Power, Politics, Possibilities Thoughts Toward Creating a Black Digital Oral History Archive

Abstract

Great dissonances and inequities can be created by power relationships and cultural misunderstandings. In this essay, in an attempt to preempt problems that stem from a lack of attention to questions of equity, I consider the possible pitfalls of a partnership with a Black community organization in anticipation of a project: The co-creation of a digital Black oral history archive. Political, cultural, and ethical issues that undergird equity are raised, such as researcher-insider positionality, trust, custodianship of others’ materials, representation of participants’ language varieties and voice, the use of technology, and the politics of housing a Black community archive at the University of British Columbia.