Kinfolkology x Community: New Orleans
Information for Sponsors & Hosts
Kinfolkology 101
ORIGINS
In April of 2023, Eola Lewis Dance and Dr. Jennie K. Williams, Ph.D. co-founded Kinfolkology with a vision for integrating datawork related to slavery and the lives of the enslaved with the engagement of Descendant communities.
DEFINING “DESCENDANT”
Kinfolkology understands “Descendant” to refer, for the purposes of this project, to individuals with ancestors whose names appear in Kinfolkology’s databases, Oceans of Kinfolk and Louisiana Kindred, as well as individuals who feel connected to enslaved ancestors through memory and/or kinship, whether or not they have found those ancestors’ names on historical documents or in databases produced from historical records. (This definition is adapted from the Montpelier Descendants’ Committee’s guide to Descendant engagement, also known as “the Rubric.”)
STRUCTURAL PARITY
Kinfolkology is guided by an understanding that while enslaved ancestors are no longer living, they were and are part of communities and families that are very much alive. For this reason, Kinfolkology is committed to building structural parity with Descendant communities. When structural parity is in place, Descendants are represented—and empowered—at every level of an organization.
DATA
Kinfolkology is home to two databases containing information about enslaved ancestors, Oceans of Kinfolk and Louisiana Kindred. Oceans of Kinfolk is a database of the coastwise traffic of enslaved people in the antebellum United States. Oceans of Kinfolk currently includes the names of more than 63,000 enslaved men, women and children trafficked to New Orleans from domestic ports between 1818 and 1860. Oceans of Kinfolk was constructed by Kinfolkology Co-Founder, Jennie K. Williams, Ph.D. Louisiana Kindred is a developing Kinfolkology database and digital archive of enslaved people who were sold in New Orleans, the largest market for the buying and selling of human beings in antebellum America.
Kinfolkology x Community Workshop Objectives
In essence of Kinfolkology’s commitment to structural parity, Kinfolkology x Community workshops are devoted to collaboration and co-visioning with Descendant communities. We have three goals for each gathering. First, we want to get to know our workshop attendees! Second, we’d like to introduce ourselves and share what we do and why we do it. Then, we’ll talk: about data stewardship, genealogy, ancestral memory, reparations, and much more.
We will also give a behind-the-scenes introduction to Kinfolkology’s two databases (see above).hosted by Kinfolkology.
Why New Orleans?
Kinfolkology is the home of the Oceans of Kinfolk database. Built by Kinfolkology Co-Founder Jennie K. Williams, Oceans of Kinfolk contains the names of more than 63,000 enslaved men, women, and children who were trafficked to New Orleans in the maritime antebellum domestic traffic of enslaved persons (also known as the coastwise trade) in the forty years before the Civil War.
Requirements for Kinfolkology x Community Workshop Host Venues
VIBE - Kinfolkology seeks to host workshops in spaces that are welcoming, safe, and joyful environments for Descendants of enslaved ancestors to convene.
TIME - Kinfolkokogy x Community workshops typically last three hours. In addition, we appreciate having access to the space for an hour before and after each workshop for setting up and cleaning up.
CAPACITY - Kinfolkology x Community workshops are capped at 50 attendees.
SEATING FLEXIBILITY - Because Kinfolkology x Community workshops include breakout group conversations in which there are six breakout groups, it is helpful for spaces to have movable chairs and tables so that we can form six groups of six-to-eight people per group.
FOOD - Kinfolkology prefers to be able to serve a light meal or snacks to attendees since our workshops last three hours. It is not required that the venue be able to cater; we are happy to work with outside caterers.