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Photos: Here’s what Black Joy Day looked like at the Seaport

“We belong everywhere.”

Performer Dzidzor Azaglo, left, and Nieisha Deed are moved to dance to the first song by Miranda Rae. Pat Greenhouse / Globe Staff

By Mihiro Shimano

September 13, 2021

1 minute to read

Black Joy

Thaddeus Miles started a project focused on Black joy a year ago. Here’s what he wants you to know.
Young people wrote a book around the theme of Black joy. It will be released in Boston this week.

Black Joy Day returned to Boston Sunday, as a crowd gathered in the outdoor plaza behind the Institute of Contemporary Art, some watching performers, others dancing. This marked the second year of Black Joy Day, a celebration and reflection of Black joy founded by Boston photographer and activist Thaddeus Miles.

This year’s events, which included free entry to the Boston’s Children Museum and kayaking lessons on the wharf, were held in Boston’s Seaport, an intentional choice of location by Miles.

“We belong everywhere,” Miles told the Boston Globe. “This, for me, was the beginning of developing a sense of belonging. Belonging in the ICA, belonging on that pier, walking and not feeling as if you’re going to be attacked … And so bringing a sense of belonging, I feel like I can walk these piers or anywhere else, and feel comfortable. That’s what a lot of today was about.”

Thaddeus Miles is the lead organizer of the Black Joy project.

The celebration was also formally recognized by City Councilor Julia Mejia for a second year.

“Especially during these times, with COVID and George Floyd and all the racial and civil unrest, I always like to remind people that despite all of the stuff that we’re going through — that as people of color, as Black people, we’ve always found joy,” Mejia told the Globe. “Being able to convene and celebrate that so publicly, and calling people into it, is really part of the culture.”