Self-Care and the Healing Power of Humor
In your struggle for justice, don't forget to laugh
People often ask me, “What gives you hope?”
The question usually comes after some presentation I’ve done about the history of racism in this country or the present and looming threat of white Christian nationalism.
Heavy stuff.
No one wants to leave feeling all that weight, so they ask, in so many words, “What uplifts you?”
The response I give in those situations—because I don’t have much time to explain and I’m usually new to the audience—is, “History gives me hope.”
It does. I learn from historical examples such as Fannie Lou Hamer and Tom Skinner.
But the answer I have for you is different.
What gives me hope? What keeps me going in this struggle for racial progress?
Humor.
Humor fuels me on the journey of racial justice. I love to laugh. Levity makes the load of liberation feel lighter.
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