One of the central images of the book is laughter. Langston, Maya, and Amiri all create and engage in laughter. In the United States, with its legacy of enslavement and segregation and continued systemic legacies of anti-Black oppression like police violence, economic disenfranchisement, healthcare inequality, and more, proponents of Black joy believe that they should hold “the pain and injustices [they] experience as [B]lack folks around the world in tension with the joy [they] experience in pain’s midst” and that it is an “it is an act of resistance to revel in the joy” (Joseph, Chante. “What Black Joy Means – And Why It’s More Important Than Ever.” British Vogue, 29 July 2020). There Was a Party for Langston is all about joy, as people gather to laugh, celebrate, and be joyful in Langston’s honor.

Many famous Black Americans from the 20th century are known for their activism and perseverance against the injustice of racism and segregation. Much of Langston’s poetry, including poems excerpted in the book, is infused with pain. In “Let America Be America Again,” he says, “There’s never been equality for me, / Nor freedom in this ‘homeland of the free’” (Hughes, Langston. “Let America Be America Again.” American Academy of Poets). One of the figures featured alongside Langston when “Let America Be America Again” is quoted in the book is Martin Luther King, Jr., who was later assassinated for his civil rights activism. While these moments of pain are important parts of American history and vital for Learning About Cultural History and Heritage, the book also shows that it is equally important to depict Black people in moments of joy, laughter, dance, and celebration.

The figures of Langston, Maya, and Amiri embody this tension. For instance, when critics thought that Langston’s “spelling deserved yelling” (22), he turned that criticism to “laughter.” Illustrations that accompany the discussion of how Amiri transforms the word “Black” first show a Black man in manacles, symbolizing enslavement, and then a Black man dressed as a king in gold, symbolizing accomplishment, celebration, and strength.

When the narrator describes how Maya transforms the word “cage,” which symbolizes oppression and confinement, an illustration of a bird flying away from its cage to freedom shows how Maya transforms struggle into joy and liberation. At the party, Maya is “dressed in constellations” with a purple, sparkling shirt and flowing, white skirt (36). The image of Maya as a constellation accompanies the words, “She rose up from the floor, flapping like a free bird” (36). The text associates imagery about freedom and rising with the dancing at the party for Langston. This shows how learning about cultural history and heritage and the importance of Black joy exist side by side. Maya’s poetry unflinchingly confronts the struggles that Black women faced, but out of that pain, she emerges “[f]lapping so freely with wings unbroken” (36). This imagery of Maya rising and flapping her wings symbolizes her overcoming her struggles and emerging unbroken. They also show her joy and celebration as she dances in the Schomburg Center.

The illustrations from pages 46 to 49 of Maya and Amiri dancing are based on a real photo of Maya and Amiri dancing in the Langston Hughes Auditorium in the Schomburg Center. This demonstrates how Maya and Amiri’s joyful dance asserts Black people’s resilience. Chester Higgins, Jr., who took the famous photograph, said that Maya and Amiri’s dance “created a moment that reflected our collective love for poets of African descent and the continuity of African creative genius” (Higgins, Chester, Jr. “A Dance of Rivers.” The New York Times Archive, 18 Dec. 2014). This quotation shows how Maya and Amiri’s jubilant dance asserts the importance of Black joy.