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Become a Black Public Joy Reading Circle Host!

Gather eight or more people from your campus, organization, neighborhood, or circle of care and host a Black Public Joy Reading Circle. As a host you will receive a guide with two prompts that cover two flexible pathways—key passages only (two sessions) or the full book journey (four to six sessions). Both pathways are designed to make collective reading both accessible and meaningful. Although the book explores an array of Black peoples’ public joy expressions across cities and identities, we have also created a special guide geared towards Black women’s public joy expressions and broader gender themes in the book.

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What participants will explore.
In addition to delving into the compelling stories and research illuminating Black people’s public joy expressions, histories, dialects, and rituals, reading circle participants of all identities will be able to explore universal themes such as “belonging begins in the body,” the meaning and importance of developing “healthy spatial entitlement,” and how to become better “public joy stewards.”

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Benefits
Jay will host two exclusive online gatherings for book circle members to share their insights and engage with her directly. With host consent, reading circles may also be publicly acknowledged and featured during the book’s pre-launch and launch roll-out.

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Let's bend the narrative arc toward joy. 

 Much of Black place-based history is told through struggle—true, but incomplete. Joy, belonging, and everyday practices of care have always shaped Black public life, building social and physical infrastructures that strengthen Black communities and public life at large. It’s time to explore this part of the story. Rather than celebrating Black History Month (and Black history more broadly) in a manner that is rooted in oppression or struggle, why not host a reading circle that seeds public joy?