4/20
Restorative Justice in the Archives (April 20, 2022)
3:00-4:15PM EST / Virtual Event
In recent years, archivists, librarians, and historians have begun discussing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion initiatives, specifically restorative and reparative practices, in the archive. Yet they frequently omit the Black archivists who have created new techniques, roadmaps, and practical guidelines transforming the discipline. In this conversation, archivists and memory workers Lae’l Hughes-Watkins, Zakiya Collier, and Olivia Dorsey will discuss techniques, accountability, and ethical principles they employ in their daily practice within educational institutions and community archives.
Zakiya Collier
Zakiya Collier (she/they) is a Brooklyn-based, Black, queer archivist and memory worker. Her work and research explore the role of cooperative thought and improvisation in the sustainability of im/material cultural memory, particularly in marginalized communities and cultural heritage institutions. Before joining Shift Collective as the Community Manager for Documenting the Now (DocNow) in 2022, they have centered African-diasporan, queer, and community-based organizations, including the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Weeksville Heritage Center, SafeWordSociety, Marilyn Nance’s FESTAC ’77 collection, and other private archival collections. She holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of South Carolina, an MLIS from Long Island University, and an MA in Media, Culture, and Communication from New York University. Zakiya is a Certified Archivist through the Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA) and a guest co-editor of a forthcoming special issue of The Black Scholar on Black Archival Practice.
Olivia Dorsey
Olivia Dorsey (she/her) is a creative technology professional who is working to make Black History more visible and to minimize obstacles encountered when conducting African American genealogical research. She holds BS and MS degrees in Information Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a family historian, she has been researching her own family’s ancestry for over a decade. As a web developer, she uses her personal time to develop new digital tools and projects at the intersection of Black History, genealogy, and technology. Her projects include Franklin Memories, a communal repository of her own family history, and Digital Black History, a searchable directory of digital Black History projects. Her work recently featured inThe New York Times. You can learn more about her personal projects atOliviaPeacock.com. Professionally, she works at the Library of Congress as a Program Specialist.
Lae’l Hughes Watkins
Lae’l Hughes-Watkins is the Founder of Project STAND, a first-of-its-kind collaborative effort among archival repositories within academic institutions across the country to create an online portal, featuring analog and digital collections that document student activism for historically marginalized communities. The project has received over $800,000 in grant funding from The Mellon Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). She is the University Archivist for the University of Maryland, in College Park, where she also serves as a Co-chair for the 1856 Project, a chapter of Universities Studying Slavery. From 2013-2018 she served as the University Archivist at Kent State University. She is a 2019 Mover and Shaker. She is a 2019 ARL Leadership and Career Development Program fellow and serves on the Advisory Board for the Archives Leadership Institute. She is the Co-PI for the CLIR/DLF Postdoctoral Fellow in Data Curation for African American and African Studies grant. She is the creator of the reparative archive framework and workshop and has given multiple national and international keynotes.
5/31
Dance Archives: Accessibility & Inclusion through Cataloging (May 31, 2022)
3:00PM-4:15PM EST / Virtual Event
The BAM Hamm Archives tell the 150-year history of BAM, but they also tell a story of the people and communities—civic and artistic—that made BAM what it is today. Over 25,000 images and documents have been entered into the digital collection, and the digital BAM Hamm Archives have been accessible for public use as of 2016. BAM Hamm Archives Director Sharon Lehner and Archivist Camille Lawrence discuss archival cataloging techniques, initiatives, and inclusive community-based projects happening at BAM.
Camille Lawrence
Camille Lawrence (she/her). Archivist, Artist, Curator. Founder of Black Beauty Archives. Camille Lawrence's work as an archivist focuses on the art history, innovations, and diversity of artistic expression across the African Diaspora. She is most interested in exploring and archiving identity formation throughout the African diaspora and culture through three foundational principles: Oral, Physical, and Ritual. Lawrence's background as an art historian, artist, and beauty practitioner informs her approach to archival work. Her projects include Black Beauty Archives and contributions to Urban Bush Women, BAM DanceAfrica, and Black Dance Stories.
On Juneteenth 2020, Camille founded Black Beauty Archives to document, preserve and archive the history of Black Beauty culture. Camille's professional makeup artist experience includes publications in VOGUE, Sophisticate's Black Hair Styles, The New York Times, and TV/Film with Apple, CNBC, Disney, ESPN, Hallmark, and Nike. In 2022, Black Beauty Archives was featured in Oprah Daily! and mentioned on CNN and The Hollywood Reporter.
