“Black joy is the foundation of everything. It’s what we’re fighting for,” says Julianne Jackson, the founder and executive director of Black Joy Oregon. “When I really break down the crux of it, I am fighting for the ability to have peace in my life. I’m fighting for liberation.”
Black Joy Oregon is a nonprofit bringing visibility to the Black experience across Oregon. Founded in 2020 in the midst of uprisings that shook the country, Black Joy Oregon shows the importance of finding joy throughout struggles.
As protests after the murder of George Floyd turned increasingly volatile, Jackson pushed herself and others to operate out of a space of love rather than anger. Jackson says that women of color were often ignored by other organizers, leading her to create a space where everyone can be heard.
“That’s really what started Black Joy, is just out of this desire to uplift women of color. To be there to really showcase what I feel is my biggest attribute, and that’s joy,” Jackson says.
“That’s what’s gotten me through many, many hardships in my life and what has gotten Black people as a whole, I think, through all of the things that we have been through, is being able to find and maintain joy in any space.”
VIDEO: Julianne Jackson interview
Jackson was raised in both North Carolina and Oregon, and her roots in North Carolina run deep. Her great-grandfather, who was a sharecropper, purchased the farm that 30 family members still work and live on. Her Southern pleasantries have shaped how she moves through the world and how she works as an activist.
“I have a really nice way of telling you to go get bent,” Jackson says, “And that’s from being raised in the South.”
Jackson grew up in an all-Black community in North Carolina where the only white people she saw were her mother and stepmother. When she moved to Jefferson, Oregon in the 5th grade, she was the only Black child in her class.
“There’s a loss of identity,” Jackson says. “It was just such a stark contrast to not really having anyone that looked like you, to not really having anyone advocating for you. It was strange.”
Jackson describes the thinly-veiled racism she would experience throughout school. She was expected to fail, she says, and nearly got caught up in the school-to-prison pipeline. Teachers would talk about her performance to other students and say things to her like, “You’re Black. But you’re not Black Black.”
Jackson now sees her past experiences, the ones that made her grow thicker skin and a love for underdogs, as having given her a superpower.
Black Joy Oregon has visited over 170 Oregon cities and organizers can sometimes travel to 13 cities in a single weekend. Jackson believes that a large part of anti-racism work is exposure, and she feels that deeply every time someone tells her that she’s the first Black person they’ve ever met.
“If all you ever see is negative media, stereotypical media, I’m sure that I look pretty weird to you. I’m sure that I’m probably pretty scary, right? But when you come and you talk to me, you see that my smile is genuine. And my love for you is genuine. And I’m bringing resources into your community,” Jackson says.
Black Joy Oregon has held de-escalation trainings in communities that were hit hardest by protests. They also organize mutual aid for community members, providing anything from prom dresses to hair care products to funds for a much-needed vacation after being the victim of a racist attack.
Jackson hopes to provide more tangible support with the creation of Black Joy Farms. The farm will act as a community garden and all the produce will go to Black families, offsetting the cost of increasingly expensive groceries.
The farm confirms that community connection and support are long-lasting. Jackson agreed to a seven-year land lease offered by a local farmer to start Black Joy Farms. The farmer in question? None other than Jackson’s very first boyfriend when she first moved to Oregon.
If folks want to support the work of Black Joy Oregon, Jackson encourages them to donate funds to mutual aid or provide services. Allies have printed t-shirts, created logos and provided food to demonstrators.
Much of the work that Jackson encourages people to do is internal. She says that Oregon is a land of great acceptance and opportunity, but people have to be willing to have difficult conversations, particularly around the parts of Oregon’s history that are steeped in racism.
Black Joy Consulting, which is also led by Jackson, offers anti-racism and diversity, equity and inclusion trainings for organizations and individuals. Black Joy Oregon also shares educational resources across social media.
“Up in Oregon, I think a bulk of the work is having the conversation and starting the conversation,” Jackson says.
Jackson has had many moments of joy, even as she has faced verbal and physical assaults while demonstrating. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything, because the positive far outweighs the negative. “
As the 2020 Santiam Fires threatened to destroy people’s homes and livelihoods, Black Joy Oregon raced to help. Jackson and her crew pulled up to a family’s farm that was decked out in various stylized Donald Trump banners, including one of the former president riding a bald eagle. Even though demonstrators were wary, they jumped in to help.
Jackson, with her long acrylic nails, rounded up geese and other livestock, helping the family evacuate their animals, and even attempted to wrangle a bull. By the end of the day, the man came up to Jackson with tears in his eyes and thanked her, saying “This is what the country needs. You guys didn’t ask us anything. You just showed up.”
It’s one of Jackson’s favorite moments. “It really kind of showed me that our purpose is often bigger than our egos. And it’s often also bigger than the problems that we think we have with one another. Because in that moment, it really didn’t matter.”
For more information about Black Joy Oregon, visit https://www.blackjoyoregon.com
Stories of Salem is a production of Capital Community Media and shared in collaboration with Salem Reporter. Learn more about CC:M HERE.
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