‘They have nothing to loose,’ was Donald Trump’s cynical claim during his presidential campaign. According to Trump, the lives of Black Americans were so deplorable they might as well take a chance: they might as well vote for him.

In a world in which the lives of African-Americans are depicted as hellish, writers and artists search for ways to tell an alternative story. With The Black Joy Project, Kleaver Cruz gives a cheerful retort to the stigma: he portrays happy Black American life, thereby showing a different, optimistic side of Black life in the US.

In her photography project The Dandy Lion, curator and writer Shantrelle P. Lewis maps the ‘Black dandy’ phenomenon. These high-styled rebels reject stereotypical images of the Black man. Happiness serves as a weapon against negative perceptions. With their projects, Lewis and Cruz deconstruct the dominant view of African-Americans, as well as that of the African diaspora outside the United States.

With a spectacular fashion dancebattle from collective MAFB.

Host: Yahmani Blackman