Archives & Things

Melissa J. Nelson

Archives & Things podcast brings to the forefront the experiences of Black people who create, work with, and care for archival materials across Turtle Island. Your host, Melissa J. Nelson, is an archivist and educator based in Toronto, Canada. In these episodes, Melissa interviews members of her network who come from diverse backgrounds. What connects them is their interest in Black memory, archives, and history. These episodes amplify the significance of archival possibilities and liberatory work for creating alternative futures. Learn more about Melissa at https://melissajnelson.com/.

  1. OCT 14

    33 | BONUS: Openings

    Summary: It's the last episode of the Archives & Things podcast. In this bonus episode, I say goodbye to the last chapter of my journey and move forward into openings. I also bring light to the current Archivaria Editor Team’s acts of violence as a “humiliation ritual” and means for exclusion, gatekeeping, and destruction. I call on the Association of Canadian Archivists to honour their commitment to address the culture of white supremacy and violence against Black people in the archival profession.  Episode Resources: (Editors) Rebecka Taves Sheffield and Mario H. Ramirez. Call for Papers for Archivaria 100: Legacies of Critical Theory in Archives (Fall 2025). https://archivaria.ca/index.php/archivaria/announcement/view/83  Dr. Carol Anderson (2016). “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide.” https://www.professorcarolanderson.org/white-rage  Jarrett M. Drake (2017). “I’m Leaving the Archival Profession: It’s Better This Way.” https://medium.com/on-archivy/im-leaving-the-archival-profession-it-s-better-this-way-ed631c6d72fe  Association of Canadian Archivists’ Statement condemning racism, injustice, and violence against Black people (June 2020). https://archivists.ca/resources/EmailTemplates/!SC_2020_06%20ACA%20Scope%20and%20Content%20Volume%201,%20Issue%206%20June%202020/index_preview.html @Kathomi Gatwiri (2025). [LinkedIn] “Have you ever read the peer review feedback of a manuscript you spent months if not years working on and you literally had to shut down your laptop immediately…because the reviewers (your *supposed* peers) were just so of-the-scale unhinged, hostile and vile?” https://lnkd.in/p/g-QYfWwr  Roger McKenzie (2025). “The Rebirth of the African Phoenix: A View from Bablyon.” https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rebirth-of-the-african-phoenix-a-view-from-bablyon-roger-mckenzie/1147334742# Stay Connected: If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon. To learn more about my work, visit my website at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or Instagram⁠ contact me at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

    9 min

  2. SEP 29

    32 | Petrina Jackson, Schlesinger Library, Harvard University

    Summary: In this episode, I welcome Petrina Jackson, Executive Director of the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University. Petrina joined us to speak about advocacy and navigating the politics of white institutions. Episode Resources: W.E.B. Du Bois (1903). The Souls of Black Folks. https://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/2282858/Du-Bois,-Souls-of-Black-Folk.Chapters-1-to-4.pdf  Ruha Benjamin (2024). Imagination: A Manifesto. https://www.ruhabenjamin.com/imagination-a-manifesto Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and Robyn Maynard (2022). Rehearsals for Living. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/675719/rehearsals-for-living-by-robyn-maynard-and-leanne-betasamosake-simpson/9781039000650  Jarrett M. Drake (2019). “‘Graveyards of Exclusion:’ Archives, Prisons, and the Bounds of Belonging.” Medium. https://medium.com/community-archives/graveyards-of-exclusion-archives-prisons-and-the-bounds-of-belonging-c40c85ff1663  @this.cypher [Instagram] “All Skin Folk Ain’t Enemies.” https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKkpWFbxeNj/?igsh=NWtoeWUzYzY4eXJw  Black Portraiture[s] Conference. https://www.blackportraitures.info/  Stay Connected: If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon. To learn more about my work, visit my blog at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or Instagram⁠ contact me at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

    43 min

  3. AUG 14

    31 | Shane Laptiste & Tura Cousins Wilson, SOCA

    Summary: In this episode, I welcome Shane Laptiste and Tura Cousins Wilson, leading architects of Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA). Shane and Tura joined us to speak about Black geographies and Black built environments as sites of remembrance. Episode Resources: Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA). https://socadesign.ca/  (Eds.) Katherine McKittrick and Clyde Woods. (2007). Black Geographies and the Politics of Place. https://btlbooks.com/book/black-geographies-and-the-politics-of-place  Tura Cousins Wilson and Shane Laptiste. (2025). “Conjay's First Walk Home.” In, Messy Cities: Why We Can't Plan Everything. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/messy-cities-zahra-ebrahim/1146454519  Amanda Nkeramihigo (June 27, 2025). Afrofuturism and Postapocalyptic Subjectivity. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09593543251347548  Michael McMillan. (2024). AGO. The Front Room: Diaspora Migrant Aesthetics in the Home. https://ago.ca/events/michael-mcmillan-front-room  Azure Magazine. (October 26, 2023). Design/Community: The Collaborative Future of Canadian Architecture. https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/design-community-the-collaborative-future-of-canadian-architecture/  Stay Connected: If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon. To learn more about my work, visit my blog at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ or contact me at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

