Melissa J. Nelson
Creative Director @Black Memory Collective
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WORK HISTORY
Creative Director @Black Memory Collective
CA
The Black Memory Collective is a community for Black archivists, memory workers, and researchers in Canada. As a community based collective, we create spaces for knowledge sharing, changemaking, collaboration, and community building.Our mission is to ignite positive futures through collectively preserving, remembering, and imagining otherwise. We call attention to the systemic erasure of Black memory and the need for structural change in traditional archival institutions. We understand the power of Black archives for community activism, collective healing, and Black consciousness.
EDUCATION
Carleton University
Bachelor of Arts (Hons), History & Sociology
McGill University School of Information Studies
Master of Information Studies (MISt)
ABOUT MELISSA J. NELSON
Melissa J. Nelson is an archivist and educator based in Toronto, Canada. Her work centres Black being and belonging in the archives to support collective healing and liberation movements. She is guided by critical and creative praxis to reimagine the archives as sites of Black joy. In 2023, Melissa was the recipient of the Association of Canadian Archivists’ New Professional Award and Ancestry Award. She is the author of “Archiving Hate: Racist Materials in Archives.” This post has been referenced by collecting institutions in their commitment to equity practices, including Baker Library of Harvard Business School in “Guiding Principles for Conscious and Inclusive Description.” Melissa has a consulting practice that has spanned across notable clients, such as Harvard University, ARMA International, Library and Archives Canada, Association of Canadian Archivists, among others. Melissa is the Founder and Creative Director of the Black Memory Collective. She is also the Creator and Host of the podcast, Archives & Things.
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