Media

Episode 4. The Blackivists

History in Focus, a podcast by The American Historical Review, March 2022

Daniel Story talks with Ashley Farmer, who teamed up with the Blackivists to produce the AHR History Lab piece “Toward an Archival Reckoning” for the June 2022 issue. One of the collective—Stacie Williams—joins Ashley to talk about the group’s work. And Adom Getachew checks in to set this project in the context of a larger arc of upcoming Lab entries on the theme of “engaged history.”

Chronicling the Black Experience

American Libraries magazine, June 1, 2021

Librarians and archivists collect and tell their own stories.

Archiving the Black Lives Matter Movement

Top of mind with julie rose, byuradio.org, October 28, 2020

Decades from now, how will the stories of this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests be told? A group of Black archivists are consulting with protesters across the country about how to preserve the artifacts of the movement... posters, street art, ticket stubs, Twitter posts. Archivists in the group call themselves the Blackivists.

Preserving The Present: Efforts To Archive Ongoing BLM Protests

WGBH, October 16, 2020

Historians call it ephemera: the ticket stubs and posters that often are just thrown away or put in scrapbooks. But there are times when the humble handmade sign becomes more than a personal memory — it becomes documentary evidence of a special moment in time. That’s why Smithsonian archivists started collecting the handmade posters and other materials especially created for the street protests following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Why is it important to collect this protest art? And what is its historic meaning?

Guests include Aaron Bryant, museum curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC; Steven Booth, archivist with the U.S. National Archives, and member of ‘The Blackivists’ a collective of trained Black archivists who prioritize Black cultural heritage preservation; and Alessandra Renzi, associate professor of communication studies at Concordia University, who spearheaded ‘The Art of the March’ initiative at Northeastern University - a digital archive of the 2017 Boston Women’s March.

This team of Black archivists is dedicated to documenting the Black Lives Matter movement

CBC Radio, August 7, 2020

The Blackivists work to preserve the documents and oral histories of Black social movements.

How Will History Museums Remember This Moment?

Chicago Magazine, July 31, 2020

What local institutions and archivists are doing to immortalize a disorienting time in Chicago.

Who are the Blackivists?

Stories from the Living Room, an IG mini-series, July 17, 2020

@uhreliuh sits down with Tracy Drake to talk about her career, the Blackivists, and what’s in her personal archives.

Archivist preserves black history and culture

Oregon public broadcasting, july 14, 2020

As the latest Black Lives Matter uprising unfolds, archivists are working on ways to document history as it happens. Tracy Drake talks with Dave Miller, host of “Think Out Loud.”

A Conversation with Museum Professionals

Bonnie’s Eye, July 4 ,2020

The importance of how Black history is told and portrayed is important. Archivist Skyla Hearn and Museum Educator Erica Griffin address how the experiences of Black people is taught, the items that are collected and cared for as well as the number of people of color in the museum profession. How are museums changing in telling our story? Are they getting it right?

How Chicagoans Are Celebrating Juneteenth

WBEZ, June 19 ,2020

Friday is Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Stacie Williams talks with the host of “Reset” about the importance of the holiday and its significance in the present moment of BLM protests and uprisings.

The Blackivists on documenting movements

The Chicago Reader, June 16 ,2020

A group of Black archivists is helping communities create their own narratives, filling in what history books left out.