From Archives to Artificial Intelligence, from Movement-building to Memory-work

This discussion featuring noted librarian, archivist, and historical landmark registrar Makiba J. Foster, Steven F. Fullwood, and Jada Jones, respectively, seeks to center, decode, and encode the “Black Information Future,” which moderator, Tracie D. Hall, has defined as the ability of Black people to gain equitable analog and digital access to the information and information technologies needed to achieve and sustain social agency, authorship, educational attainment, economic mobility, environmental responsiveness and stewardship, and collective well-being.

This panel will examine the archival, narrative, and site-based work that each panelist is undertaking to preserve and expand access to critical histories before they are forgotten, rewritten, or erased. It also serves as a prelude and placeholder for the Black Information Futures Symposium to be held February 21-23, 2026, at the University of Washington Information School in Seattle for those working or interested in Black librarianship and archival work; social history, cultural heritage institution management; community informatics; information policy; and memory studies.