Black Archival

Routes & Risings

WE ARE

Preserving Black Knowledge and History for Black Communities

About

The Black Archival Routes and Risings project aims to collect, preserve and steward archival materials important to the history of Black people in Canada and globally. The genesis of the project is rooted in the unacknowledged richness of archival materials encapsulating Black histories dispersed among various Black communities and organizations nationwide. The lack of recognition, standardized cataloging, and preservation methods reflect the ongoing marginalization of Black Canadian history, exacerbating the misrepresentation and undervaluation of Black experiences across Canada.

The goal is to preserve Black knowledge and for materials to be used by Black students, faculty and community members to further educate and advocate for community needs.

Learn more

HISTORY

The material record of Black history and presence in Canada is scattered in disparate collections across the country – whether these be private family collections, or within public institutions or group associations. We envision a Black Archive that will foreground community participation in the creation and preservation of Black histories and serve as both a repository and a communicator of community knowledge.

Learn more

Explore the Project

MISSION

The mission of the Black Archival Routes and Risings project is to move away from a colonial logic of documenting and cataloguing via a manila envelope full of materials or a box of unsorted ‘stuff’ to a narrative that knits it together and tells us more about who we were and are producing a community rooted understanding of Black history and experiences.

Learn more

VISION

With the younger generation representing a significant proportion of the Black population, ensuring access to their unique histories as part of the Black diaspora in Canada becomes increasingly crucial before these histories are lost. As such, the vision is digitization and a series of what we define as “call outs” featuring the collections. We wish for visibility, use and access!

Learn more

History

Space & Place