Toward a History of Black Happiness

Abstract

Abstract Happiness is a highly problematic subject in African American history and culture because discussions of happiness or human flourishing among African Americans have often mobilized in support of white supremacy. This chapter offers a brief exploration of the history of black happiness and asks what we can learn from it. In this era of #Black Lives Matter and racism reascendant, can we draw meaningful connections between the study of African American history and positive psychology—or any form of study of the cultivation of well-being? Proponents of positive psychology tend to see human flourishing as a positive ideal; however, this overview of the history of black happiness will suggest that discourses about human happiness and well-being can have many uses, not all of which are positive.