"The Background for Our Future" : Locating the Black Archives in the Netherlands in Black Atlantic Traditions of Archival Activism
Source
The New Americanist, 1, 4, (2020), pp. 59-99ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor
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Organization
Engelse en Amerikaanse Letterkunde en Cultuur
Journal title
The New Americanist
Volume
vol. 1
Issue
iss. 4
Languages used
English (eng)
Page start
p. 59
Page end
p. 99
Subject
Cultures of War and Liberation; Europe in a Changing WorldAbstract
This case study of The Black Archives (TBA), located in Amsterdam,
examines the emergence, trans-Atlantic networks, and archivist and
activist practices of TBA by locating them in both the Dutch racial
context and black trans-Atlantic traditions of using archives as tools
of anti-racism activism. While TBA exemplifies a broader trend towards community-led archival activism that Andrew Flinn and others have rooted in post-World War II identity-based politics, here it
is placed in a longer tradition of especially African American archival activism by black intellectuals, historically black universities and
colleges, and civil rights organizations during and after the Jim Crow
era—with some of whom TBA’s founders and the activists whose collections they hold are directly connected. This enhances understanding of the nuts and bolts of archival activism and cultural transfer, and
illuminates black European identity formation and usages of the African Diaspora and the United States as reference cultures and organizing tools for twenty-first century black European activists.
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- Academic publications [238426]
- Electronic publications [122508]
- Faculty of Arts [29387]
- Open Access publications [97504]
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