Let Our Rejoicing Rise: Radical Hope, Joy, and Care in Uncertain Times
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
These lines from “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” written by James Weldon Johnson, invite us to remember something essential: rejoicing has always been part of how Black communities survive, endure, and remain connected to meaning.
Joy, in this tradition, is not naïve.
It is not denial.
And it is not something we turn to only when life is easy.
Joy is something we practice—especially when times are hard.
Joy as Legacy, Not Luxury
Black history is often told through stories of struggle and resistance, and those stories matter. But they are incomplete without naming the role of joy.
Joy has long lived in Black communities:
in music and song,
in laughter that interrupted hardship,
in celebration despite constraint,
in creativity born under pressure.
Joy helped people remain human when circumstances threatened to reduce life to survival alone. It sustained imagination, connection, and dignity.
And yet, many professional Black women today struggle to give themselves permission to rejoice.
Joy can feel conditional.
Deferred.
Something to be earned after everything else is handled.
Why Joy Feels Harder in Times Like These
Many of us are living through periods of profound social, political, cultural, and personal upheaval—times when familiar structures no longer provide stability or clarity.
In moments like this, joy is often dismissed as frivolous or irresponsible. The unspoken message becomes: now is not the time.
But psychology, history, and lived experience suggest the opposite.
When life feels uncertain, joy is not a distraction from reality—it is one of the ways we remain oriented toward meaning.
This tension between responsibility and restoration is something many professional Black women experience, especially in environments that reward overworking while leaving little room for emotional or psychological recovery.
Radical Hope: A Framework for Meaning When the Future Is Unclear
Psychological research on radical hope offers an important lens here.
In the article Radical Hope in Revolting Times, psychologists Della V. Mosley, Helen A. Neville, and their colleagues describe radical hope as the capacity to remain oriented toward meaning, dignity, and possibility even when the future cannot yet be clearly imagined.
Radical hope is not optimism.
It is not reassurance.
And it does not depend on certainty or outcomes.
Instead, radical hope shows up through practice:
cultural memory
collective resilience
faith and meaning-making
creativity and expression
commitment to values even when clarity is limited
This framework builds on earlier philosophical work by Jonathan Lear, while grounding radical hope firmly in the lived experiences of marginalized communities.
In my work with professional Black women, this idea of radical hope often shows up not as a belief, but as a practice—how we choose to orient ourselves toward meaning even when clarity is limited.
In other words, radical hope is not something you wait to feel. It is something you live—through how you choose to care for yourself and others.
Black Communities Have Practiced Radical Hope for Generations
Long before the term existed, Black communities were practicing radical hope.
When the future was uncertain or hostile, people still:
sang
danced
gathered
laughed
imagined
and rejoiced
These were not escapes from reality. They were ways of staying in relationship with life itself.
Joy was not separate from resistance—it was intertwined with it. It allowed people to endure without losing themselves.
Radical Joy in the Lives of Professional Black Women Today
For many professional Black women now, the terrain may look different—but the need is familiar.
You may be navigating:
high expectations with limited tolerance for error
pressure to be productive and composed at all times
transitions where old definitions of success no longer fit
uncertainty about what comes next, personally or professionally
This is often where questions of alignment emerge—when success no longer feels meaningful and the pace of life begins to cost more than it gives.
In these moments, radical hope does not ask you to have a clear plan for the future. It asks you to stay connected to what gives life meaning now.
This is where radical joy comes in.
Radical joy is not about constant happiness.
It is about choosing experiences, moments, and practices that restore vitality and connection—without waiting for conditions to improve.
What the Research Tells Us About Joy
From a psychological standpoint, joy is not optional.
Research consistently shows that positive emotions like joy:
broaden cognitive flexibility and creativity
support emotional regulation
buffer against chronic stress and burnout
and increase resilience during prolonged uncertainty
Joy helps the nervous system recover from stress rather than remain in constant vigilance. It allows us to respond thoughtfully instead of reacting from depletion.
In this way, joy supports both well-being and wise action.
Rejoicing as a Form of Care
When the anthem invites us to let our rejoicing rise, it is not asking us to ignore reality. It is calling us back to practices that sustain life.
For professional Black women, rejoicing today might look like:
protecting time for what feels life-giving
allowing laughter without justification
savoring moments instead of rushing past them
reconnecting with creativity or play
choosing rest before exhaustion forces it.
This kind of care is not about indulgence or escape—it is about sustainability, and about preserving the capacity to show up with intention rather than exhaustion.
And in times that ask so much of us, care becomes a way of preserving meaning.
Concrete Ways to Practice Radical Joy and Hope
If radical hope is lived through practice, here are a few grounded ways to engage it:
Name what brings you alive.
Not what looks impressive—what restores you.Create small rituals of rejoicing.
Music, movement, stillness, laughter—practiced consistently, not occasionally.Resist postponing joy.
Notice where you tell yourself, “Later, when things calm down.” Gently challenge that.Anchor joy to values.
Let joy support what matters to you, not distract from it.Practice joy in community.
Radical hope is relational. Rejoicing was never meant to be solitary.
For many women, naming these practices becomes the first step toward rethinking how their time, energy, and commitments are structured.
Let It Rise
Black history is not only a story of endurance.
It is a story of song, creativity, faith, and joy carried forward under impossible circumstances.
To let our rejoicing rise is not to forget what has been hard.
It is to honor the fullness of what has sustained us.
And in uncertain times, choosing joy becomes not an escape—but a commitment to life, meaning, and possibility.
