1 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly 2 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small 3 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: decisions we can make to become the best possible versions 4 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: of ourselves. I'm your host, Dr Joy hard and Bradford, 5 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information or 6 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: to find a therapist in your area, visit our website 7 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: at Therapy for Black Girls dot com. While I hope 8 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: you love listening to and learning from the podcast, it 9 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: is not meant to be a substitute for a relationship 10 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: with a licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all, thanks so 11 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: much for joining me for another bonus episode in another 12 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: into our TVG library. This time it's Black Archives, a 13 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: photographic celebration of black life by Ranada Shirleys. We'll get 14 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: right into our conversation with Nada after a word from 15 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:22,319 Speaker 1: our sponsors. When was the last time you combed through 16 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: family photos and mementos, or even sat down and recorded 17 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: a conversation with one of your elders. If it's been 18 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: a while, Nada shirt Leaves of Black Archives is here 19 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: to guide you. Ranada is a multidisciplinary, research based visual 20 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:41,320 Speaker 1: artists and founder of the Digital Archival project Black Archives, 21 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: where she features visual histories and modern day stories across 22 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: the African diaspora. Today, she joins me to chat about 23 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: her debut photo book, Black Archives, a photographic celebration of 24 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,640 Speaker 1: black life, her family's long standing love for archiving their history, 25 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,960 Speaker 1: and how you can get started archives and documenting your 26 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,560 Speaker 1: own experiences. If something resonates with you while enjoying our conversation, 27 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: please share with us on social media using the hashtag 28 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: TBG in session or join us over the Sister Circle 29 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: to talk more in depth about the episode. You can 30 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: join us at community that Therapy for Black Girls dot com. 31 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: Here's our conversation. Thank you so much for joining us 32 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:26,239 Speaker 1: today right now, I'm happy to be able to chat 33 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: with you. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure 34 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: to be here. So I'd love for you to get 35 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: started by telling us a little bit about what archiving 36 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: is and can you tell us also a little bit 37 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: about the origin of Black Archive. Absolutely, for me, archiving 38 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: is an intentional way of preserving materials, whether it's documents, 39 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: it can be photographs, some sort of inphemera, anything that 40 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: you want to keep for later use or later reference. 41 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 1: And what we do with Black archives so we pull 42 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: from materials that have already been archives, whether they've been 43 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: archived through other institutions or communities or people. We share 44 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: those archive materials across our social channels, and then we 45 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: also incorporate them into other projects. So Black Archives originated 46 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: as a project very much in self exploration. So I 47 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,119 Speaker 1: was just really curious about archives and just having access 48 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: to all of these unearthed images and looking at a 49 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: way to sort of explore the broader visual story of 50 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: the black experience. So I considered a gathering place where collectively, 51 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: you know, we can engage with archives across various mediums, 52 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:49,840 Speaker 1: uncovering and sharing the research. Got it, and it sounds 53 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,480 Speaker 1: like there's a personal connection there too. So both your 54 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: grandmother and your father were shutter bugs. What lessons about 55 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: photography did you learn from them and your love for archiving? 56 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: You know, my grandmother she used a polaroid camera pretty much, 57 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: and she focused on documenting the celebratory moments, so those 58 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: are your birthdays, your holidays, and special occasions. My dad, 59 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: on the other hand, he recorded literally everything, so even 60 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: things that didn't appear to be significant, he still recorded it. 61 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: And I think through them, I learned that both were 62 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 1: equally important, and so I try to bring an added layer, 63 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: incorporating both of their practices into my practice. So can 64 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: you talk a little bit about the history of archiving. 65 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: Who are some of the pioneers in this space. Yeah, 66 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 1: so people have been archiving since the beginning of time, 67 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: and I want to say that I consider myself more 68 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: as a memory worker as opposed to an archivist, particularly 69 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: in the professional sense. And so as a memory worker, 70 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: I'm working through space and time through the use of archives, 71 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: and you know, I engage with them through various projects. 72 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: But I say it's an aggregation of archives because the 73 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: work is already archived. I'm essentially just pointing you to 74 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: those sources. And so, as a family archivists, at a 75 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: personal level, my role is the person that gathers and 76 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,919 Speaker 1: preserves or digitizes. So the pioneers in this space for 77 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: me essentially is anyone within my lineage who actively participated 78 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: in preserving our family stories. That's my mom, my grandmother, 79 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: my auntie, my great grandma, you know, and so forth. 