Paige, Kaitlyn
Source
Luster, D. (2018). Archives Have the Power to Boost Marginalized Voices.
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsNPlBBi1IE
Summary
This is a seminar given by Dominique Luster, she talks about the concept of
who should control and what goes into the archives collections. She wants her
listeners to think about how materials are portrayed and how they are received
by a multitude of audiences. Are we as archivists taking the living people or
culture out of the history and sterilizing it to make it more palatable to
western peoples. Luster profoundly states, "If your history wasn’t
recorded or preserved well; did you exist?" She questions the concept of
who should decide what should go into the archives and how they should decide
how it is portrayed to people outside the community it serves. There is an
unmistakable connection between these items that were given or more often
stolen from these communities that an outsider would not necessarily understand.
Ultimately, the members of that community who express interest in collection
materials should have a say in how these materials are brought to the light or
taken back and adopted back into the communities culture. She explains that
there is a power struggle between the concept of Bias vs. Privilege, this
centers around colonialism and gentrification of materials in the archival
collections. The last idea she brings up is the concept of who is truly the
expert on these materials, their stories, and how they are being displayed if they
are displayed? This centers around the direct battle between archivists and the
native communities. Luster ends the discussion with a new archival theory that
is racially conscience and has culturally competent practices; this includes
asking questions about dis/ability, age, appearance, empowerment, ethnicity /
race / nationality, gender / sex / sexuality, health and letting the community
answer in a way that creates a bridge of
outreach between archivists and the communities they want to serve. When we
give the power to the people and let them teach and be an active part of the
archives, all parties grow, open communication flourishes, and archives become
a place of true neutral ground.
Evaluation
This declaration makes one wonder if the way we have been receiving information
and using martials in archives is one minded (colonial minded) and why no one has
challenged this major way of gaining / labeling / displaying information in
archives. Many patrons of archives and adjoining entities like libraries and
museums have been fed the colonial mindset and have commonly accepted it at
face value because this is the way that has always been taught for decades. It
has taken up until the last 15 years for people both in the information field
and underserved communities to speak up and demand the change from western to
DEI / feminist practices. This starts with outreaching and open communication
between the two entities. Luster practically begs the audience of archivists to
ask the community how they would like to be perceived, showcased, and
remembered and urges them to work with them to achieve a better received
collection that gives these materials the right labels and respect in addition
to giving a voice back to the communities. During this class I brought up the
idea of creating a living archival collection between the John M. Pfau library
and the Office of Tribal Affairs on the library’s Native American history
collection. It is in reviewing the outreach between the two organizations that I
can say that the library has already started the ground work. The library lets
the OTA review and submit requests on materials for weeding or making new
additions. This gives the Native Peoples a voice in how they would like to be
perceived and a way for the tribal Elders to have an active hand in repairing
the harm done by colonialism in academic archives and libraries, entities that
have a long history of stealing and harming Native life. The next step in this
process would have elected members from the Native community physically come
into the library and become part of the team that actively participates in the
collections handling and growth on a daily basis. More archives should start
the practice and outreach and try to repair the damage done by the past.
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