Recap: Who Owns Black Data? Slavery & Data (Baltimore, 2024)
A recap of two incredible days of communally and collaboratively thinking through the question.
On March 28 and 29, 2024, the inaugural Who Owns Black Data? Symposium brought together scholars, thinkers, activists, and poets to think through how we ethically, carefully, and even joyfully work with Black data. The symposium featured presentations from a wide range of projects working on Black data, from LifexCode’s own Taller Entre Aguas and Keywords for Black Louisiana, to research initiatives based in other states, like the Nelson Hackett Project (Arkansas), or even involving scholars based in other countries (such as remains // an archive, whose co-lead is based in Canada). Presenters and audience members convened on the campuses of Morgan State University and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland for two days of cutting-edge discussion on new databases, ethical practice, and how to center humanity in one’s research (and much, much more!).
We at LifexCode have loved getting participants’ feedback in person and online about the incredible sense of community and camaraderie this symposium created. One attendee told us, “During the Colored Conventions Project, Professor Gabrielle Foreman emphasized the significance of communal writing. This made me think about how our efforts aren't solely reliant on one individual author or researcher. Instead, we should strive for collaborative work where we engage in horizontal collaboration.”
Attendees were especially excited about the global nature of the conference, both in terms of from where participants traveled and the scope of the research projects represented. They celebrated seeing the growth of familiar projects and the birth of new ones. Kathe Hambrick, Executive Director of the Amistad Research Center, reminded the audience that 2024 marked 40 years since the publication of Gwendolyn Midlo Hall’s first database of enslaved people, and encouraged everyone to continue her legacy.
The talks concluded with a passionate and energizing keynote panel featuring Professor Jennifer Morgan (New York University), Dorothy Berry (Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture), and Bilphena Yahwon (Archive Liberia) and moderated by Dr. Nadejda Webb (incoming Assistant Director of LifexCode). It was held at NoMüNoMü, an intersectional arts collaborative.
Then the night capped off with a Bombazo, hosted by Semilla Cultural, a non-profit organization developing and cultivating a community that embraces Puerto Rican culture and arts in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia region.
If you missed the panels or want to revisit them, check out the WOBD homepage for links to the recordings on YouTube.
For more content on WOBD (and beyond!), follow LifexCode on Twitter/X and Instagram.
Professional photos courtesy of Reese Bland.
And here’s a special good-bye from your WOBD content team, Dr. Brooke Lansing Mai and Afua Quarshie :D