80 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,280 Speaker 1: So I really come into this space without formal training 81 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: and archiving, and so my references originate at the family 82 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 1: and community level. It's like who's telling stories, who's writing 83 00:05:49,279 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: them down, who took the photos, who put them into 84 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: some sort of safe place for keeping after they passed, 85 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: who took them out, you know, who backed them up? 86 00:05:59,640 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 1: Who rings everything together? And I think that's where I 87 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: come into archiving at a family level. M Yeah, you know, 88 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: we're not. I think a lot of us have probably 89 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: a story. So for myself, like my grandmother would collect 90 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: the programs from funerals that she attended. She's past now, 91 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: but she had this black purse that she had all 92 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: of these old family pictures in. And one of my 93 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: favorite things to do around the holidays would be to 94 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,720 Speaker 1: like gather the family and say, Okay, who are these 95 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: people in the pictures? And like what can we be 96 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: doing with this? And so I would imagine that many 97 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: of us have that kind of a story where people 98 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:42,279 Speaker 1: have collections of these things but aren't sure what to 99 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: do with it and how to get started. What kinds 100 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: of recommendations would you have for how to get started 101 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: with archiving your family history. I just start with the basic, right, 102 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 1: like as simple as possible. I started with a photo scanner, 103 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,560 Speaker 1: you know, an external hard drive and my computer and 104 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:03,679 Speaker 1: just be in digitizing personally, for me, I consider myself 105 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: like a digital hoarder, So I ties everything and I 106 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: store and I back it up like a million times. 107 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: But at a basic level, you can just upload them 108 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: into a cloud drive, back them up to an external 109 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: hard drive. Label your photographs. You can take it another 110 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:25,880 Speaker 1: step and categorize them by themes or geographic locations, whatever 111 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: you know. System you create on your own, you want 112 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: to make sure that the original document or ephemera or 113 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: whatever you have to preserve, that that's available for safekeeping 114 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 1: as well. So what if we come from a family 115 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: who has not done a great job of capturing some 116 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: of those memories in the past, but we want to 117 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: start doing some of that. So what tools, either digital 118 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: or physical, would you suggest for us to get started with, 119 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: like capturing new memories. Utilize what you have. Let's keep 120 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: it as simple as possible. Before I had access to 121 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: like recording device, you know, use my phone and this 122 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: into the voice memo. Sometimes you don't have access to 123 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: everything where sometimes things sort of happen on the spot, 124 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: and so using the voice memos on your phone, your iPhone, 125 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 1: if you have an iPhone, that's really been helpful for 126 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: me and I've recorded a lot of conversations, you know, 127 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: with elders and people in my family who are no 128 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: longer here. So just start with what you have, if 129 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: you have a camera, or get a camera, or utilize 130 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: your phone, and just make sure that you're backing that up, 131 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: that you're transferring off of your phone to some sort 132 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: of external hard drive and then backing that up which 133 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,160 Speaker 1: can be a cloud or something. Make sure that you 134 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: have multiples mm hmm, got it. So. I know sometimes 135 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,360 Speaker 1: when we are talking to elders in our families about history, 136 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 1: there can be some distrust um and like well what 137 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 1: are you using this for? And like what's happening? Why 138 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: do you need this? So do you ask for permission 139 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,320 Speaker 1: before you record? And how do you explain to them 140 00:08:56,360 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: like what's happening or what you're doing with the material? 141 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 1: I used to Now everybody knows that I'm going to 142 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: report just oh that's for not that she's got the camera, 143 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: and so they engage with me. But I think once 144 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:12,080 Speaker 1: you set the intention and set the tone the expectation 145 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: that you are the designated photographer, you're the person who's 146 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: going to be documenting, then they're sort of easy going. 