Statement from Digital Commonwealth Board

on Black Lives Matter

June 16, 2020

The Digital Commonwealth Board of Directors condemns racial oppression and police violence. As a nonprofit membership-based organization of over 200 cultural institutions, our materials collectively witness documented histories of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The study of history can be an effective tool against racism and can support better understanding of the experience of Black people. However, archives are not neutral; they are created by people and reflect the power structures that those people are influenced by and participate in. We must choose what our non-neutrality means.

In this moment, we specifically affirm that Black lives matter and that we support efforts to dismantle oppression and injustice. In the coming year we will:

• Collaborate with our Council of Members to create actionable, measurable, and sustainable plans to make explicit and tangible our commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion of marginalized communities and identities.
• Expand our outreach to organizations and communities that document and collect materials about the experiences of people of color.
• Increase our efforts to highlight existing collections related to racial oppression and resistance.
• Provide updates on the progress of this work at least quarterly.

Digital Commonwealth’s Board of Directors is aligned with recent statements from our partners, which include links to additional resources:

• Boston Public Library: Reflections on this week.
• Digital Public Library of America: A Statement from the DPLA Board of Directors | DPLA.

Digital Commonwealth Board of Directors:

Danielle Sangalang, President

Justin Snow, Vice President

Tegan Kehoe, Treasurer

Hans Bergmann

Kate Boylan

Eben English

Tiffeni Fontno

Jodi Goodman

Rachel Jirka

Evan Knight

Sonia Pacheco

Anton Smith