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Seeking Radical Solidarity in Heritage Studies: Exploring the Intersection of Black Feminist Archaeologies and Geographies in Oak Bluffs, MA

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Abstract

This article discusses the development of a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project in the historic resort town of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts. It builds on critical theoretical agendas in community-based archaeologies by asking how Black feminist theory-informed CBPR could help archaeologists create meaningful, equitable, and theoretically grounded relationships with local communities. Through rigorous archaeological investigations, CBPR methodologies can empower communities to use the past to effect social change on their terms. By collaborating with communities to strengthen and expand existing heritage programs, archaeologists can share their skills, knowledges, and critical points of view while actively minimizing power imbalances and increasing accountability.

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Acknowledgments

I extend my deepest thanks to the many individuals and organizations I worked with and learned from this past summer. Thank you to Lee, Emily, the Polar Bears, Caroline, Carleen, Bowdoin, Elaine, Carrie, Skip, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, and many others. I appreciated you welcoming me into your spaces and sharing your history and your summer with me. I would also like to thank Dr. Stacey L. Camp, Dr. Gabe Sanchez, Dr. Camille Westmont, Dr. Elizabeth Clay, and Ashley Cerku for their patience and thoughtful comments on a very rough early draft of this article. I am honored to have been able to be a part of the Community Archaeology symposium with the other contributors and to have been invited to contribute to this special issue of the IHJA. The Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University supported my conference travel which made this article a reality. Lastly, I thank the Kenneth E. and Marie J. Corey Research Enrichment Fund and the School of Social Science at Michigan State University who funded this research. I assume responsibility for all shortcomings or misrepresentations in this article.

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Burnett, J.J. Seeking Radical Solidarity in Heritage Studies: Exploring the Intersection of Black Feminist Archaeologies and Geographies in Oak Bluffs, MA. Int J Histor Archaeol 26, 53–78 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00601-y

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