147 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: Most cases, I try to have my phone with me 148 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: right just to record, because you never know when that 149 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: thing or you know when she's going to say something, 150 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 1: So I always try to have it with me just 151 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: to make sure that I'm ready to record. You know, 152 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: sometimes she'll catch me off guard and just give me 153 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: one second, let me go grab my phone, let me 154 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: get this really quick. You know, she's used to it. 155 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: And do you take the opportunity for like holidays or 156 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: other family gatherings to do some of this work with 157 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: people in your family. That's the perfect time because everyone 158 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,839 Speaker 1: is together and you can do fun things, right, things 159 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: that get everyone together for your portraits. But you can 160 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: also do video diaries or have them take self portraits, 161 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: or you just can do a lot of fun things 162 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 1: in that type of setting. So yes, those are definitely 163 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 1: moments you want to capitalize on. Mm hmm. So you 164 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: mentioned the term rooted that I want to go back 165 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:11,520 Speaker 1: to because I don't know that I've heard that term before. 166 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: So you said you refer to yourself more as a 167 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: memory worker. Can you say more about what that means 168 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,680 Speaker 1: in the sense of an archivist like I mentioned, You know, 169 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: I don't have you know, the formal training or the 170 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: professional training that is required to work in archives. I 171 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: don't work with archives in a professional sense. I don't 172 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: work with archives on a day to day basis. What 173 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: you see is me working through or engaging with archives 174 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: and sort of sharing that imagery or that history or 175 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: those materials across you know, our social platforms. And so 176 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: I mean, as plainly as I can stated, I work 177 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,559 Speaker 1: through space and time through the use of archives, but 178 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:03,840 Speaker 1: I don't necessarily preserve them in a professional sense, because 179 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 1: those materials are already archived, you know what I'm saying. So, Okay, 180 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:12,600 Speaker 1: that are have already done that work. They already have 181 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:15,440 Speaker 1: a staff of archivists that are doing the work to 182 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,760 Speaker 1: preserve the stories so that folks like me, as a 183 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:22,959 Speaker 1: memory worker, I can delve into those materials, I can 184 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: unearth them, and I can share them with the larger community. 185 00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:30,719 Speaker 1: Got it. Got it. So, I don't know if you've 186 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,959 Speaker 1: seen this, but I've definitely seen like posts on social media, 187 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: particularly it seems around moms or women who have struggles 188 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: with like having pictures of themselves taken. Our moms because 189 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:44,320 Speaker 1: they're the one always taking the picture right, and so 190 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 1: then they are not ever in the images. So do 191 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: you have anything that you any advice or words of 192 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: encouragement you might share for people who are uncomfortable with 193 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: having pictures of themselves taken. Yes, So two things to 194 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: that point. The first thing is I'm always behind the camera. 195 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:02,439 Speaker 1: I'm very intentional about showing up because you want to 196 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,000 Speaker 1: make sure that you're showing up in that record to 197 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: have a family gathering, and you're the one that's always documenting, 198 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 1: but you never are seeing. That's something that I try 199 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:17,320 Speaker 1: to avoid, right and to the point where, if you know, 200 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: one of my family members see me like recording everything, 201 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 1: they're like, hey, Nada, I need you to pop in 202 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,800 Speaker 1: this picture. And so you gotta be intentional about that 203 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: in the sense of maybe not feeling like you want 204 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: to be recorded or you want to be documented. I mean, 205 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 1: I get that. I know for me, there are times 206 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,840 Speaker 1: where you know, I wish I had a moment captured 207 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:42,120 Speaker 1: that there wasn't a camera around for whatever reason, and 208 00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 1: you don't want to go your whole life without photographs 209 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 1: of yourself. Mm hmmm. As I hear you talk, it 210 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: sounds like you have really kind of changed the dynamic 211 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 1: in your family where it seems like multiple people now 212 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,760 Speaker 1: are thinking about like how to capture family history, like 213 00:12:57,800 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: they will see you as the person with the camera 214 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 1: in oh, you make sure you're included too. Can you 215 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:03,920 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about how that dynamic made me 216 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,959 Speaker 1: His shifted in your family. My dad was that person, 217 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: and my dad passed away a long time ago, It's 218 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:15,480 Speaker 1: been about fifteen years so far, and I just moved 219 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: into his role. And he was the person that was 220 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 1: always documenting. But when you look back at, you know, 221 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:24,600 Speaker 1: some of those home movies and some of those photographs, 222 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: you don't always see him. And I didn't want that 223 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 1: to be me, right, And I wanted to make sure 224 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,480 Speaker 1: that you know, I'm accounted for. And I do wish that, 225 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,240 Speaker 1: you know, we could have seen him more, especially as 226 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,199 Speaker 1: I looked through his work. But yeah, I just assumed 227 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 1: that role and everyone just kind of fell into it 228 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:45,320 Speaker 1: because you know, my dad sort of set the expectation 229 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: for that, right right. And you mentioned that your grandmother 230 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: kind of was on the side of capturing the celebratory 231 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 1: moments while dad was the one who captured like the 232 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: everyday moments. Can you say more about why it's important 233 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,959 Speaker 1: for us to document seemingly mundane social history of black people. 