I arrived at 1133pm, I was late, but still on time. They decided to start a little late. It gave me some time to chat with my sistacolleague, Holly Smith, the College Archivist and Dr. Beverly Guy-Sheftall. These two give me so much energy just being in their presence. The wisdom and grace is abundant and keeps me lit.
I met the founder of Project Stand Lae'l Hughes Watkins who also works in the archives at University of Maryland. We talked about how to choose a good repository for your archive. Archives are contested spaces full of power and privilege. It is also relationships. Who can you trust to be better stewards of your memory and legacy than yourself. Who is equipped to preserve your work. I love talking to people about these issues bc they are at the heart of how we care for ourselves and others.
Sommer McCoy is the founder Mixtape Museum, on staff at Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the surviving girlfriend of Hip Hop icon, Justos. Interestingly, I am familiar with the Justos Awards because my brother Doug Bailey aka D. Bail is a hip hop scholar and historian who has worked with the production in the past. A phone call later they connected and it was magical. I cannot wait to see what conversation they will have and what they will do together.
Jaimee Swift is someone whose work I have been following on Social Media. The sheer amount of information that she has and shares online is daunting. Her website, blackwomenradicals.comhttp://blackwomenradicals.com is a resource and library of all things black woman and Radical. I love that she defines radical, offers timelines, collaborates witj different groups to make the access of this material.
We laughed and cried in the Archive today. It is a healing place. It is where you go to deal with your stuff. They both said that getting into the archiving was a response to trauma in their lives.
I asked about self- care. We need to take care of ourselves as if we were caring for another person we love so much.
There is more to tell. I took notes. Look there first.
1242 am September 22, 2023
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