Author Kleaver Cruz on fostering Black joy despite Pittsburgh’s ongoing “injustices”

One morning in 2015, Kleaver Cruz felt the lowest they’d ever felt up until that point. Still, when looking back on what Cruz described as a trying year, in that moment what came to their mind wasn’t despair, but the moments of joy that sprang up despite the hard times.  In what Cruz describes as a “spiritual experience,” the words “Black” and “joy” filled their mind; the result would be a shared picture of their mother on social media and Cruz challenging their followers to share more instances of Black joy. Now, over a decade later, The Black Joy Project continues to exist and be added to online, but has also spread internationally and taken the form of a book, The Black Joy Project: A Visual and Literary Love Letter to How We Thrive, authored by Cruz.  “One picture led to 30 days that led to an afternoon almost five years [ago] when I got connected to Rakia Clarke, a Senior Editor at Mariner Books,” Cruz tells Pittsburgh City Paper in an email interview. “After a powerful conversation, we agreed that this book would be a tool, something beyond aesthetics, to support Black people around the world in diving deeper into what I understand as one of the most radical forces we have access to.” Kleaver Cruz Credit: Stefen Pompée The writing process for the book began in 2020 and culminated in publication in 2023. During that time, Cruz contributed eight essays based on their own research and experiences, with three written pieces commissioned from Black writers in South Africa, Australia, and the Netherlands. On the visual side, the book included 117 images from Black artists around the world. Years later, Cruz says that they’re unsure if The Black Joy Project will ever be complete, but during the writing process for the book, it was important that the artists who made the final cut were not just good at their respective media, but also good humans.    “I prayed and ask[ed] my spirit guides about each pers