She completed her BA in Art History and a minor in Global Black Studies from SUNY Purchase. She is completing her MLIS from CUNY Queens College and Beauty Essentials Certification from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Sharon Lehner
Sharon Lehner (she/her). Archivist, Historian. Sharon Lehner has directed the BAM Hamm Archives at the Brooklyn Academy of Music since 1999. She has served as a consultant to numerous performance archives and acted as advisor to the Pina Bausch Archives from 2009-2017. Recent projects include the launch of The Leon Levy Shelby White BAM Digital Archive, an encyclopedic resource documenting BAM’s 160-year history, and In Terms of Performance at BAM, an interactive installation exploring the terms that describe contemporary art and performance, co-produced by BAM, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, and UC Berkeley. Lehner’s recent publications include How to Create an Archive? Inheriting Dance: An Invitation from Pina, BAM: The Next Wave Festival edited by Susan Yung and Steven Serafin, and an interview in the Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities in Theatre and Performance edited by Dr. Nic Leonhardt.
6/22
Honoring the Black Femme in Ballroom (June 22, 2022)
2:00-3:15PM EST / Virtual Event
Noelle Deleon
Noelle Deleon (she/her). Archivist, Artist, Femme. Founder of The Femme Queen Archives Noelle Deleon is a Texas-based interdisciplinary artist, archivist, writer and dancer committed to the progression and history of Black radical art and expression. She is a member of The Xclusive House of Lanvin and The Kiki House of Juicy Couture. As a Ballroom historian, Noelle’s passion and experience in performance art inform her approach to archiving and documenting Ballroom culture. In her 2021 interview with the LA Times, Noelle states, “I never understood myself in the world until I started studying femme queen performance and going back into the history of Black trans women in the world. It’s been the key to my biggest awakenings.”
In February 2021, Noelle was awarded “Leader of The New School” by The Marsha P. Johnson Institute for her work honoring Black Femme Queens in Ballroom. Noelle is currently working completing The Crystal La’Beija Organizing Fellowship (2022) receiving support and mentorship in community organizing, project management and resources for community.
9/30
Beauty & Fashion: Identity Formation as Performance Art (September 30, 2022)
6:00-7:15PM EST / Virtual Event
For centuries, beauty rituals and the adornment of textiles have played a significant role in identity formation throughout the African diaspora. From scarifications to body paint, from weaving textiles to styling across the globe, African people continue to transform the beauty and fashion industry through their artistry as performance. Join Beauty Archivist Camille Lawrence, Fashion Archivist Tianni Graham, and Pro Makeup Artist and Beauty Historian Michela Waribei as they discuss the history of beauty rituals and the evolution of fashion as performance art.
Camille Lawrence
Camille Lawrence (she/her). Archivist, Artist, Curator. Founder of Black Beauty Archives Camille Lawrence's work as an archivist focuses on the art history, innovations, and diversity of artistic expression across the African Diaspora. She is most interested in exploring and archiving identity formation throughout the African diaspora and culture through three foundational principles: Oral, Physical, and Ritual. Lawrence's background as an art historian, artist, and beauty practitioner informs her approach to archival work. Her projects include Black Beauty Archives and contributions to Urban Bush Women, BAM DanceAfrica, and Black Dance Stories.
On Juneteenth 2020, Camille founded Black Beauty Archives to document, preserve and archive the history of Black Beauty culture. Camille's professional makeup artist experience includes publications in VOGUE, Sophisticate's Black Hair Styles, The New York Times, and TV/Film with Apple, CNBC, Disney, ESPN, Hallmark, and Nike. In 2022, Black Beauty Archives was featured in Oprah Daily! and mentioned on CNN and The Hollywood Reporter.
She completed her BA in Art History and a minor in Global Black Studies from SUNY Purchase. She is completing her MLIS from CUNY Queens College and Beauty Essentials Certification from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Michela Wariebi
Michela Wariebi (she/her). Artist, Beauty Historian, Educator.
Training. Talent. Tenacity. These three traits are the cornerstone of Michela Wariebi’s career as a beauty expert, educator, and artist. Michela brings beauty to runways, editorial spreads, and commercial advertising with exciting looks that have been featured in leading titles such as Marie Claire and Harper’s Bazaar, Essence, Vogue Italia and on NBC’s flagship morning program, The Today Show.
With her fearless approach to beauty, Michela’s deep technical knowledge has made her a sought-after instructor among other artists, many of whom credit her in helping them elevate their artistry. As an educator, Michela is an ardent champion of diversity, teaching her students how to work with varying tonal spectrums, shade ranges, and complexions. Celebrities including Beyoncé, Serena Williams, Tierra Whack, Kimbra, Yasmín Wijnaldum and Nicole Ari Parker have called on Michela for her creative and discerning eye.