    42 min

  4. JUL 17

    30 | Audra A. Diptee, Carleton University

    Summary: In this episode, I welcome Audra A. Diptee, an Associate Professor of History at Carleton University. Audra joined us to speak about her research on the weaponization of colonial archives to rewrite history.  Episode Resources: Audra A. Diptee. https://www.audradiptee.com/  Audra A. Diptée. (Apr 27, 2023). The records the British Empire didn't want you to see. YouTube. https://youtu.be/oPGVGckn7kQ?si=CnHTyoE6T6WH6DOG  Alex Williams. (2016). The Pass System. http://thepasssystem.ca/  Michel-Rolph Trouillot. (1995). Silencing the Past. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/246609/silencing-the-past-by-michel-rolph-trouillot/  Donald J. Trump. Executive Order. Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. (March 27, 2025). https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/  Stay Connected: If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon. To learn more about my work, visit my blog at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or Instagram⁠ contact me at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

    38 min

  5. MAY 2

    29 | Gabrielle Miller, Smithsonian’s NMAAHC

    Summary: In this episode, I welcome Gabrielle Miller, a Program Specialist and Archaeologist for the Center for the Study of Global Slavery at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Gabrielle joined us to speak about the Slave Wrecks Project, which searches for slave ships and tends to watery graveyards.  Episode Resources: Omnia Saed (August 26, 2024). For Black Archaeologists, the Atlantic Ocean is an Ancestral Graveyard. https://atmos.earth/for-black-archaeologists-the-atlantic-ocean-is-an-ancestral-graveyard/  Slave Wrecks Project. Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. http://slavewrecksproject.org   In Slavery’s Wake. Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.https://www.searchablemuseum.com/in-slaverys-wake/  Christina Sharpe. (November 2016). In the Wake: On Blackness and Being. https://www.dukeupress.edu/in-the-wake  Stay Connected: If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon. To learn more about my work, visit my blog at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and Instagram⁠ or contact me at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

    1h 10m

  6. MAR 20

    28 | Camille Turner, Afronautic Research Lab

    Summary: Welcome to the opener for season 4! In this episode, I welcome Camille Turner, an artist and scholar whose work combines Afrofuturism and historical research. Camille joins us to speak about her Afronautic Research Lab, a performance and social practice project that approaches colonial archives from the point of view of a liberated future. Episode Resources: Camille Turner. “Afronautic Memory and the Archive.” 2022. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13534645.2022.2073691  Camille Turner. https://www.camilleturner.com/  Stay Connected: If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon. To learn more about my work, visit my blog at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ or contact me at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

    36 min

  7. 2024-10-31

    27 | Cheryl Foggo, C Foggo Co.

    Summary: It’s the last episode of the year. In this episode, I welcome Cheryl Foggo, an author, filmmaker, playwright and community historian. Cheryl joins us to speak about her work recovering Black Prairie histories through film and storytelling. Episode Resources: Cheryl Foggo (January 24, 2022). Here: The Prairies are rich with the collective memories of the Black people who came before us. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/here  Cheryl Foggo (2020). Pourin’ Down Rain: A Black Woman Claims Her Place in the Canadian West. https://bookpublishers.ab.ca/titles/pourin-down-rain-2/  Cheryl Foggo (2020). John Ware Reclaimed. (Film). https://www.nfb.ca/film/john-ware-reclaimed/  Stay Connected: If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon. To learn more about my work, visit my website at⁠ ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠⁠. You can connect with me on⁠ ⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ and⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ or by email at ⁠melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

    38 min

  8. 2024-10-09

    26 | Phil Vassell & Donna McCurvin, Canada Black Music Archives

    Summary: In this episode, I welcome Phil Vassell and Donna McCurvin, co-founders of Canada Black Music Archives. Phil and Donna join us to speak about this digital archive which aims to research, preserve, and amplify the rich, largely untold music history of Black Canadians.  Episode Resources: Canada Black Music Archives. https://thecbma.com/  Kayla McLean (August 10, 2024). A walk through time: New tour spotlights Little Jamaica’s music history. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/10690013/toronto-little-jamaica-tour/amp/  Stay Connected: If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon. To learn more about my work, visit my website at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ or by email at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

    51 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Archives & Things podcast brings to the forefront the experiences of Black people who create, work with, and care for archival materials across Turtle Island. Your host, Melissa J. Nelson, is an archivist and educator based in Toronto, Canada. In these episodes, Melissa interviews members of her network who come from diverse backgrounds. What connects them is their interest in Black memory, archives, and history. These episodes amplify the significance of archival possibilities and liberatory work for creating alternative futures. Learn more about Melissa at https://melissajnelson.com/.

Information

  • Creator
    Melissa J. Nelson
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    33
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Melissa J. Nelson
  • Show Website
    Archives & Things