Memory Work for Black Lives Plenary 2024 

White Stag, University of Oregon Portland Campus
70 NW Couch Street, Portland, OR 97209/ Zoom 
Friday, April 12- Saturday, April 13
10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Register here

The second biennial plenary, “Memory Work for Black Lives,” will be held on April 12-13 at the White Stag Commons at the University of Oregon Portland, with a hybrid component for off-site attendees. This two-day event is co-organized by UO Libraries and human rights organization, Don’t Shoot Portland. The plenary will center the voices of Black activists and artists as well as librarians, archivists, UO students and faculty to discuss the power of Black archival memory. The emphasis of this event will be on community archiving initiatives, and how such efforts can instigate significant positive change for the people they serve, as well as shift the dominant historical narrative to be more accurate and inclusive.  The morning session will consist of an archiving workshop for members of the community to do their own preservation work on personal materials, and the afternoon will host a number of dynamic presentations from leaders in the field. 

Speakers

• Devin Busby (Workshop instructor) Archivist, City of Portland Archives
• Taishona Carpenter (event MC) Don’t Shoot PDX
• Tracy Drake (Speaker) Director of Special Collections, Reed College
• Madeline Moya (Workshop instructor), City Archivist, City of Portland Archives
• Teressa Raiford (Speaker) Don’t Shoot PDX
• Holly Smith (Speaker) College Archivist, Spelman College
• Ishaq Shamsud-Din, (Speaker) Portland Community Activist and founder of Like A Big Brother (LABB)