Melissa J. Nelson

Is an archivist, educator, and community connector based in Toronto, Canada. Her work centres Black being and belonging in the Archives to support collective healing and liberation movements.

She is guided by critical and creative praxis to reimagine the Archives as sites of Black joy.

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Services

Melissa offers tailored workshops, training, talks, and lectures that employ a critical and liberatory praxis. She provides engaging, thought-provoking discussions that explore archival practices and memory work.

  • For archives, libraries, universities, and more. Topics include Black archival practice, Reparative Description, Cultural Humility, and confronting Anti-Black racism.

  • Engaging and interactive sessions designed to introduce and deepen understanding of critical archival practices. Participants gain hands-on strategies, collaborative tools, and renewed perspectives on ethical memory work.

  • Melissa delivers thought-provoking presentations on topics ranging from cultural humility to the dynamics of power and race in archival settings. Each talk sparks meaningful dialogue and encourages audiences to embrace a liberatory praxis in their work.

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ARCHIVES & THINGS PODCAST

Archives & Things podcast brings to the forefront the experiences of Black people who create, work with, and care for archival materials across Turtle Island. As the Creator & Host, Melissa interviews members of her network who come from diverse backgrounds. What connects them is their interest in Black memory, archives, and history. These episodes amplify the significance of archival possibilities and liberatory work for creating alternative futures.

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BLACK MEMORY COLLECTIVE

The Black Memory Collective is a private community for Black archivists, memory workers, and researchers. We are a community-based collective that creates spaces for knowledge sharing, changemaking, collaboration, and community building. As Founder & Creative Director, Melissa leads the vision and objectives, coordinates events and projects, and performs strategic planning for growth and content management.

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Testimonials

  • “Since she entered the archival profession, Melissa has established herself as a credible and visionary leader in our field. Her podcast, ‘Archives & Things’ shows a way forward for members of the archival community in Canada who seek to engage responsibly in amplifying the achievements and experiences of the communities most harmed by white supremacy and representing their histories more equitably and accurately through archives and cultural memory work.”

    Jill, Archivist

  • “Melissa continues to lead in healing the archival landscape of historic anti-Black and anti-African harm across Turtle Island. I know all our ancestors are recovering with every trailblazing, Sankofa step she takes, small and big.”

    Datejie, Director

  • "Melissa is very inspiring in the way she approaches her work. She makes the Archives come alive. Melissa is a community builder, I have every belief that she will build new worlds to house her brilliance."

    Desmond, Librarian

  • “Melissa’s thinking on archives and the collaborative work she does is so vital to moving cultural institutions, not just Archives, forward. To say that I am inspired and humbled by her work would be an understatement.”

    Stacie, Outreach Specialist