a tool for resilience.

With this book, Tracey aims to gift her community with a collection of lyrical essays about the way joy has evolved, even in the midst of trauma, in her own life. Detailing these instances of joy in the context of Black culture allows us to recognize the power of Black joy as a resource to draw upon, and to challenge the one-note narratives of Black life as solely comprised of trauma and hardship.

“Lewis-Giggetts etches a stunning personal map that follows in her ancestors’ footsteps and highlights their ability to take control of situational heartbreak and tragedy and make something better out of it….A simultaneously gorgeous and heartbreaking read” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Feb 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781797137605

Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts

Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts is the author of eighteen books, and the host of the podcast HeARTtalk with Tracey Michae’l. Her writing has appeared in a variety of publications, including The Washington Post, Essence, Oprah Daily, and more. Follow her on Twitter @TMLewis. 

Reviews for Black Joy

[Dr. Dee Knight · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent from beginning to end. Everyone, regardless of race, needs this book, but especially Black people. Especially Black people, repeated intentionally.

[Taiwo Yetunde Williams · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A delightful collection of relatable stories on Black Joy. Even though I'm not an African American - I'm Black British - I could relate to many of the stories that the author so eloquently wrote and narrated.

The stories got me nodding profusely, and also wiping away some tears.

I really loved all of the stories.