Latinx Diaspora Archives

@Latinx_Diaspora_Archives: Digital Archives a Wave of Digital Activism On the Rise

The Instagram account I created, @latinx_diaspora_archives, is an attempt to elevate communities of color, those specifically of the Latinx diaspora. While this is a huge task for anyone to undertake, many have succeeded. Other non-traditional archivists, such as @atx_barrio_archives, @veteranasyrucas, @fadedresistance @archivotrans and many more accounts are part of the archive as activism movement. It is also an attempt to question the institution of the archive: Who holds the majority of archives of black folks? Of queer folks? Of Latinx communities and other marginalized groups? Who has access to them? How are they displayed? Coming from a low-income background, an attempt to look at the archives posed difficulties, the resources and access were not there. @Latinx_Diaspora_Archives attempts to center communities of color as part of the "American" experience. It aims to center family photos of the Latinx Diaspora through the instagram account in order to combat erasure throughout the U.S. and the Americas. All of the Instagram accounts mentioned here challenge hegemonic and hierarchical systems that have been set up by institutions.

I have openly discussed that I myself am a non-traditional archivist. The ownership of each family photograph that I receive remains with the family and is returned to the owner(s), unless gifted to me. It is an attempt to give a voice to the narratives of the community. In Jose Esteban Munoz's "Ephemera as Evidence: Introductory Notes to Queer Acts," he points to who is left out of the archive in the traditional sense: queer, communities of color, and other marginal communities. The increase of Instagram accounts lets us into these ephemeral moments in these communities, through the eyes of those that experienced them. We have seen when holders of archives and photographers, who either photograph or distribute photographic archives, further push negative stereotypes about our communities. This project is an attempt to elevate our communities and show our realities, through our own experiences and through the radical archives we are a part of.