234 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:03,959 Speaker 1: You know, life is not always about the big moments, 235 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,160 Speaker 1: and I think it brings balance when you're capturing not 236 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: only or focusing on those those bigger moments. You know, 237 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 1: life consists of the celebratory moments and the smaller, much 238 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: quieter moments, and you know, we should all have some 239 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: sort of reference to that. So it's important, you know, 240 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: and for my family there was balanced because, you know, 241 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: my grandmother did what she could. She was on a 242 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 1: fixed income and she needed to preserve the film for 243 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: those moments. My grandmother wanted to make sure that she 244 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: had film to document and record those special times. And 245 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: with my parents, they had a little more money, so 246 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: they were able to be a little more free with 247 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:50,360 Speaker 1: the documentation. And so it's just important to have those 248 00:14:51,640 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: right right more from my conversation with Nada after the break, So, 249 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: what are some culturally specific but often forgotten nuances you've 250 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 1: seen in your years of archiving. That's a good question 251 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: to go back to what you said about moms not 252 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: showing up in the photographs all the time. Sometimes we 253 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 1: may not always look or feel our best as we 254 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: carry the way to the world on our shoulders and 255 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: our hearts, you know, on our backs. But if we're 256 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: always waiting for that perfect photographical moment, we'll go through 257 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 1: life and miss so many other moments in between that 258 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: I know that I wish I had back or do 259 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: over for myself, I'll say this, I think more self 260 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,240 Speaker 1: portraits and more video diaries. I have a series of 261 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: video diaries where I greet myself. Whomever may come across 262 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: the diary, you know, in the future, hopefully is someone 263 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: within my family. But I say the date and I 264 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: go on with my journal entry, you know, and sometimes 265 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: it's just giving a personal update, and others are a 266 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 1: little more complex. But I would love to see that 267 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 1: from my elders have some sort of like reference asked too, 268 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:16,280 Speaker 1: just a personal moment with them in the camera, just 269 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:18,800 Speaker 1: being vulnerable. So if I could say that, that would 270 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: be one of the nuances I would like to see 271 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:26,040 Speaker 1: more of, or at least that we're taking into consideration 272 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: when we're documenting m Yeah, I could also imagine that 273 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: being a real treat for your children to have at 274 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: one time, right to see Mom as like an actual 275 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 1: woman and not just mom. Right, and you know, hearing 276 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: a recording of like your daily thoughts I came across 277 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: the video of my dad that blew me away. And 278 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: it's only one video, but I think this was back 279 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: in the nineties and recently came across this. I think 280 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 1: the goal was just to fill up some extras face 281 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: on the tape so he could you make the most 282 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: of it. I was just sitting in front of the 283 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: camera and he was talking about me. We just went 284 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,199 Speaker 1: to Ronada's fifth grade graduation, and it was you know, 285 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:06,720 Speaker 1: it was a time, you know, it was sort of 286 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: like this intimate, vulnerable moment that he had, but the 287 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: camera just won on one and I feel so like, 288 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 1: I feel so blessed to have that and to witness that, 289 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:18,960 Speaker 1: and I wish there were more like why didn't he 290 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: do this more often? And so I make sure that 291 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: I'm intentional about doing that and I would love to 292 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 1: see that and not necessarily for me to benefit from 293 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: other families to have that experience too. You know, as 294 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: you're talking, it makes me think, I think some of 295 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: what people are doing with social media is an attempt 296 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: at like this digital archiving. Right, So when you talk 297 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: about the journal entries, like, I feel like some people 298 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 1: kind of do that kind of thing on TikTok. Do 299 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:49,639 Speaker 1: you have thoughts about that serving as a digital archive 300 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,120 Speaker 1: and like how maybe people can take what they use 301 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:56,239 Speaker 1: there and making their own personal archive, just you know, 302 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: instead of posting, you know, just saving it and archiving 303 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: it that way, because I do the same things. Some 304 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: things are personal and things that I definitely wouldn't share 305 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: on social media or TikTok's or anything like that. But 306 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: just knowing that I have a place where I can 307 00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 1: do that myself and get things that I need to 308 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,040 Speaker 1: get out, you know, that's something to consider. I'm making 309 00:18:18,080 --> 00:18:21,879 Speaker 1: sure that there's an archive for whatever they want