"Black Joy Manifesto," Edited By Cut+Run's Aika Miyake for PASSERINE, Is a Poetic Celebration of Black Lives

Nov. 11, 2020

“Black Joy Manifesto” is a short film and poetic love letter to the beauty and importance of Black lives. Created by PASSERINE’s Adam Tillman-Young and Shalonda Cornitcher and edited by Cut+Run’s Aika Miyake, the film features a wide variety of portraits, some static, all vibrant, set to a celebratory, emotive voice-over that speaks uplifting truths: Dear Black people, You’ve moved mountains, you've moved minds, you’ve made joy in rich supply. 

Adam Tillman-Young says:

 “Our intention is to celebrate and uplift Black people all over the world and to remind ourselves of the BEAUTY, JOY, and FREEDOM we are fighting to protect in addition to seeking the justice we are owed. This is a collective love offering from our community to our community, and we’re excited to offer it while the world is paying attention.” 

 

 Aika Miyake, who met the filmmakers behind ''Black Joy Manifesto'' last year when they worked together on Jordan Unite: Chapter One, says:

“I moved to the US from Japan a year ago, and while I love my new home I also feel devastated by the understanding I have gained about racial injustice here. I am honored to lend my humble help to my friends whose art always helps champion what’s right.”

 

The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) formed in December of 2014, was created as a space for Black organizations across the country to debate and discuss the current political conditions, develop shared assessments of what political interventions were necessary in order to achieve key policy, cultural and political wins, convene organizational leadership in order to debate and co-create a shared movement wide strategy. Under the fundamental idea that we can achieve more together than we can separately. 

 It’s this same spirit and intention that runs through the film - that together we can make change, support each other, and experience beauty and exuberance along the way.