Where do we house memory? What do our records say about who we are—and what does it mean to lose them? And is there a way to archive tragedy without amplifying or exploiting trauma? In this episode, archivist and doctoral candidate Itza Carbajal speaks about co-organizing the 2019 climate strike teach-ins, her work as a post-custodial archivist in Latin America, and what she’s learned from her experience as an evacuee of Hurricane Katrina.
Sources and References (in order of appearance)
Project ARCC Climate Strike Teach-Ins
September 2019 Climate Strikes (Wikipedia)
Transplanted San Antonians Reflect on Hurricane Katrina 10 Years Later (The San Antonio Current)
“Post-custodial” definition (Archives Terminology)
Alpert-Abrams, Hannah, David A. Bliss, and Itza Carbajal. “Post-Custodial Archiving for the Collective Good.” Archives, Vol. 2. No. 1 (2019).**
PCN (Proceso de Comunidades Negras in Colombia)
¡Afro-Colombianos Presentes! Launching A Post-Custodial Project with the PRoceso De Comunidades Negras in Colombia (TexLibris) **
EEACONE (Equipe de Articulação e Assessorias às Comunidades Negras do Vale do Ribeira in Brazil)
Not Even Past: Overview of the LLILAS Benson-EEACONE Project
National Museum of Brazil – 2018 Fire (Wikipedia)
University of Texas to dim tower in solidarity with Austin community (KXAN)
Texas power outages bring Austin city data center offline (Data Center Dynamics)
Why Texas’ power outages are plaguing California, and Ted Cruz is clamming up (The Mercury News)
Aftermath of Katrina: A Time of Environmental Racism
Inequality and Hurricane Harvey (The New Yorker)
Winter storm amplifies power grid inequalities for disadvantaged Texans (The Guardian)
Texas’ winter storm could make life worse for Black and Latino families hit hard by power outages (USA Today)
2020 California Wildfires (Wikipedia)
Note: Sources marked by ** are writings by the episode’s guests.
Further Reading
“If Not Now, When? Archivists Respond to Climate Change”**
Activists Against History Repeating Itself: Against Environmental Disaster** (developed for 2019 action)
Digital Collection-LLILAS Benson-PCN Collaboration
Digital Collection-LLILAS Benson-EEACONE Collaboration
Mutual Aid Groups in Texas to Support
Itza has provided contact information for mutual aid groups in Texas that listeners can support, and has shared the following statement:
“I would like to thank all the caring and resilient people in Texas doing the hard and important work of providing aid to each other during the ongoing COVID pandemic and the recent Texas snowstorm disaster. As we recognize the significance of moving away from charity and more towards solidarity, mutual aid work will be one of the many ways we support each other during these difficult times. I also want to recognize that Mutual Aid work is neither new nor unique. Our Indigenous, Black, and communities of color have done this work for a long time from the Puerto Rican Apoyo Mutuo seen during Hurricane Maria to the Breakfast programs of the Black Panther Party to the Islamic principle of Zakat and the more contemporary offering of Sadaqah. I honor these traditions and practices through my words and actions.”
Mutual Aid in North Texas: Dallas, Waco, and Denton
Mutual Aid in Gulf Coast of Texas
Mutual Aid in South Texas: San Antonio, Laredo, Rio Grande Valley
Behind the Mic
Nicole Kang Ferraiolo
Nicole Kang Ferraiolo is CLIR’s director of global strategic initiatives. She was previously a program officer for CLIR’s regranting and fellowship programs. Prior to that, Nicole worked at Columbia University where she oversaw several projects including an interdisciplinary research program on global governance that focused in turn on nuclear proliferation, pandemics, religious conflict, and climate change.
Itza Carbajal
Itza A. Carbajal is a PhD student at the University of Washington School of Information focusing her research on children and their records. Previously, she worked as the Latin American metadata librarian at LLILAS Benson after having received a Master of Science in Information Studies with a focus on archival management and digital records at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information. Before that, she obtained a dual-degree Bachelor of Arts in History and English with a concentration on creative writing and legal studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. More information: www.itzacarbajal.com