to share, 310 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: because also we don't know how long you know, these 311 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: platforms are going to live, and you know what happens 312 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: to that technology. So so what do you think about 313 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:37,399 Speaker 1: archiving makes it a tool for black resistance or liberation? Well, 314 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: I mean, we have paper trails, right, just sort of 315 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:44,000 Speaker 1: trace back our stories in some cases, but through photographs 316 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: sometimes that can be a bit difficult, and I know, 317 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: for me in my family, one of the things that 318 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,920 Speaker 1: I question is where are our photographs, you know, prior 319 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,119 Speaker 1: to the nineteen sixties. Why do I see us in 320 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: the seventies, eighties, and nineties and so forth. But happened 321 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 1: to that imagery before or prior to And my mom 322 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: told me a story about my great grandmother she got 323 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: into like a dispute with the landlord, and all of 324 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,440 Speaker 1: our family photos at that time, prior to the seventies, 325 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: we're in like this dresser and he's just sort of 326 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:22,360 Speaker 1: held at hostage, and then photographs were just abandoned displays. 327 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: Whatever each story, I don't know, but we don't have 328 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: access to those images anymore, but they're after. My mom 329 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: and my aunt and my grandmother are very intentional about 330 00:19:33,480 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: creating a record, some sort of visual record of our 331 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,159 Speaker 1: lives and our histories and preserving that so that we 332 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: have some sort of point of reference. So that would 333 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:49,560 Speaker 1: probably be just resisting the attempt of erasure. Mm hmmmm hmmm. Yeah. 334 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,280 Speaker 1: And I think also back to earlier conversation about like 335 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: just everyday black life, right, I think so many of 336 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: the pictures from older days we see are around like 337 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: being at protests and as opposed to we were doing that, 338 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: but also like just having Sunday dinner where our families, 339 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,240 Speaker 1: our kids playing in the yard, right, I think it's 340 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: important to have a record of all of that. Yeah, 341 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:13,000 Speaker 1: kids just being still there so many photographs of everyday 342 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,680 Speaker 1: moments that I can reflect on that just bring me joy. 343 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong, I do and enjoy reflecting back 344 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: on those celebratory moments, especially when we started using the 345 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: family cam quarter right, So those are really fun because 346 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:32,280 Speaker 1: you get to see everybody's personality. But yeah, the everyday 347 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: moments are so special, and you're right, there's more to 348 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:39,560 Speaker 1: us than protesting. There's a quiet moments in between that 349 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: are also important. So how have black women been underrepresented 350 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:46,439 Speaker 1: in the archives and archival work. That's a good question 351 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:51,399 Speaker 1: because for me, black women have carried the story the 352 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:54,920 Speaker 1: men and my family have and I'm speaking with archives 353 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 1: within a family sense, that's where I relate to. But 354 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,959 Speaker 1: the men and my family, for one reason or another, 355 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,359 Speaker 1: you know, they passed very young, and so the women 356 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:07,880 Speaker 1: were left to carry the stories and the past stories 357 00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:11,480 Speaker 1: down and my family, the women and my family are 358 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:15,199 Speaker 1: the ones that are helping us attach the names to faces, 359 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: filling in the gaps. Yeah, I think back to my 360 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 1: earlier story around my grandmother, right Like, having all these 361 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: recordings of funeral programs, right like, it definitely feels like 362 00:21:23,880 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: the women in families tend to be the ones who 363 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: are archiving some of their history without necessarily knowing what 364 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,440 Speaker 1: they're doing there. Yeah, So in twent and you launched 365 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:36,720 Speaker 1: a Tumbler page Lost in Urbanism. What lessons from the 366 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: block did you take into working on your book? You know, 367 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:43,560 Speaker 1: that was so long ago, it was a lifetime ago, 368 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:46,400 Speaker 1: and you know, at least five years before I even 369 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: launched Black Archives, so very much feeling my way around 370 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,480 Speaker 1: and navigating that space of look at all of these 371 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: images and just overwhelmed because these images weren't photographs that 372 00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: I saw in textbooks or that I was familiar with 373 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,439 Speaker 1: than the media. And so I said, on this journey, 374 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: this path for self expiration. I think when I learned 375 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: through that process was in the early days. My research now, 376 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 1: in comparison to then, it's completely different, right, And so 377 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: I think that helped me become a really good researcher. 