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THREAD: "Archaeology in the Time of #BlackLivesMatter 
" event, sponsored by @SbaArch, TAG North America, and the Columbia Center for Archaeology. Starting momentarily!
" event, sponsored by @SbaArch, TAG North America, and the Columbia Center for Archaeology. Starting momentarily!
Facilitators: Maria Franklin & Justin Dunnavant. Panelists: Alexandra Jones ( @AITC_DC), @AliciaOdewale, and Tsione Wolde-Michael. Chair: @aflewellen. (livetweets by @lauraheathstout)
There are more than 2600 people registered for this event!
Folks are saying hello in the Q&A box from all over North America and the UK.
There are 1400 participants at the moment and the list is still growing.
Now getting started! @aflewellen welcomes us, introduces herself, and thanking the cosponsors (Columbia Archaeology Center, Theoretical Archaeology Group of North America @StanfordTAG2020, and @SbaArch).
. @aflewellen: we are invited to recognize and honor the indigenous stewards of our lands, recognizing how anti-racist archaeology began with indigenous archaeologists, as well as the long history of Black archaeologists.
. @aflewellen: Anti-Black racism is currently hypervisible due to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others.
. @aflewellen Archaeologists (especially Black archaeologists) are leaving our disciplinary silos to work together for justice.
Dr. @aflewellen introduces moderators Dr. Maria Franklin ( @UTAustin) and Dr. Justin Dunnavant ( @VanderbiltU and soon @UCLA) and panelists Tsione Wolde-Michael ( @amhistorymuseum), Dr. @AliciaOdewale ( @utulsa), and Dr. Alexandra Jones ( @AITC_DC).
. @aflewellen invites us to use the zoom Q&A feature to ask questions and to promote each others' good questions.
Dr. Franklin asks first question: #blacklivesmatter has been ongoing, but what makes this moment different?
has been ongoing, but what makes this moment different?
Dr. Jones: We're fed up. After watching the life seep out of George Floyd for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, it's time to change.
Dr. Odewale: Even the term #blacklivesmatter has become less radical as more people jump on the bandwagon. It's hard to tell who's just giving lip service and who really believes in the movement.
has become less radical as more people jump on the bandwagon. It's hard to tell who's just giving lip service and who really believes in the movement.
Dr. Franklin: has been at this longer than most of the panelists, and it's depressing to still be having this conversation. There have never been so many solidarity statements! Are they even worth reading? Are we optimistic?
Ms. Wolde-Michael: The movement is getting stronger and more inclusive and coalitional. #covid is also an important circumstance: people are literally risking their lives to protest the "dual pandemics" of covid and systemic racism.
Wolde-Michael: "COVID made white people realize who does the service work they rely on." This moment feels ripe with possibility for systemic change.
Dr. Dunnavant: A lot of orgs that have been building up over the past decade, so this time we had an infrastructure, even the @SbaArch that has grown so much. Hypocritical statements from governments fan the flames!
Dr. Jones: "There's a light at the end of the tunnel. We can make change." But the same people are being asked to do the work: the grad students or the only Black faculty member are being tapped to write the statements, rather than a group commitment.
Dr. Jones: Organizations are putting out statements, with no real change or institutional commitment behind them. "We've been hearing lip service for years and we're no longer accepting it."
Dr. @aflewellen: I don't want "change," I want concrete action items. "If it feels easy, then you're not doing enough. Statements are easy." Don't get the wording right, and then relax: you haven't even started.
Dr. Franklin: Question 2: What does an antiracist #archaeology look like to you?
Dr. Jones has a list!
1. implicit bias: be self-reflexive. Don't ask "is it racist? y/n" ask "how much racism was involved?" What are your own stereotypes
1. implicit bias: be self-reflexive. Don't ask "is it racist? y/n" ask "how much racism was involved?" What are your own stereotypes
2. reduce opportunity segregation - predominantly white universities with opportunities for their own students will be predominantly white! Partner with an HBCU!
