“Black Joy is one of the entities that has gotten us through the many trials and tribulations of our existence around the world.” -Kleaver Cruz

Kleaver is the creator of The Black Joy Project, a digital and real-world movement to center Black joy as a form of resistance. He loves being Black, Queer, Dominican and the myriad of elements that comprise who he is with the understanding that they are all parts of a whole. He believes in the power of words because they allow him to write what did not exist when he needed it the most.

In this episode of the podcast, Letlhogonolo sat down and spoke to Kleaver about his favorite books, Blackness, queerness and the Black Joy Project. This episode is one that focuses on what it means to archive Black lives outside of the confines of literature in the traditional sense. It is a conversation about creating means to experience joy in a world that tell us that we do not deserve joy.