Summary:

In this episode, I welcome Shane Laptiste and Tura Cousins Wilson, leading architects of Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA). Shane and Tura joined us to speak about Black geographies and Black built environments as sites of remembrance.

Episode Resources:

Studio of Contemporary Architecture (SOCA). https://socadesign.ca/

(Eds.) Katherine McKittrick and Clyde Woods. (2007). Black Geographies and the Politics of Place. https://btlbooks.com/book/black-geographies-and-the-politics-of-place

Tura Cousins Wilson and Shane Laptiste. (2025). “Conjay's First Walk Home.” In, Messy Cities: Why We Can't Plan Everything. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/messy-cities-zahra-ebrahim/1146454519

Amanda Nkeramihigo (June 27, 2025). Afrofuturism and Postapocalyptic Subjectivity. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09593543251347548

Michael McMillan. (2024). AGO. The Front Room: Diaspora Migrant Aesthetics in the Home. https://ago.ca/events/michael-mcmillan-front-room

Azure Magazine. (October 26, 2023). Design/Community: The Collaborative Future of Canadian Architecture. https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/design-community-the-collaborative-future-of-canadian-architecture/

Stay Connected:

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon.

To learn more about my work, visit my blog at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and ⁠Instagram⁠ or contact me at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

Summary:

In this episode, I welcome Audra A. Diptee, an Associate Professor of History at Carleton University. Audra joined us to speak about her research on the weaponization of colonial archives to rewrite history.

Episode Resources:

Audra A. Diptee. https://www.audradiptee.com/

Audra A. Diptée. (Apr 27, 2023). The records the British Empire didn't want you to see. YouTube. https://youtu.be/oPGVGckn7kQ?si=CnHTyoE6T6WH6DOG

Alex Williams. (2016). The Pass System. http://thepasssystem.ca/

Michel-Rolph Trouillot. (1995). Silencing the Past. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/246609/silencing-the-past-by-michel-rolph-trouillot/

Donald J. Trump. Executive Order. Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. (March 27, 2025). https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/restoring-truth-and-sanity-to-american-history/

Stay Connected:

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon.

To learn more about my work, visit my blog at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ or Instagram⁠ contact me at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.

Summary:

In this episode, I welcome Gabrielle Miller, a Program Specialist and Archaeologist for the Center for the Study of Global Slavery at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Gabrielle joined us to speak about the Slave Wrecks Project, which searches for slave ships and tends to watery graveyards.

Episode Resources:

Omnia Saed (August 26, 2024). For Black Archaeologists, the Atlantic Ocean is an Ancestral Graveyard. https://atmos.earth/for-black-archaeologists-the-atlantic-ocean-is-an-ancestral-graveyard/

Slave Wrecks Project. Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. http://slavewrecksproject.org

In Slavery’s Wake. Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.https://www.searchablemuseum.com/in-slaverys-wake/

Christina Sharpe. (November 2016). In the Wake: On Blackness and Being. https://www.dukeupress.edu/in-the-wake

Stay Connected:

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast you can follow, rate, and share it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon.

To learn more about my work, visit my blog at ⁠https://melissajnelson.com⁠. You can connect with me on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and Instagram⁠ or contact me at melissa.j.nelson@outlook.com.