Tianni Graham
Tianni Janae Graham is an archivist, fashion historian, and research consultant who is founder and curator of archivealive, a digital repository that provides context to rare archival content. Combining a BBA in Fashion Merchandising, an extensive career in fashion, and a love of history, she‘s gained previous experience at Estée Lauder, the Costume Institute Library at The Met, and LIM College. Most recently, Tianni has been featured in HuffPost, MSNBC, NYLON magazine, Business Insider, and ToMaryWithLove.com, and she now lends her expertise as the newly appointed archivist of Thom Browne.
10/19
Preserving and Archiving Hip-Hop in the Age of Mass Commercialization (October 19, 2022)
6:00-7:15PM EST / Virtual Event
Hip-Hop is almost 50 years young, and despite the early naysayers, this Black art form has taken the world by storm. Seen in commercial ads and political campaigns, spotted across fashion runways and international stages, the influence of Hip-Hop is undeniable. In the age of mass commercialization, how do Black Hip-Hop historians, archivists, and artists preserve the authenticity of the artform? Join Syreeta Gates, Regan Sommer McCoy, Leroy Moore, and Rocky Rockett in conversation about their roles in archiving Hip-Hop art forms, working with DJs to preserve their legacy, and keeping the culture accurately documented and preserved in archives.
Syreeta Gates
Syreeta Gates. Archivist, Creative, and Art Collector. Syreeta Gates is the founder of The Gates Preserve, a multimedia experience company committed to archiving and preserving Hip-Hop culture such that it lasts forever. She produces “Yo Stay Hungry” a live culinary competition that bridges hip-hop with food and beverage—and is co-owner of Most Incredible Studio, which celebrates and commemorates the artists and moments that continue to elevate and define hip-hop culture - through LEGO. She was also on the United States Season 2 of LEGO Masters as the first Black woman. She has produced 4 short films and Gates' archival work includes research for “The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion” and “A Ballerina's Tale.” Her feature documentary Shaping the Culture, is the history of Hip-Hop in print from copy machines to tweets. Most recently, Gates teamed up with founder of Professional Black Girl Yaba Blay, author and organizer Tarana Burke, and Karen Good Marable to create #ToMaryWithLove, a multimedia celebration honoring the life and legacy of Mary J. Blige on her 50th birthday.
Syreeta has been featured in Forbes, RedBull, Black Enterprise, and many other outlets. Her work was lauded in Tony Wagner's, “Creating Innovators” and John Schlimm's book, “Stand Up!: 75 Young Activists Who Rock the World, And How You Can, Too!" Gates was also highlighted in Adam Smiley Poswolsky's “The Quarter-Life Breakthrough: Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work.”
Syreeta holds a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Youth Culture from Hunter College and a Master’s degree in Moving Image Archiving and Preservation from New York University. A native New Yorker, Syreeta is based in Queens, New York. #QGTM
Leroy Moore
(Archivist,Founder of KripHop Nation) Historian, Founder of Krip-Hop Nation 2021 Emmy award winning Leroy F. Moore Jr. is the founder of the Krip-Hop Nation. Since the 1990s, Moore has been a key member of Poor Magazine, starting with the column “Illin-N-Chillin” and then as a founding member of the magazine’s school, the Homefulness and Decolonize Academy. Moore is one of the founding members of National Black Disability Coalition and an activist around police brutality against people with disabilities. Leroy has started and helped start organizations including Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization, Sins Invalid, and Krip-Hop Nation. His cultural work includes the film documentary Where Is Hope, Police Brutality Against People with Disabilities, spoken-word CDs, poetry books and the children’s book Black Disabled Art History 101 published by Xochitl Justice Press.
His graphic novel Krip-Hop Graphic Novel Issue 1: Brown Disabled Young Woman Superhero Brings Disability Justice to Hip- Hop was published in 2019 and 2020 under Poor Press. Moore has traveled internationally networking with other disabled activists and artists. Fall 2021 Leroy starts his Ph.D. in Anthropology at UCLA.
Moore has traveled internationally networking with other disabled activists and artists. Moore has wrote, sang, and collaborated to do music videos on Black disabled men. In July 2019 Leroy Moore under Krip-Hop Nation organized African Disabled Musicians San Francisco Bay Area Tour with disabled musicians from Uganda, Tanzania, and The Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2021 Leroy Moore published a book about Black disabled young men under SoulfulMediaWorks.
Leroy has won many awards for his advocacy from the San Francisco Mayor’s Disability Council under Willie L. Brown to the Local Hero Award in 2002 from Public Television Station, KQED in San Francisco and in 2014, San Francisco Bayview Newspaper named Leroy, Champion of Disabled People in the Media on Black Media Appreciation Night.
