Black joy, Black lives, as celebrated by culture columnist Jeneé Osterheldt

Episode 1 —

Water is a beautiful resistance

Oak Bluffs is the part of Martha's Vineyard where white locals sold freed slaves land in the 18th century. Here, Black folk cultivated their own beach town, a place of black affluence and summer joy. A place where the water is ours. Mercy Bell grew up catching the ferry from Boston to the Vineyard to visit her brother. Now, they own a home together, their first property, their first permanent address, and a step toward family legacy no one can be evicted from.

Episode 2 —

Graffiti or Murals? It's all a beautiful resistance

How did a native New Yorker become a Worcester representer? Che Anderson, Worcester’s deputy cultural development officer, uses art to cultivate community and help artists tell stories through graffiti, murals, and public art.

Episode 3 —

Protest is a beautiful resistance

OJ Slaughter is a Boston based photographer. Since the murder of George Floyd, they have captured most of the protests in the city, as well as the March on Washington. And when a Black photographer captures the uprising, the gaze captures more than anger. OJ sees the joy, the community, and the love in protests. And it comes out in their photography. OJ is working to fund other Black storytellers and document the history of now.

Episode 4 —

Vogue is a beautiful resistance

HBO Max saved a lot of TV summers with "Legendary," a competitive ballroom reality show, a celebration of queer culture and voguing down the runway. And London Escada, mother of House of Escada New England, brought heart to the ball. London was born and raised in Springfield, Mass. and is now a proud Bostonian helping others love themselves through dance and community.

Episode 5 —

To Be Black, Bostonian, and Proud is a beautiful resistance

Dart Adams, a hip-hop historian, author, and Boston griot is a native son of the South End and Lower Roxbury. The world outside of Boston likes to believe Black and brown people don't live here and Old Boston is complicit in their erasure. Dart learned young the importance of keeping the stories and marking the space. He takes us on a tour of his Boston Black history.

Episode 6 —

Land is a beautiful resistance

Krista Scruggs, a farmer and winemaker in Vermont, is one of the rising tastemakers in natural wine. As a queer, Black woman, she's often labeled as a disruption to the whitewashed narrative of who makes wine. But as a native of Fresno, she's a farmer by nature and farming the land is just as much the story of our ancestors as it is anyone else's.