Preserving The Present: Efforts To Archive Ongoing BLM Protests

BLM Protests Boston — People display placards during a protest against police brutality, Sunday, June 7, 2020, in Boston, triggered by the during a protest prompted by the death of George Floyd, who died May 25 after being restrained by police in Minneapolis.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

October 16, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

Historians call it ephemera: the ticket stubs and posters that often are just thrown away or put in scrapbooks. But there are times when the humble handmade sign becomes more than a personal memory — it becomes documentary evidence of a special moment in time. That’s why Smithsonian archivists started collecting the handmade posters and other materials especially created for the street protests following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Why is it important to collect this protest art? And what is its historic meaning?

Guests:

Aaron Bryant, museum curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

Steven Booth, archivist with the U.S. National Archives, and member of ‘The Blackivists’ a collective of trained Black archivists who prioritize Black cultural heritage preservation.

Alessandra Renzi, associate professor of communication studies at Concordia University, who spearheaded ‘The Art of the March’ initiative at Northeastern University - a digital archive of the 2017 Boston Women’s March.