THE BLACK JOY PROJECT

211pp., colour illus., hardback, Mariner Books, New York, 2024

ISBN: 9780358588757

Includes 117 colour photographs and eight essays, including the essay "Piece of Joy" by South African lawyer Lethogonolo Mokgoroane.

"The Black Joy Project is The Black Book for a new millennium. Here is a patchwork quilt of visually stunning images, captured moments of triumph, antidotes to trauma narratives and rich, ebullient emotional and verbal spice for the soul." Michael W. Twitty, culinary and cultural historian, and author of The Cooking Gene and Koshersoul

"The Black Joy Project is a material expression of the everyday reverberations of Black ebullience that are often glossed over and characterised as less critical than rage. Black joy is a disruptive force, however, which upends the power of anti-Blackness and fortifies the collective spirit of Black people. Kleaver Cruz knows that to be true and has offered us this gift of a book that won't soon be forgotten for its beauty and power." Darnell Moore, author of No Ages in the Fire: Coming of age Black and free in America

Dominican-American Black queer writer, educator and activist Cleaver Cruz is the creator of The Black Joy Project, "a digital and real-world affirmation that Black joy is resistance". They are also a member of We Are All Dominican, a grassroots collective that works in solidarity with movements led by Dominicans of Haitian descent fighting for inclusion and citizenship rights in the Dominican Republic.