Our Work

The Black Memory Collective develops events, programming, and resources for Black workers across Canada. We curate spaces for connection, learning, and collaboration.

We believe it’s important to create safe and affirming spaces for Black people to just be. We are continuously growing and evolving to support the needs of our community.

What We Do and Why It Matters

Our Approach

Our focus is to build a community of practice around Black memory work, deepen a sense of belonging, and increase access to archival skills and knowledge.

We engage with members to:

  • Foster communal knowledge formation

  • Support interdisciplinary collaboration

  • Encourage changemaking in our communities

We are building a national network to support both emerging and practicing Black archivists, memory workers, and researchers. We see the practice of community building as a means for radical history reclamation.

Our Offerings

  • ZOOM SOCIAL is a series of private online conversations guided by a Collective member to discuss current questions, explorations, practices, and research informing their work. These are generative and affirming spaces for fostering connections, sharing knowledge, and exchanging ideas. These meetings allow us to expand our understanding of the peoples, languages, practices, technologies, and geographies of Black memory work in Canada.

  • ARCHIVE PARTY is a free initiative and series of social gatherings to learn and practice Black memory work across Canada. We gather to remember, vibe to music, and build a community of practice around Black memory work. These events highlight Black archival materials in various Archival Institutions that are relevant to the community’s research and sense of homespace.

Guiding principles

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    Transformation

    The transformative use of archival materials. We use archives to reframe narratives focused on Black pain and loss into sources of empowerment and liberation.

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    Imagination

    Collective imagination and aspiration for the future of Black life. We use imagination to surface alternative stories and vision new possibilities out of impossibilities.

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    Hope

    We hold hope for a better tomorrow. While we have faced historical erasure, practices of remembrance help to move us forward. This work echoes throughout the African diaspora.

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    Care

    The shared responsibility to ethically steward, use, and activate archival materials.  We centre care in our work to document, represent, and celebrate Black Life.