How do you make black history accessible?

The Black Archives was founded by the New Urban Collective, an Amsterdam-based platform dedicated to empowering young people of colour, in order to make black history accessible. The representation of black history is often lacking in the Netherlands: it is absent from schoolbooks and museums and encounters with black literatures are often small-scale or not available to the public.

The collection includes books, archives, and artefacts about racism, slavery, (de)colonization, black emancipation and feminism, among other topics, and was inherited from black writers and scientists. These sources are available to study at Vereniging Ons Suriname, the oldest migrant organization in the Netherlands. The organization hosts monthly events about themes from the archive, such as inspiring debates, lectures, and political roundtables. 

The Black Archives allows people to get together to discover and study black history, and to realize how relevant this knowledge is to this day. By showcasing long-hidden black (and other) perspectives, The Black Archives is changing the one-dimensional perspective on a history that is shared by black and white people alike.

The Black Archives was founded by initiators Jessica de Abreu, Mitchell Esajas, Miguel Heilbron and Thiemo Heilbron. Questions or advice? Get in touch with [contact person].

Would you like to support the expansion of The Black Archives? Donate here!