Black Time: (Re)Mapping and Memory

Abstract

History is a composition of events comprised of memories as a way to make decipherable the past; however, dominant (white) notions of time seek to make history (which exists in and out of time) linear. Many black creators push against this notion. Memoir is a genre that allows us to uncover new truths about ourselves, the past, the world, and more through the organization and examination of memories and archives. Black writers, artists, and thinkers such as Christina Sharpe, Dionne Brand, and Titus Kaphar, among others, have created work that consciously engages with existing archives, as well as creating new ones. Their works (re)think, (re)image, and (re)map our histories in ways that acknowledge the aftermath of slavery while offering new stories, insights, and resolutions that seek to move toward Black liberation.