Regan Sommer McCoy
Regan Sommer McCoy (she/her) Chief Curator and Founder, The Mixtape Museum Regan Sommer McCoy is a NYC-based curator and community archivist. Her music career began working with Virginia Beach Hip Hip duo Clipse. She is founder and Chief Curator of The Mixtape Museum, an initiative that encourages the research, archiving, preservation, and data analysis of mixtapes. She is a Columbia University Community Scholar, a grantee of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and a charter member of the William & Mary Hip-Hop Collection. She’s currently a 2022 ARSC Research Grantee and her new article, “Mixtape Memories: Hip-Hop Community and Culture at NYC's Mixtape Museum” appears in The ARSC Journal (2021).
Rocky Rockett
Rocky Rockett (she/her) Community Engagement Officer of Screwed UP HQ Rocky Rockett is a hip-hop educator and the Community Engagement Officer of Screwed UP HQ, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting Houston’s rich music history and the legacy of DJ Screw. She has contributed to Rolling Out Houston Trend, The Mixtape Museum, and Houstonia. She was a co-curator of the Slowed and Throwed: Records of the City Through Mutated Lenses exhibit at the Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston.
11/01
The Body as an Archive: Memory, Healing & Transformation (November 1, 2022)
3:00-4:15PM EST / Virtual Event
Human bodies are living archives that hold stories, memories, rituals, and information from the present, while also inheriting ancestral knowledge from the past. In this conversation, Multidisciplinary Artist and Healer Star Feliz; Trans Antidisciplinary Artist, Futurist, and Healer Ni’Ja Whitson; and Professor of Art History & African Performance Art Dr. Genevieve Hyacinthe will discuss the body as an archive and ritual practices activated for healing and transformation.
Star Feliz
Star Feliz (b. 1992, New York, NY, Lenapehoking) is an interdisciplinary artist and medicine person with roots in Ayiti, aka Dominican Republic. Entangled across the mediums of sculptural installation, time based media, and book forms, their work explores earth-based pathways for disarming apparatuses of violence and their cycles of trauma. They are currently an MFA candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles department of Interdisciplinary Studio. After almost 10 years of studying and practicing community based herbalism, Star is currently sharing their medicine under the self-started project of Botánica Cimarrón. Their upcoming book When Eye Land is set to be published in the fall of 2023 by Printed Matter, Inc.
Dr. Genevieve Hyacinthe
Dr. Genevieve Hyacinthe (she/her) is the Assistant Professor of History of Art and Visual Culture, California College of the Arts. For the past two years, she has served on the MFA Faculty at Parsons School of Design’s School of Art, Media and Technology and School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. She earned her PhD in History of Art and Architecture at Harvard with a focus on West African, Black Atlantic, and contemporary art.
Current publications include: Radical Virtuosity: Ana Mendieta and the Black Atlantic, Cambridge: MIT Press, Fall 2019; "I Am Basquiat" in African American Arts: Activism, Aesthetics, and Futurity, Roman & Littlefield, 2019; “The Shape of Humidity: Performing Black Atlantic Theory Making,” Performance Philosophy Journal, Guildford, UK, January 2019; "Shelter And Care: Layo Brights’s Crafting Of Nigerian Feminine Space With Aunty’s Touch," SMIJAR, Chennai, January 2019; “Layered in Love: Musings on Love’s Palpability in Some Sahelian and West African Art Forms,” Longetti Art Journal, Copenhagen, Fall 2018; “You Are Entitled to Rest: Reflections on Asad Haider’s Mistaken Identity,” asap/j, New York, Fall 2018; and “Love is the Message: Barkley Hendricks’ MFSB Portrait Aesthetics,” Open Cultural Studies: On the Uses of Black Camp, Warsaw: De Gruyter, December 2017.
She serves on the editorial boards of Stella Maris Multidisciplinary International Journal of Academic Research, Chennai: Stella Maris College, and ab-Original: Journal of Indigenous Studies and First Nations’ and First Peoples’ Cultures, University Park: Penn State. Hyacinthe is a former dancer for ANIKAYA global dance and a current board member, Boston.
Sage Ni’Ja Whitson (they/them)
Sage Ni’Ja Whitson (NY/LA) is an award-winning Queer Nonbinary Trans artist and futurist. They engage multi/anti-disciplinarity through a critical intersection of the sacred and conceptual in Black, Queer, and Transembodiedness, site, body and spirit. Whitson is a United States Artist Fellow, Creative Capital Awardee, two-time "Bessie" Awardee, Hermitage Fellow, an artist in residence at 18th Street (Los Angeles) and New York Live Arts (2020-2023). Whitson was the featured choreographer of the 2018 CCA Biennial, 2018-2020 Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Fellow, and invited presenter at the 2019 Tanzkongress international festival.
