Building Black Joy: Asha Bennett’s Vision for Joyland
In an exclusive interview with Nova Banks, the founder of Brighter Horizons Development reveals the history, culture, and community-centered vision behind Solari District’s forthcoming amusement park.
By Nova Banks
Solari District Magazine
Article
The architectural plans covering Asha Bennett’s desk look less like the beginning of an amusement park and more like the blueprint for a small city.
Color-coded pathways weave between performance spaces, restaurants, gardens, public art, and towering attractions. A wide promenade stretches from the park’s entrance toward a glowing Ferris wheel. Nearby, a roller coaster rises above a waterfront-inspired boardwalk, while a large green lawn provides space for everything from family reunions to outdoor concerts.
At the center of it all is one name: Joyland.
Bennett, the founder and CEO of Brighter Horizons Development, has spent years imagining what a major entertainment destination could look like when Black culture is treated as the foundation rather than a seasonal theme.
Now, her company is preparing to bring that vision to Solari District.
“Joyland will have rides, but it cannot only be about the rides,” Bennett says. “We are building a place where music, food, art, history, business, and family all exist together.”
The proposed amusement park will become the largest project undertaken by Brighter Horizons Development, a Black-owned company focused on creating spaces that generate both economic opportunity and community pride.
For Bennett, development is not simply about constructing buildings. It is about determining who those buildings serve, what stories they carry, and what remains after the ribbon cutting is over.
“I never want Brighter Horizons to enter a neighborhood, build something beautiful, and leave the people who were already there standing outside of it,” she explains. “The community should be part of the vision, the workforce, the business opportunities, and the experience.”
That philosophy sits at the heart of Joyland.
Rooted in History
The inspiration for the park began with Bennett’s research into historic Black amusement parks, beaches, and recreation destinations.
During segregation, Black families were frequently denied access to white-owned amusement parks and public leisure spaces. In response, Black entrepreneurs and communities created destinations of their own—places where families could swim, dance, hear live music, operate businesses, and enjoy themselves without being treated as unwelcome guests.
Those spaces included Suburban Gardens in Washington, D.C.; Carr’s Beach in Maryland; Bay Shore Beach in Virginia; Sea Breeze in North Carolina; and other recreation destinations that became important centers of Black social life.
Bennett was struck not only by what those places offered, but by what they represented.
“Our history includes struggle, but that is not the only thing we inherited,” she tells Nova Banks during their conversation. “We inherited imagination. We inherited music, style, entrepreneurship, laughter, and the ability to create community wherever we were allowed to stand.”
Joyland will acknowledge that history through the names of several signature attractions.
The Suburban Gardens Wheel will serve as one of the park’s most recognizable landmarks, offering sweeping views of Joyland and the surrounding Solari skyline.
Carr’s Beach Boardwalk will bring together games, shopping, live entertainment, food, and a festive waterfront-inspired atmosphere. The Bay Shore Coaster will become the park’s major thrill attraction, while Sea Breeze Promenade will provide a slower-paced district designed for dining, strolling, and gathering beneath the lights.
The names are not intended to function as decoration.
Bennett wants each tribute to introduce a new generation to the Black recreation spaces that came before it.
“I want a child to ask why the Ferris wheel is called Suburban Gardens,” she says. “That question creates an opportunity for a parent or grandparent to share something. The history becomes part of the memory they are making that day.”
Designed for the Culture
Joyland’s connection to Black culture will extend far beyond the names of its attractions.
Visitors entering the park will move through a grand plaza filled with murals, music, landscaping, and design details inspired by Solari District. Rather than separating cultural programming into one designated corner, Bennett plans to carry it throughout the entire property.
At Joyland Sounds Plaza, local DJs, musicians, singers, and touring performers will take the stage throughout the year. The park’s Mural Walk will feature rotating large-scale work from Black artists, while the Family Reunion Lawn will provide space for festivals, movie nights, cookouts, reunions, and community celebrations.
Food will receive the same attention as the rides.
Mama Pearl’s Soul Food Hall is planned as a collection of kitchens and vendors serving everything from traditional comfort food and barbecue to coastal dishes, sweets, and contemporary interpretations of familiar favorites. Additional kiosks and restaurant spaces will be reserved for local businesses and rotating Solari vendors.
“I do not want people walking around Joyland eating food that could have come from any park in any city,” Bennett says. “The food should have a point of view. The music should have a point of view. The art should have a point of view. You should know exactly where you are.”
That sense of place is important to Nova Banks, who asks Bennett why Solari was selected for a project that could have been developed in a larger tourism market.
Bennett does not hesitate.
“Because Solari deserves a landmark.”
She points out that the district already possesses the culture developers often attempt to manufacture after arriving in a community: artists, entrepreneurs, neighborhood institutions, music, fashion, restaurants, stories, and a strong local identity.
“Joyland is not coming here to give Solari an identity,” she says. “Solari already has one. Our responsibility is to build something that respects it and gives it more room to grow.”
A Park With an Economic Purpose
Brighter Horizons Development expects Joyland to create opportunities well beyond the park gates.
Current plans include local hiring initiatives, apprenticeship and training programs, vendor partnerships, performance opportunities, and storefront space for businesses from throughout Solari District.
Bennett is especially interested in introducing young residents to the many careers involved in developing and operating a major attraction.
An amusement park requires architects, engineers, designers, electricians, mechanics, landscapers, performers, chefs, security professionals, hospitality workers, marketers, accountants, and technology specialists. Bennett wants Joyland to become a place where young people can discover those industries while seeing Black professionals represented throughout them.
“I want a child to look around and understand that people who look like them imagined this, financed it, designed it, built it, and operate it,” she says. “That changes what they believe is possible.”
The company is also exploring an interactive attraction devoted to Black recreation, travel, music, and entrepreneurship. Bennett stresses that it will not resemble a traditional museum placed awkwardly inside an amusement park.
The history, she says, must remain engaging.
“It should move. It should have sound. It should have color. It should feel alive,” she explains. “We are not trying to interrupt the joy to teach the history. We are showing people that the history and the joy have always belonged together.”
The Future of Joyland
Joyland remains in the development and planning stage. Brighter Horizons has not yet announced an official opening date, but additional information regarding construction, community partnerships, vendor applications, employment opportunities, and attraction designs is expected as the project moves forward.
There will undoubtedly be questions about cost, traffic, development timelines, and whether such an ambitious project can deliver on its promises.
Bennett understands the weight of those expectations.
She also understands what Joyland could mean if Brighter Horizons gets it right.
She imagines elders recognizing pieces of history that were rarely preserved. She imagines adults becoming children again beneath the lights of the boardwalk. She imagines families returning year after year until Joyland becomes part of their own traditions.
Most of all, she imagines Solari residents looking at the finished park and knowing it belongs there.
“We are not just opening an amusement park,” Bennett says, glancing down at the plans spread across her desk. “We are creating a place where our stories, our joy, and our future can live out loud.”
Pull Quote
“We are not trying to interrupt the joy to teach the history. We are showing people that the history and the joy have always belonged together.”
— Asha Bennett, Founder and CEO of Brighter Horizons Development
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