The International Swing Dance Championships is an annual meet-up and competition for the urban ballroom dances popular in African-American communities today, including Houston Two-Step, Dallas/Fort Worth Swingout, Chicago Steppin’ and Detroit Ballroom. It takes place Memorial Day weekend, May 24-27 in Houston, Texas. This year, there's an effort to bring lindy hop, the granddaddy of all the swing dances, to ISDC, performed by African-American lindy hoppers.

Called affectionately "Hella Black Lindy Hop," the project involves a group of Black lindy hoppers leading a dance program and performance at ISDC. The dancers Joshua McLean, Latasha Barnes, Sara Deckard, Manu Smith, Ana Lisa Sutherland, AJ Howard, Cyle Dixon Jr., and Alexis Davila plan to demonstrate the excitement of the Lindy Hop to affirm its rightful place among other African-American dance traditions. Damn, that is a powerful team of dancers!

Here's how Joshua McClean describes the motivation behind the project: