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.

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Services

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

  • For archives, libraries, universities, and more. Services include analysis of policies and practices with a focus on Cultural Humility, Positionality & Power, and Confronting Anti-Black Racism.

  • Engaging and interactive workshops to activate archives for community engagement. Also offer staff training designed to introduce and deepen participants’ understandings of more ethical archival work.

  • Thought-provoking presentations and lectures to spark meaningful conversations, reframe our understanding of the past, and encourage audiences to embrace more collaborative, inclusive, and ethical approaches to 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 North America. 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 create spaces for knowledge sharing, changemaking, collaboration, and community building. We are part of a larger movement to reclaim Black memory and imagine Black futures. 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 is a community builder, I have every belief that she will build new worlds to house her brilliance."

    Desmond, Director

  • "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 Archivist