It’s Black History Month. While we honor the lessons of the past, what if we also used this time to expand our imaginations about the future? What if, instead of only looking to Black ancestors for practices on how to resist, we also looked to them for blueprints on how to dream? How to play? How to love expansively?
Too often, Black history is flattened into struggle, as if resistance is the only lineage we inherit. But Black people have also built entire worlds of joy, of laughter that shakes the ribs, of music that refuses stillness. Black artists, movement-makers, poets, and thinkers have long been showing all of us not only how to survive, but how to live, how to craft new possibilities outside the limits of oppression.
This Black History Month, we invite you to step into the practice of Black present and futures—not just looking back but also rooting in the now while looking forward—not just survival but thriving. Below, you’ll find a list of resources to expand your imagination—works that illuminate the vast, luminous ways Black people have envisioned freedom, pleasure, and creation across time.
May they remind us that liberation is not just in the future; it’s something we can embody right now—even in the face of backlash, repression, and attempts to erase the histories that brought us here. At this moment, when the teaching of Black history is being restricted, when book bans and legislative attacks seek to limit our futures, choosing to center Black joy, dreaming, and play is an act of resistance, one that the future world requires.
Pathways to Black Joy, Creativity, and Possibility
“Petite floater” by Derrick Adams
- Black Futures – Edited by Kimberly Drew & Jenna Wortham
This stunning anthology is a portal into the boundless creativity of Black culture. It’s a collage of essays, art, poetry, and conversations that ask: What does it mean to be Black and alive right now? A must-read for those wanting to explore Black imagination outside the lens of oppression. - Pleasure Activism – adrienne maree brown
In this book, adrienne maree brown reminds us that pleasure is political. Through essays and conversations, she explores how joy, intimacy, and play are integral to liberation movements, challenging the idea that social change must always be rooted in suffering. - The Work of Derrick Adams
Derrick Adams’s paintings are a vibrant celebration of Black leisure. Through bold colors and joyful depictions of everyday life—swimming, lounging, dancing—Adams refuses narratives of constant struggle and instead asserts that Black people deserve moments of unburdened happiness. - The Sounds of Black Imagination
From gospel and jazz to soul and hip-hop, Black music has always been a blueprint for dreaming. Albums like Black Radio by Robert Glasper blend past and future, weaving jazz and R&B into something new. Janelle Monáe’s Dirty Computer offers a sonic and visual manifesto for Black queer futures. And Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder remains a masterclass in joy, love, and liberation. - Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude – Ross Gay
A lush, exuberant poetry collection that meditates on joy, loss, and the beauty of everyday life, reminding us to hold gratitude as a revolutionary practice. - “The Story of Double Dutch” – Brut
This short joyfully explores Double Dutch as a site of Black play, rhythm, and ancestral connection. It weaves together the history, movement, and collective energy of jumping rope as both an art form and a community practice. - Black Trans Joy Zine – Gender Justice Leadership Programs
This zine uplifts the creative expressions of Black trans and nonbinary youth, centering joy as an act of resistance and a vision for liberation. Through poetry, visual art, dance, and storytelling, contributors reclaim space, challenge dominant narratives, and affirm the beauty of their existence in community.
Whether through art, music, poetry, or movement, each resource offers a portal into worlds where Black people thrive, dream, and define their own narratives.
Collage credit: Naima Yael Tokunow
Painting credit: Derrick Adams
