When President Trump tweeted that four Democratic congresswomen of color should “go back” to their countries of origin (ignoring the fact that all four women are American citizens and three of the four were born in the United States), it struck a nerve for many Black citizens who grew up hearing taunts from classmates to “Go back to Africa!”

Multi-platform travel company Black & Abroad recently launched a pan-African tourism campaign to help Black travelers reclaim this phrase. The mission of the “Go Back to Africa” campaign is to spin the derogatory phrase and remove its power from those who use it to spread hate. It does this by blacking out hateful or racist Twitter posts and reframing them against words and images that showcase the beauty and diversity of Africa’s 54 countries. The campaign brings photos posted by Black travelers on social media to life, using a powerful AI platform designed to combat the travel industry’s bias towards white tourists. 

“We’re proud to be changing the conversation during a time of global unrest by showing more diverse pictures of this rich continent and debunking negative myths and stereotypes,” says Black & Abroad co-founder Eric Martin. “We encourage others to get involved and rethink how they’re influencing or reinforcing negative stereotypes instead of positive actions.”

The campaign recently took home a Cannes Lion Grand Prix for tackling the issue of internet trolling and transforming it into useful, meaningful content. The innovative digital platform is fueled by Google Vision and crafted by FCB/SIX, an AI-powered content marketing engine that’s tailored to the travel and tourism industry.

Chief Creative Officer of FBC/SIX added, “This campaign demonstrates that by being creative, we have the ability to effect change and turn something that’s often negative into something that’s beautiful and positive. We hope the rest of the world will join us in recognizing that language is powerful, and we all have the ability to effect positive change.”