378 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 1: And I learned the importance of researching and how to 379 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:29,119 Speaker 1: reverse image search to find the original source, because not 380 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: all photos that you come across online have the proper 381 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:36,639 Speaker 1: credits or cited properly. In the early days of Tumbler, 382 00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,560 Speaker 1: I'm coming across photograph and I'm just sharing it, right 383 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:45,200 Speaker 1: because I don't know that there's these rules, and through time, 384 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: that's one of the things that I learned, you know, 385 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: how to properly source and incite and credit. Now it's 386 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,080 Speaker 1: funny because I have friends who come across photographs. They'll 387 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: text me, we're not, like, do you know the photographer 388 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 1: for this photo on this this thing where it's like 389 00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:06,880 Speaker 1: a puzzle, and yeah, give me a day and I'll 390 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,280 Speaker 1: get it back to you. I was gonna ask, you know, 391 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 1: since you brought up the whole idea of like being 392 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: able to give credit, I knew that is something that 393 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,159 Speaker 1: is often a struggle for photographers and people who do 394 00:23:16,200 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: similar kinds of work to you, with people kind of 395 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,119 Speaker 1: sharing stuff without proper attribution, Is that something that's been 396 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:25,199 Speaker 1: a concern for you, And if so, how have you 397 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: managed that. No, we're sourcing from archives and we're including 398 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: those attributions into different captions, so that really hasn't been 399 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,560 Speaker 1: a problem for us. But sometimes you'll come across imagery 400 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: from like the early nineteen hundreds where the photographer is unknown, 401 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:50,400 Speaker 1: you know, we'll simply state that this is an unknown photographer, 402 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: or maybe they're found photographs where people found these photographs 403 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: and share them online and there is no way to 404 00:23:58,040 --> 00:24:01,159 Speaker 1: sort of know who took this photograph, or sometimes you 405 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,440 Speaker 1: can use contextual clues to guess where the photograph was 406 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: taking if it's in a public place. But you know, 407 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:10,520 Speaker 1: sometimes you do your best. I researched as much as 408 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: I can, and I do my best person all of 409 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,360 Speaker 1: the information, and that way, if someone wants to do 410 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 1: further research, you know at least they have some sort 411 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,320 Speaker 1: of reference point. Got it more from my conversation with 412 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: Nada after the break. So when did you know it 413 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 1: was time to take Black Archives the Instagram page in 414 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 1: the digital project into a book. I think that has 415 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,240 Speaker 1: always been a goal. It actually has been a goal 416 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:46,720 Speaker 1: because I remember back in the Loss and Urbanism days, 417 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 1: I would think to myself, like, it would be so 418 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: cool to have a book, right, But I wasn't to 419 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:54,880 Speaker 1: that point yet. And so when I launched Black Archives 420 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: in I launched it with the intend that this would 421 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:01,119 Speaker 1: sort of act as a creative unbrea lah where I 422 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,080 Speaker 1: could work on various different projects and engage with archives 423 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: across different mediums. And so this book is just one 424 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 1: of those projects under that umbrella. I would say that 425 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,920 Speaker 1: I always thought it would be cool to create this book, right. 426 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:17,879 Speaker 1: I didn't know it was going to be this book, 427 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 1: but I knew I wanted to create a book. And 428 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 1: I want to do other things too, you know. I 429 00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: want to work on film projects and other types of 430 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:30,240 Speaker 1: collaborative archival projects as well. M m mmmm. Any information 431 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,120 Speaker 1: you can give us about other things that you're hoping 432 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:37,520 Speaker 1: to do, not just yet, we gotta stay tuned. I 433 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:40,600 Speaker 1: hope that will continue to grow and evolve. Got it, 434 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: Got it. So, in your book, you speak on the 435 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: beauty and importance of documenting youth, which you've already kind 436 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,600 Speaker 1: of alluded to here. In the book, you say, as 437 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:50,720 Speaker 1: a mother, it's important to me that my personal and 438 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:54,399 Speaker 1: professional work reflects intentionality in my celebration and love of 439 00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,639 Speaker 1: black youth while reminding black folks of the sweet moments 440 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 1: tucked away within the memories of their own black chilhoods. 441 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,800 Speaker 1: Can you share some thoughts on the value of documenting 442 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:08,520 Speaker 1: our youth and the youth around us. Yeah. Absolutely, you'll 443 00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:11,360 Speaker 1: see that. When you know we're sharing photographs across our 444 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: social you always see in most cases they're black youth, 445 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: and so that's always at the forefront. And I always 446 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: think that it's important to just thinking back and to 447 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:25,680 Speaker 1: the archives that we're sharing present day. It's always so 448 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:29,760 Speaker 1: cool to imagine, you know, what our grandparents and great grandparents, 449 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:32,840 Speaker 1: because I know, for me, you know my grandmother, you know, 450 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,880 Speaker 1: when I was born, it was like, oh, she's my grandmother, right, 451 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 1: But I was just asking my mom, I said, like, 452 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: I'm trying to find pictures of Granning. But she was, 453 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: you know, a kid or a baby. And because of 454 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:47,560 Speaker 1: that unfortunate incident with the landlord with my great grandmother, 455 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,480 Speaker 1: I don't have that reference, and so I always see 456 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:54,679 Speaker 1: her as sort of like this older woman, which is fine. 457 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: It's just it's so cool to imagine what it would 458 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,439 Speaker 1: have been like to see her as a young person. 