Black archives are so, so important. I love, explore and engage them in all the different ways they show up - but I was tired of not seeing Black trans people immortalised as just people. Any trust I had for others to correctly archive us is gone. I am happy to take on that responsibility with the Black Trans Archive archive and to help find a way for us as Black trans people to better remember each other.

Big tech platforms, like Twitter and Instagram, which we all use to document, archive and tell our stories are not Black or trans-owned. Their T&C’s and what they deem ‘sensitive’ changes all the time. We are willingly handing over so much of our history, and our work to organisations that, at any moment, can flip a switch and delete everything - and it’s gone.

Accounts attempting to archive us are often centred on the particular facets that cis people want to know about us. Conversations about bathrooms, genitals, trauma, and pronouns. Often they don’t create a space for the person to just be a person - for them to share experiences. We’re building a space that exists away from these platforms that centre Black trans people but doesn’t lend itself to ‘trans tourism’ or voyeuristic themes. We’re interested in the things we might need, and how we might provide that for each other - the beautiful things that make us, us.

The Black Trans Archive is not a ‘study’ of Black trans people.

I want to take up space on the internet and put some claim on it as a Black trans person. The Black Trans Archive is an alternative archive, built from the ground up by Black trans coders and developers to ensure any erasure doesn’t happen. I get to make sure the foundation of what is being built to archive Black trans people can fully support the stories we’re telling each other. There is nothing in the Black Trans Archive code that can, or will in the future be erased, be deemed ‘inappropriate’, or hidden within the algorithm.

The entire aim is to ask ourselves what we want to archive about ourselves. This sounds simple, but when we ask ourselves that question, the answer is rarely focused on our bodies, our obstacles, or our tragedies - these wonderful and very personal quirks, observations, perspectives, interests, and hobbies emerge. We’re so often told that nothing about us, beyond our Black trans bodies, is important, or interesting. This is amplified on platforms that show us, through algorithm-informed engagement, that content regarding our bodies, our Blackness, and the violence against us are our stories. The Black Trans Archive is about saying “no!”, some of the seemingly minute parts of us are the important parts to archive, to show, and make visible.

The Archive takes the form of a video game, as does much of my work. I really like the format as it means people have to interact, have to take notice, take action. I used to play a lot of video games but never saw a representation of a Black trans person, and I wanted to change that. The technology and digital tools now available to create a space for our voices to be heard on the internet, in the so-called ‘metaverse’, is something I’m also really keen to share with other Black trans people. For me, it’s been transformative. Serpentine in London are really forward-thinking in this area. I recently contributed to a report they put together called Future Art Ecosystems: Art x Metaverse around how the cultural sector needs to do more to support artists like me who work with advanced technologies and hosted and recorded a free workshop sharing some of the techniques I use in my practice, to help others learn skills that I hope will help them to amplify their own voice.

The Black Trans Archive continues to have open calls for participation, anyone who wants to be involved can - we pay all participants for their contribution. We value everyone's story and their time.

Danielle Brathwaite Shirley is an artist, animator and archive activist. If you would like to participate in the Black Trans Archive get in touch via her website www.daniellebrathwaiteshirley.com

Hear more from Danielle on Serpentine Podcast: Playtesting: Counter Archives (Apple/Google/Spotify) & watch her Skills for Future Art Ecosystems workshop on Serpentine YouTube channel HERE.

Danielle also contributed their most recent report 'Future Art Ecosystems: Art x Metaverse’, download HERE

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This piece was published as part of our ‘Call to Action’ Series. We’re always on the search for new content which speaks to our communities, if you’d like to contribute to UKBP Voices, please email voices@ukblackpride.org.uk.

VOICES - Why we as Black trans people must archive each other. By Danielle Brathwaite Shirley