MEET THE TEAM
Siddisse
Co-founder
Siddisse (she/they) is a first generation Oromo Ethiopian-American creative researcher, visual designer, writer, and archivist born and raised in the D.C. metro area, currently based in Philadelphia. She is a graduate of the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at the University of Maryland, College Park with an emphasis in Black Queer Studies. Their work is focused on creating a vast web of interconnection between and within the stories of black people globally, and their multiple expressions of gender and sexuality through storytelling, artistic practice, and creative preservation methods. They love cooking, karaoke, live music, 2010’s tumblr nostalgia, their partner and chosen family, and communing with spirit. @siddisse
Zora
Co-founder
Zora (they/she) is a poet, filmmaker, researcher and archivist born and raised partially in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan. They were raised by lesbians during the early 2000’s, which gave them access to experience lesbian culture intimately, and is why in middle school they began documenting their life with family photographs. Throughout their life they’ve learned the joy of photography, filmmaking, poetry, and intertwining them with research and archiving. While they do have experience with facilitation and curating events for interpersonal dialogue, they find it’s best to educate themselves and others through creative passions. Spending time in nature, eating fruit off the trees, and reading poetry are their favorite activities. @infinityflowers95
ARCHIVE TEAM
Tosin
Archivist
Tosin (she/her) is a British - Nigerian Film Curator and Archivist working across BFI platforms, KyKy Archives and upcoming online cinema space FUBU Film Club. Drawing from her rich Nigerian (Yoruba) heritage, her work is rooted in traditions of documenting and preservation of familial archives. At present, her research centers Black independent cinema with a focus on queer and trans stories.
Her work experience and interests span across film programming, archiving as a communal / cultural practice, dance and a love for TV series Columbo.
ravon
Archivist
Ravon (she/they) is a queer country Black girl, with her people migrating up from Alabama and Louisiana in the deep South to Detroit and Chicago in the Midwest. she is a cyber anthropologist, artist, and facilitator who believes our foremost technologies are community, memory, and care. they spend a lot time thinking about Black geographies (our stories of migration, diaspora, and place) in relation to computing, archives, and nature with/on/for/at the internet. she is a lover of language, binging YouTube, and getting lost along the spiral on are.na. She is now based in New York, learning to play violin, practicing tarot, and queer world-building with her wife and loved ones. citation.studio
sena
archivist
Sena Amuzu (she/her) is a first generation Jamaican-Ghanaian American who grew up in southern New Jersey right over the bridge from Philly. Family photo albums and the basement hoardings of her mum and aunties were her first exposure to archiving, as their safekeeping granted access to childhood memories and familial histories. Moving freely between databases, archives, and museums; art anchors her writing, which creatively and critically engages questions of embodiment—form, shape, space, temporaries—concerning theorizations of visuality, perception, and affect.
She loves raspberries, collecting vinyl records, sharing a meal with loved ones, Black sci-fi, thrifting, meandering till her feet hurt on a sunny day, and when paperback book pages go soft.
Sena is currently pursuing a combined PhD in American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University. @smenaamuzu
Mckenzie
archivist
McKenzie Angelo Martinez (they/them) is a black queer integrative educator, archivist, artist, and curator from Brooklyn, NY. They were a public high school teacher for almost a decade and are currently teaching outside of the traditional classroom.
They create whimsical sacred educational spaces for people to have reflective conversations about healing and liberation with multisensorial installations and interactive prompts. MAM’s current work with The Rooted Zodiac, 360 Degrees of Queer Life: An Astrological Archive of QTBIPOC Stories, focuses on astrology as a framework for historiography. This archive is an extension of their business where they intuitively make herbal and aromatherapy products for each zodiac sun sign including artwork of the ancestors for each sign. Excerpts from this collection are currently being shared in the format of community lectures and workshops.
Outside of this work, McKenzie enjoys going on jaunts with their mother and binge watching sci-fi and magic themed tv shows.
jordan
archivist
Jordan Berkeley Brewington (she/they) is a public memory worker born and raised in Los Angeles. Jordan has a background in the public history of slavery, reparations theory and policy, and law. They are currently managing an oral history project and co-curating a digital archive honoring the lived experiences of abolitionist organizers in Los Angeles.
Hawelti ሓወልቲ
archivist
Hawelti (she/they/shikorina) is a first generation Ethiopian-American, and a proud city girl from Mekelle, Tigray. True to her Gemini sensibility, Hawelti enjoys gathering stories and information in the hopes of creating global intergenerational connections across time and space. They find immense pleasure in working alongside queer Black folk, femme Global South culture workers, and critical knowledge producers.
Currently as Sociology PhD candidate, she spends her time theorizing about Black transnationalism, Queer Horner immigrants, and African digital culture. As a self proclaimed nerd she enjoys managing research, data and curating public scholarship. To unwind Hawelti hangs out with their cat, Zora (Virgo), making pottery, writing poetry and communing with their friends and family. @queerhorner_ @hawelti_