459 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:04,880 Speaker 1: I do show black youth as often as I can, 460 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,440 Speaker 1: and you know, it's it's important to be reminded of that. 461 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:11,639 Speaker 1: It definitely feels like there's a lineage of this in 462 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:13,439 Speaker 1: your family. Can you say a little bit about what 463 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 1: you've taught your own children about the importance of making 464 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:19,199 Speaker 1: memories and capturing them. Oh? Yeah, you know, I have 465 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: one daughter. She's a sophomorist fellman right now, and she's 466 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:27,679 Speaker 1: just black archives the whole time. I've been creating black archives. 467 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,200 Speaker 1: She's been right here by my side, and so it's 468 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: so funny because sometimes I'm not always around her in 469 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 1: family gatherings, and she just inherently just starts recording and 470 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:42,240 Speaker 1: then she'll send it to me, like, Mom, at this 471 00:27:42,359 --> 00:27:46,480 Speaker 1: really cool stuff. And I think it's fantastic because she's 472 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,199 Speaker 1: seen me do it right. And then it's sort of 473 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,400 Speaker 1: like this thing where she's incorporated into her own practice 474 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:54,399 Speaker 1: and to her own so that it's just part of 475 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,720 Speaker 1: her now. I love that. I love that she'll have 476 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: her own little archive to contribute. It's always funny too, 477 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 1: when my mom and my other family there in Florida, 478 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:07,359 Speaker 1: I live in Metro Atlanta, if they're going to a 479 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:11,400 Speaker 1: Sunday brunch. This just happened last weekend. Actually, my mom 480 00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:14,400 Speaker 1: is recording, you know, all of my cousins and everyone, 481 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,439 Speaker 1: and I can hear her as she's pressing record on 482 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:21,360 Speaker 1: her phone. Everybody say hey, Ranado, because if I don't 483 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: get this, she's gonna kill me. You know, just almost 484 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: strained to document even when I'm not available or if 485 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: I'm not there. So I think that's really cool. M 486 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,399 Speaker 1: So we're not because it does seem like several members 487 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:37,120 Speaker 1: of the family are now involved in this. Do they 488 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:39,560 Speaker 1: just end up like sending it all to you or 489 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,600 Speaker 1: is there like a family Google Driver or something where 490 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:47,000 Speaker 1: people like upload stuff? Do you all have a system? Yeah? Both? Actually, 491 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: you know, if I'm doing it, I will record, and 492 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: I will take on that archiving process and I'll share 493 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,400 Speaker 1: the Google Drive link so everyone has access to download 494 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 1: at their leisure. What we've learned with our family is 495 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: just do it at the top of mine, right, So 496 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: as soon as you record it, turn your air drop on, right, 497 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 1: let me get the photos, let me get the videos, 498 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: and then I can get out of everyone's hair. But yeah, 499 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: otherwise I'll just start harassing them for Hey, where those 500 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: photographs of you know? Right? Right? So can you help 501 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,080 Speaker 1: us make sense of what we should do and like 502 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:26,560 Speaker 1: how to get started with some of the thousands of 503 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: photos and videos? Like I'm thinking about myself. My oldest 504 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:33,280 Speaker 1: is eight now, and so I have my iPhone, so 505 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:35,840 Speaker 1: you know, I have very early memories of all of that, 506 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: but I know that it all should not live in 507 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:40,720 Speaker 1: my phone. So you've talked about the importance of like 508 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: digitizing and recording, So is the process then to try 509 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: to move it to some kind of cloud and then 510 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,120 Speaker 1: write down dates and descriptions or like how should we 511 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: make sense of like all of the data we have 512 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: in our phones. You should do that uploaded, you can 513 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 1: use the cloud, and then you can move it from 514 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:01,480 Speaker 1: your computer to an external hard drive. I usually save them. 515 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: It depends, but I have a few systems, but I 516 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: think you should use something that you use universal across 517 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:10,000 Speaker 1: It's just so that it's easier for you to find, 518 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: especially if you're the one that's going to be archiving. 519 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: But I include the year, so I'll use you know, 520 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: and sometimes I'll just use also keywords, and you know 521 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: that without having to rewatch whatever that video is quickly, 522 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: I can glance and see that, oh, this is when 523 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 1: we have that birthday outing last year, and just start 524 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:39,840 Speaker 1: with that. I don't think it should be this difficult thing, 525 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: because you know, we can quickly get overwhelmed. But I mean, 526 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,560 Speaker 1: if you take it step out of time, just start 527 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:51,640 Speaker 1: with uploading it, labeling it, share it, you know, so 528 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,040 Speaker 1: other people have access to and other people know that 529 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: you know, have this place, this centralized place where you're 530 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,920 Speaker 1: getting the archive, the family moments, whatever they are yeah, 531 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:06,880 Speaker 1: just share it and then just keep doing it a 532 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 1: little