As we turn the corner in the final months of 2025, what better time for a jolt of Black Joy? Today, we are taking a look back at Besa Gordon and Darryl Foto’s collaboration earlier this year that captured the true essence of Black joy in the Pacific Northwest. 

At the end of last year, Foto performed his poem “Black Joy,” one he wrote in one of his darkest moments, on The Day With Trae. His empowering words and compelling delivery became an anthem for 2025, airing nationally on FOX SOUL, locally at Scope Screenings in the Central District, and universally through the heart of Seattle’s Black community. Foto’s poem cemented itself as a beacon of light through the darkness, and a piece of art that is definitively and unapologetically Black. 

Between Gordon and Foto, the duo encapsulated deeply personal interpretations of Black joy from the community’s artists, leaders, pillars, and business owners. They found that Black joy is not merely the absence of struggle, but a deliberate act of building and sustaining community. Black joy is rooted in connection, smiling and nodding at sisters and brothers on the street, and turning fans into friends over a meal. Black joy is medicinal, healing generational wounds and breathing a breath of fresh air in a world struggling to grieve. It is tied to building generational wealth, seeing Black representation, and celebrating life, love, and living. 

What does Black joy mean to you? 

Catch Back2Besa every Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on FOX 13 Seattle and Sundays at 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. on FOX 13+. Viewers can also stream episodes anytime on the FOX Local app.

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