Project

The Black Grandmother Worldmaking Library

Program

ACLS Digital Justice Seed Grants

Department

American Ethnic Studies

Abstract

The Black Grandmother Worldmaking Library is a collaborative, community-based model for gathering, archiving, and digitizing our “libraries” (Black grandmothers’ stories and cultural inheritances (e.g., material possessions, cultural traditions, rituals, language, etc.) across multiple, preservable websites that will be strategically and complementarily linked. This publicly accessible digital resource allows Black grandmothers to contribute to and control the stories we tell about their lives. It builds on the work of LaShawnDa Pittman and Trelani Michelle, who aim to repair what we are taught about understudied and misrepresented populations (e.g., Black grandmothers, the Gullah Geechee community) and to reclaim their narratives and culture using firsthand accounts.