Archives & Things

Summary: It's the last episode of the Archives & Things podcast. In this bonus episode, I say goodbye to the last chapter of my journey and move forward into openings. I also bring light to the current Archivaria Editor Team’s acts of violence as a “humiliation ritual” and means for exclusion, gatekeeping, and destruction. I call on the Association of Canadian Archivists to honour their commit...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Petrina Jackson, Executive Director of the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University. Petrina joined us to speak about advocacy and navigating the politics of white institutions. Episode Resources: W.E.B. DuBois, "The Souls of Black Folk." https://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/The-Souls-of-Black-Folk/W-E-B-Dubois/Enriched-Classics/9781416500414 Ruha Benjamin (20...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Shane Laptiste and Tura Cousins Wilson, leading architects of Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA). Shane and Tura joined us to speak about Black geographies and Black built environments as sites of remembrance. Episode Resources: Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA). https://socadesign.ca/   (Eds.) Katherine McKittrick and Clyde Woods. (2007). Black...

Summary: Welcome to the opener for season 4! In this episode, I welcome Audra A. Diptee, an Associate Professor of History at Carleton University. Audra joined us to speak about her research on the weaponization of colonial archives to rewrite history.  Episode Resources: Audra A. Diptee. https://www.audradiptee.com/   Audra A. Diptée. (Apr 27, 2023). The records the British Empire didn't want...

Summary: It’s the last episode of the year. In this episode, I welcome Cheryl Foggo, an author, filmmaker, playwright and community historian. Cheryl joins us to speak about her work recovering Black Prairie histories through film and storytelling. Episode Resources: Cheryl Foggo (January 24, 2022). Here: The Prairies are rich with the collective memories of the Black people who came before us. CB...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Phil Vassell and Donna McCurvin, co-founders of Canada Black Music Archives. Phil and Donna join us to speak about this digital archive which aims to research, preserve, and amplify the rich, largely untold music history of Black Canadians.  Episode Resources: Canada Black Music Archives. https://thecbma.com/   Kayla McLean (August 10, 2024). A walk through time...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Kadeem Dunn, a video game creator at Diaspora Games. Kadeem joins us to speak about his work recreating memory through historical video games.  Episode Resources: Diaspora Games. Games for us, by us. https://www.diasporagames.ca/index.html   Channon Oyeniran (February 8, 2019). Sleeping Car Porters in Canada. Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclo...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Michaëlle Sergile, an artist and independent curator completing an artist residency with McCord Stewart Museum. Michaëlle joins us to speak about her artistic practice of capturing and rewriting collective memory through textiles. Episode Resources: Artworks. Michaëlle Sergile. Retrieved May 10, 2024, from https://en.michaellesergile.com/oeuvres   Cheryl Thompso...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Dr. Meredith D. Clark, Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and the Department of Communication Studies at Northeastern University. Meredith joins us to speak about her project Archiving Black Twitter, which seeks to empower Black Twitter users to create their own “small histories” from their data. Episode Resources: Juana Summers, Sarah Handel, Jonak...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Kelann Currie-Williams, lens-based artist and doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program at Concordia University. Kelann joins us to speak about the poetics of the archives.   Episode Resources: Tina Campt (2017). "Listening to Images." https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1134dm3 Kelann Currie-Williams. (2021). Prolonging the Afterimage...

Summary: Welcome to the opener for season 3! In this episode, I welcome Dr. Elizabeth Shaffer, a critical archives scholar and Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia’s School of Information. Elizabeth joins us to speak about her research on the intersections of Black memory production and technology. Episode Resources: Transformative Memory Digital Archive. https://omeka.irshdc....

