Valerie June is an artist, a storyteller, and a woman of color. She knows systemic racism exists - she has seen and felt it in her own life. She also knows that it's important to expose violence and correct injustice, in part by telling those kinds of stories. But if those are the only stories being told - in the news and in movies and TV shows - they start to define what it means to be African American, erasing hard-won victories and ultimately the promise of a better world. Valerie believes it's time to claim that better world - not one day in the future but right now - and that we can start by rewriting the narrative. In place of loss, write resilience; in place of injustice, write power; in place of sorrow, write joy. She asks of White America: "I see you are willing to tell the story of our suffering, but are you ready to celebrate Black Joy?" And she presents this challenge to Black America: "Take a hold of that joy - it is your superpower." Valerie believes that a celebration of diversity through choosing a path of radical joy and positive activism is a way to rewrite the narrative of our traumas. It is a way to unite humanity and sculpt a more egalitarian society.
