Intimacies of the Archives: Reflections of Black Women Memory Workers
Facilitator: Holly Smith, College Archivist, Spelman College
Panelists: Zakiya Collier, Community Manager, Shift Collective/Documenting The Now, Briona Jones, Assistant Professor, English/Women's Gender & Sexuality Studies, University of Connecticut
The Spelman Archives is a testament to the lives of Black women and Black communities across the African Diaspora. There is often a deep connection researchers feel when visiting the Archives and working in collections such as those of Black feminist icons Audre Lorde and Toni Cade Bambara. In this discussion, three Black women memory workers will discuss their experiences in the Archives, how they bring their identities into their work, and how that shapes the intimate encounters with the Archives of other Black women.