Summary: It's the last episode of the year. In this bonus episode,  I welcome Elaine Young, Program Officer, Communication and Information at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) and Cody Groat, Chair of the Canada Advisory Committee of CCUNESCO. Elaine and Cody join us to speak about the Canada Memory of the World Register, which promotes the rich diversity of the country’s documenta...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Désirée Rochat, a community educator and postdoctoral fellow with the Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling (COHDS) and the Department of History at Concordia University. Désirée joins us to speak about her initiatives to preserve and promote Black community archives in Quebec.  Episode Resources: Désirée Rochat. (2022). Cultivating Black diasporic me...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Nana aba Duncan, Associate Professor and Carty Chair in Journalism, Diversity and Inclusion Studies at Carleton University. Nana aba joins us to speak about her plans to launch the Mary Ann Shadd Cary Centre for Journalism and Belonging. Episode Resources:   Mary Ann Shadd Cary Centre for Journalism and Belonging. https://view.genial.ly/61e58f69c08f6f0ceda67f2a...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Dr. Funké Aladejebi, Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto. Funké joins us to speak about her work conducting oral histories with Black women educators.  Episode Resources: Dr. Funké Aladejebi (November 4, 2020). Seeing Themselves: Race, Education and Black Life in Canada. McMaster Humanities. https://www.youtube.com/watch...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Martina Douglas from the University of Toronto Faculty of Information. Martina joins us to speak about her work as Director of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Unit. Episode Resources: Anima Leadership. (n.d.) Home. Retrieved June 14, 2023. https://animaleadership.com/   Oy Lein Jace Harrison, Lo Humeniuk & Dominica Tang. (2020). A Report on Diversity and...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Dr. Mark V. Campbell, founding director and curator of Northside Hip Hop Archive. Mark joins us to speak about this digital collection of Canadian hip-hop history and culture. Episode Resources: About. (n.d.). Northside Hip Hop. Retrieved May 20, 2023, from https://www.nshharchive.ca   Mark V. Campbell. (February 2022). Still Tho: Aesthetic Survival in Hip-Hop’s...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Olivia Wong, Special Collections Curatorial Specialist at Toronto Metropolitan University Libraries. Olivia joins us to speak about her anti-racist description work, which improves descriptions for those harmed by white supremacy and represents their histories more equitably and accurately. Episode Resources: Alison Skyrme, Cheryl Thompson, Emilie Jabouin, and O...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Tonya Sutherland-Stewart, head of archive development and researcher for the Jackson Park Project. Tonya joins us to speak about the development of this digital archive of Emancipation Day celebrations in Windsor, Ontario that shone a light on Civil Rights struggles. Episode Resources: Audra Gray (Producer) & Katarzyna Kochany (Director). (2019). Journey Bac...

Summary: Welcome to the opener for season 2! In this episode, I welcome Dr. Kristin Moriah, Assistant Professor of African American Literature and Culture in the English Department at Queen’s University. Kristin joins us to speak about her work expanding research on Black political organizing in Canada and the United States. Episode Resources: Colored Conventions Project. (n.d.). University of Del...

Summary: It's the last episode of the year. In this bonus episode, I answer questions from you, the listener. The following are the submitted questions: Q1: Can you talk a little bit about why it's important to document and preserve racist history & archival records? Q2: Is there an extent to which archive-holding institutions need to do a better job of supporting archivists (e.g., men...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Aaron T. Francis, a community archivist, multidisciplinary artist, and curator of Vintage Black Canada. Aaron joins us to speak about this archive initiative. Episode Resources: Vintage Black Canada [@vintageblackcanada]. (n.d.). Instagram profile. Retrieved from, https://instagram.com/vintageblackcanada?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= MacCleans (July 19, 2023). "These...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Alexandra Mills, the Special Collections Archivist at Concordia University Library. Alexandra joins us to speak about her work activating Black archives. Episode Resources: Patrick Lejtenyi (August 31, 2021). Montreal’s Black history archives continue to grow at Concordia’s Vanier Library. Concordia University. https://www.concordia.ca/news/stories/2021/08/31/mo...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Stanley H. Griffin, former Archivist-in-Charge of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Archives. Stanley joins us to speak about Caribbean archives and his work as a Senior Lecturer in Archival and Information Studies in the Department of Library and Information Studies, UWI Mona Campus, Jamaica. Episode Resources: Stanley Griffin (2021). “Where Records Dance...

Summary: In this episode, I welcome Professor Dr. Charmaine A. Nelson from NSCAD University (Nova Scotia College of Art and Design) in Halifax. Charmaine joins us to speak about her work as Founding Director of the Institute for the Study of Canadian Slavery (renamed Slavery North). Episode Resources: NSCAD University. (n.d.). Institute for the Study of Canadian Slavery. NSCAD University. Retrieve...