out of time. And I'm not gonna say it 533 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:13,040 Speaker 1: can't be overwhelming, because it can be. But I think 534 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 1: it's a lifelong process. Is something that I know, for me, 535 00:31:15,920 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: is something that I've signed up to do until someone 536 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: else comes along and I can sort of pass on 537 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:27,120 Speaker 1: the role to someone else. So I would imagine that 538 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: lots of people who check out this episode will be 539 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:31,600 Speaker 1: really interested in kind of starting to do something with 540 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: their families. So let's say we have some community members 541 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: who are preparing like a family gathering or there's a 542 00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:39,200 Speaker 1: wedding coming up, and they maybe want to start getting 543 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: maybe some video footage. Do you have any prompts or 544 00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:45,120 Speaker 1: like favorite questions that you ask maybe the elders in 545 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:47,520 Speaker 1: your family, are other people in your family to kind 546 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: of get some of this stuff started. That's a really 547 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 1: good question. I don't only because I'm the type of 548 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: person that will get you on face time, like as 549 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: soon as the thought comes to mind, right, And so 550 00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: I know I've covered a lot out of ground with 551 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: my family in terms of getting those moments. But I'm 552 00:32:05,360 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: trying to think if I could just like go back 553 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,320 Speaker 1: in time to the very first time where everything was new. 554 00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:14,240 Speaker 1: All right, Let's say you have some elders, right, I 555 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: would start just asking them their name, when they were born, 556 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:23,480 Speaker 1: how they grew up, where they grew up, and you know, 557 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:28,040 Speaker 1: it doesn't have to be strategic or this structured thing. 558 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:31,760 Speaker 1: Just let it flow. And as they began to tell 559 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 1: you the stories of however they came to be, I 560 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: think the conversation will begin to unfold and you can 561 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 1: just take it to where it needs to be taken to. 562 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: But just start off simple. Yeah, and I think you 563 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: know sometimes you'll be surprised where those conversations go by 564 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 1: asking him something like what was your favorite thing to do? 565 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:51,920 Speaker 1: Or who are some of your friends? Then? Right, and 566 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,640 Speaker 1: who knows what kinds of things open up? Then? So RANAO, 567 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 1: where can we keep up with you online? So? What 568 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:00,120 Speaker 1: is your social media handles you want to share as 569 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: well as your website? So you can find Black Archives 570 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:08,080 Speaker 1: on Instagram. That was the very first social platform we 571 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:11,160 Speaker 1: popped up on. It's b L A c K A 572 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:14,200 Speaker 1: R C h I V S dot co. So it's 573 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: black Archives dot CEO. And we're also on Twitter at 574 00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:23,160 Speaker 1: black Archives Co. And we're also on Facebook so you 575 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:26,959 Speaker 1: can find us on Facebook as well under black Archives 576 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,000 Speaker 1: dot co. And how can we support the book? The 577 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:34,280 Speaker 1: book is available wherever books are being sold. You can 578 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:38,760 Speaker 1: also inquire with your independent bookseller to purchase the book 579 00:33:38,800 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 1: and get it in stock that way as well. You 580 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:45,760 Speaker 1: can purchase it online on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, 581 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,400 Speaker 1: everywhere you can think. And can you give us the 582 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 1: full title of the book again, Renato Black Archives a 583 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,040 Speaker 1: photographic celebration of black life. Perfect well, thank you so 584 00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:57,680 Speaker 1: much for joining us today. I really appreciate it. Thank 585 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 1: you for having me. I'm so glad Ranada was able 586 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: to join us to share about her family's love for 587 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:09,440 Speaker 1: archiving and highlighting the importance of capturing life's mundane and 588 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 1: celebratory moments. We'd like to challenge you to take a 589 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,720 Speaker 1: moment to record an everyday moment with a family member 590 00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,120 Speaker 1: or loved one this week and share with us on 591 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:22,920 Speaker 1: socials using the hashtag TVG Black Archives. And to learn 592 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:25,560 Speaker 1: more about Nada or to grab a copy of the book, 593 00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:29,360 Speaker 1: visit Therapy for Black Girls dot com slash black Archives. 594 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:32,719 Speaker 1: If you're looking for a therapist in your area, check 595 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: out our therapist directory at Therapy for Black Girls dot 596 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:38,800 Speaker 1: Com slash directory. And if you want to continue digging 597 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:42,080 Speaker 1: into this topic or just be in community with other sisters, 598 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:44,440 Speaker 1: come on over and join us in the Sister Circle. 599 00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:47,400 Speaker 1: It's our cozy corner of the Internet designed just for 600 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,640 Speaker 1: black women. You can join us at Community dot Therapy 601 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:54,400 Speaker 1: for black girls dot com. This episode was produced by 602 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 1: Freda Lucas and Alas Ellis and editing was done by 603 00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:00,839 Speaker 1: Dennis and Bradford. Thank y'all so much for joining me 604 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:03,759 Speaker 1: for this conversation. We'll be back next week with our 605 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:11,440 Speaker 1: regularly scheduled episode. Take it care, What's