Commissions include Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church, Abrons Arts Center, American Realness, and the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Their award-winning practice extends to conventional and experimental theatre, opera, and performance with collaborators that include Charlotte Braithwaite, Regina Taylor, Dianne McIntyre, Douglas R. Ewart, and Sharon Bridgforth. Their writing credits include Critical Black Futures: Speculative Theories and Explorations, Dance Research Journal, and an upcoming anthology on the acclaimed HBO series, Lovecraft Country.
Whitson holds an MFA in performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFAW in creative writing from Goddard College. They are an associate professor of experimental choreography at UC Riverside and a sought-after speaker, consultant, masterclass facilitator, and conversationalist, sharing among notable institutions and organizations: Princeton University, Cornell University, Rutgers University, LAX Festival, Movement Research, American Dance Festival, Collegium for African Diasporic Dance conference (2020 keynote), and UNESCO.
12/07
Beyond The Stage: Healing The Body (December 7,2022)
3:00-4:15PM EST / Virtual Event
After the long days of rehearsals, performances, applause, and encores, what does restoring the body look like for creatives? Join performance artist and author Maya Lawrence, performer and curator Brooke Rucker, and multidisciplinary artist Kassandra Caines as they discuss practices, rituals, and self-discoveries of healing the body.
Maya Lawrence
Maya Lawrence is a proud Spelman College alumna on a mission to liberate the world through Love. This NYC raised/ ATL based author, performing artist, and poet has followed an artistic breadcrumb trail from Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, to her current artistic home at the Tony Award winning Alliance Theater as a Resident Artist and Allyship Program Director. Maya's first children's book "Do You Love the Dark" published in conjunction with the Mayor's Summer Reading Club has been adapted into a Theater for the Very Young play play running at Alliance Theater Spring and Fall 2022!
Kassandra Caines
Kassandra Caines (she/her) (Multidisciplinary Artist, Voice of Bermuda) Kassandra Caines is “a 5 senses artist.” Her creative identity stems from her love of her Bermudian heritage and dedication to self expression. Her vocal talent has been recognized internationally for her ability to create an intimate, inviting and engaging experience for any audience. For the past decade, she has dedicated her career by focusing on curating environments for authentic artist expression.
Recommended as a “must see” vocal artist by global corporations and publications, Kassandra has been recognized for her ability to transform music into an instinctual language. She has opened for several acts across all genres including Gospel artist Reverend Shirley Caesar, Reggae artist Capleton and featured on the [John] Lennon Bermuda tribute album alongside Yoko Ono. Her work on stage has been noted in publications such as Sister2Sister Magazine, The Coveteur, and The Bermudian Magazine.
As a performer, Kassandra has always valued collaborating with like minded creatives. She performs with the Songs for Soul Philadelphia and has been recognized for her ability to transform music into an experience. Her most notable moments include hosting a TEDx Talk, performing at the 38th Annual America’s Cup and being awarded the Best of Bermuda for Vocal performance in 2017.
For Kassandra, creativity knows no bounds and expression is deeply ingrained in her identity. In addition to her vocal talents, she has been praised for blending her love of streetwear, sustainability and high fashion. Her unique style has been documented by Apple Inc, Refinery29, and The Philadelphia Magazine. For Kassandra, fashion and performance are intertwined, and represent foundational components to Black culture and identity. In 2020, she joined the Black Beauty Archives team to help preserve their place in history.
Kassandra takes pride in blending her artistry with her philanthropic efforts and has performed for numerous charity events. In 2021, Kassandra became a mother and proudly resides in North Philadelphia. Kassandra is also the creator of the postpartum lifestyle brand Nu.Motherhood.
Brooke A. Rucker
Brooke Rucker is a Brooklyn-based artist specializing in dance, curation, and arts administration. She earned her BFA in Dance at Florida State University and has performed as a company member with Charles Anderson’s dance theatre X and Louis Gaspard’s Gaspard & Dancers, in addition to apprenticing with Urban Bush Women. Currently, Brooke is a member of TheREDprojectNYC’s Movement Ensemble and the Development/Visioning Partner Assistant at Urban Bush Women. She acts as an independent curator and recently curated The [Jersey] Function as part of her Curatorial Fellowship in Dance with SMUSH Gallery. Brooke is a member of Dance/NYC’s Junior Committee, a proactive working committee for emerging leaders in the field.
