Hey everyone, you're listening to Code Switch from NPR. I'm B.A. Parker. And happy Juneteenth.

Of course, today marks the day that the last enslaved black people were declared free in this country.

A reality that, for a lot of others, was, to say the least, difficult to come to terms with.

And in the century and a half since, there have been plenty of efforts to curb black people's freedom and squash our joy.

And we live in a different world today, and black and brown and frankly everyone's joy,

is something that I personally think we all need a lot more of these days.

Just a little example, I for one am going to be at a cookout today,

dancing to soul music decades older than me

and relishing in what Asi Davis would call the full sweetness of my blackness.

Maybe in some ways, experiencing that joy is my tiny act of resistance to

these overwhelming times. Except, of course, this wouldn't be a code switch episode if we didn't

dig a little deeper into what that really means. And I reminded of a conversation I had with our senior editor Leah Dinella last

summer about that phrase, joy is resistance that she kept seeing repeated on social media

over and over. So if I understand things correctly, you're coming to the mic today to talk about

joy. Yes, joy. Okay. Deep breaths everyone.

Parker, it's joy. Why, why do you sound nervous? Because I know you and no offense, but you have a way

sometimes of making fun things not that fun.

So, frankly, I guess I'm just concerned that you're about to ruin the concept of joy for me.

God, you know me too well.

Mm-hmm.

But no, I don't think I'm going to ruin anyone's idea of joy.

I'm just hoping to, you know, complicated it a little.

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