Much of the dominant archiving tradition has been shaped by academic and institutional practices rooted in eurocentric and white supremacist frameworks. These systems often determine what is deemed worthy of preservation, how stories are told, and whose voices are amplified—or silenced.

This conversation asks: What happens when we center archives that live outside of those frameworks? What is the role and importance of archives, such as CCCADI’s own archive, built by and for communities of color, by artists, activists, and cultural workers, that challenge dominant languages and practices?

Join us as we imagine together what our archives of the future can, and will, look and feel like.  

Moderator:

Dr. Margarita Lila Rosa, CCCADI Resident Archivist

Panelists:

Maria Bear, CCCADI Resident Archivist

Djali Brown-Cepeda, Nuevayorkinos

Alex Moulton, CUNY

jah elyse sayers, PMCI (Place, Memory & Culture Incubator)

The scholarly panel will be followed by a “Deep Dive into CCCADI’s Archives”

Join CCCADI’s resident archivists and staff for a guided tour through the CCCADI Archives, pausing to look closely at curated materials that showcase the diversity and richness of CCCADI’s 49 year history.

Our Community Archiving Lab for Culture and Justice has reminded us of the importance and urgency of archiving our Afro-Diasporic histories- especially in times when our legacies and institutions are under threat of erasure.

On Saturday, November 15th, join us for a Sou Sou! Saturdays gathering in which we will not only look at ways of archiving our own stories and legacies, but we will put those lessons into practice.  

Families and community members will take part in workshops ranging from Archiving 101 to  Poster-Making, while also having the opportunity to bring photos, videos and personal materials to begin the process of digitizing and archiving their own stories and legacies.

Co-Presented with PMCI (The Place, Memory & Culture Incubator)

About Sou Sou! Saturdays:

Inspired by the financial resource-sharing traditions known throughout the African Diaspora by such names as "Colecta", "Box Hand", "San", "Partna", or "Sou-Sou", this family-based art and education program reinterprets Sou Sou as an exchange of cultural resources.  Sou Sou! Saturdays celebrates and honors our connections by upholding our traditions of collective growth, mindfulness, celebration, and creativity with families of all ages.

stay tuned for more details!!

For our next installment of Afro-Picks, a film & conversation series uplifting stories from across the African Diaspora, we turn inward, to the moving images housed within CCCADI’s own 50-year archive.   

On the eve of Changó’s feast day, we honor his fire and strength in our ongoing fight for social justice with a special screening of archival footage documenting Changó celebrations across CCCADI’s history.

The screening will be accompanied by a live-commentary panel featuring esteemed practitioners, filmmakers and cultural workers who helped create and preserve these powerful historic moments and materials.

stay tuned for MORE details!!