Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com

Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com

Black Joy founder and reporter

Jonece Starr Dunigan (She/her/hers) is a journalist who gives the microphone to communities that are often ignored by mainstream media. Guided by empathy, her reporting centers the stories, movement work and voices of Black, brown and queer people. Her writing strives to amplify and empower readers instead of exploiting them of their traumas. Starr is also the founder of Reckon’s Black Joy (formerly Black Magic Project), a media brand under Reckon that’s highlighting the multiple ways we as Black people cultivate liberating joy in our lives. She created the brand while she was a night reporter for Reckon’s sister news site Al.com in Birmingham, Ala. During her time in that position, Starr heard constant and valid complaints from Black and brown people about how the media exploits their communities. Starr responded to this issue in 2017 by publishing a series of stories detailing how Black Birminghamians use their “Black magic” (their skills, talents, love for the community, etc) to improve their neighborhoods. Since then, Starr has nurtured that mission of authentic and genuine representation from a one-time project into a nationwide, multiplatform brand examining the full spectrum of melanin magic from a multigenerational lens of joy. After spending a couple of years in Birmingham, Starr now lives with her life partner, Michael, in her hometown of Huntsville, Ala. Check out what the Black Joy team has to offer by following @blackjoyreckon on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook.

Black mermaids matter | Black Joy – May 26, 2023

Black Joy celebrates the community of mermaids who are building a Black utopia under the sea.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

3 Black mermaids doing dope things for the culture

Halle Bailey's role in the live-action remake of Disney's "The Little Mermaid" has increased the visibility of Black mermaid culture.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

Space is our place: How an Alabama city became a launch pad for afrofuturism

Sun Ra may have claimed Saturn as his home planet, but it was a cosmic message he received while attending an HBCU in Huntsville that started his voyage as the father of the afrofuturistic aesthetic.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

Getting Black AF for the Kentucky Derby | Black Joy – May 5 2023

We're honoring the Black jockeys and trainers that made the Kentucky Derby what it is today.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

May “Card of the Month” — Mother of Coins

Black Joy's tarot card for the month May is giving hella abundance!

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

Garden, skateboard... Just get outside!! | Black Joy – April 27 2023

Black Joy is taking you back outside to chat about why Black stories matter in Environmental writing, and how folks are building community through skateboarding.

By Danielle Buckingham and Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

Who helped the Justins get justice in Tennessee? | Black Joy – April 21 2023

Two community organizing groups that helped Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones and Rep. Justin Pearson get justice talk about the joys of the historic moment.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

It’s all fun and games for Seattle occupational therapist liberating Black clients through play

A queer occupational therapist is asking you to play around and find out when it comes to your healing.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

Start playin’: How a Seattle organization is using double dutch for Black healing

Double dutch is bringing healing to the streets of Seattle thanks to Double Dutch Divas.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

Disney Dreamer inherited his grandmother’s passion for social justice and her way with words

A grandmother's social justice legacy is passed down to her grandchild Bradley Ross Jackson, an Illinois teen who was awarded the NAACP Image Award for Activist of the Year.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

These Disney Dreamers have their sights set on saving the environment — but they can’t do it alone

Two Black teens who are planning careers in the STEM field chat about creating a more sustainable world for tomorrow's generation.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

6 teens who spread the Black magic at Disney Dreamers Academy – and beyond

See how these Black innovators are changing the world after attending Disney Dreamers Academy.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

Dallas teen taking the lead to bring more diversity on screen

Dallas teen Elle Chavis is on her way to opening her own production company to create stories about diverse characters.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

17-year-old nonprofit owner donating shoes to underserved communities

Georgia native Jordan Adeyemi is scoring big in the nonprofit arena by donating soccer cleats to underserved communities.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●

How a 15-year-old Ohio philanthropist forged a career in kindness

Disney Dreamer Logan Williams is a 15-year-old philanthropist who started an organization called Blanket Blessings to help those in need every year for her birthday.

By Jonece Starr Dunigan | jdunigan@reckonmedia.com●