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By Grace O’Mara, Research and Encoding Specialist

On May 15th, 2023, the Women Writers Project hosted a virtual symposium on Antiracist Markup Practices. The event gave participants the opportunity to hear from a variety of digital projects that are working to develop antiracist editing and encoding practices, and to think through the potential and challenges of representing marginalized and racialized identities through markup. Additionally, the symposium investigated the implications of social justice frameworks for text encoding theory and practice. We started with a preliminary workshop on text encoding with XML and TEI. This was followed by an introductory framing of the symposium where we unpacked different approaches to encoding a sample text. We had two panels with two presentations each and we rounded out the day with an open discussion synthesizing challenges and strategies. More details are in the symposium schedule and in a document with resources shared by presenters and participants.

Thank you to all those who participated in this event and please feel free to comment with new resources or recommendations!  

Panel 1

The first speaker on panel one was Caitlin Pollock (University of Michigan) who presented: “Retrofitting TEI: Adapting and Building New Schemas and Practices for Black Digital Humanities.” Pollock has been working closely with Jessica H. Lu (University of Maryland, Georgetown University) to develop a new schema that is able to incorporate the theories and methods of Black DH. This talk discussed the importance of recognizing the need to adopt a Black feminist framework in both what is being produced and the labor practices of a project. The presentation delved into what it means to examine and utilize TEI through a perspective situated in BlackDH. Pollock explained their work is “an effort to reimagine the users and uses of TEI, to move toward discovery, access, research, and preservation that centers Black people, Black lives, and Black cultures, rather than relegates Black DH to the margins as an addendum to/variation on text encoding.” This talk also walked participants through the project’s values and guiding principles, which highlighted its commitment to creating a dialogue and centering Black voices.

“The Winnifred Eaton Archive” was the focus of our next talk, which was given by Mary Chapman (University of British Columbia), Sydney Lines (University of British Columbia), and Joey Takeda (Simon Fraser University). The Winnifred Eaton Archive is a text encoding project that hosts over 200 works by Winnifred Eaton. The speakers discussed how Eaton’s sometimes controversial interactions with race affect the way they encode her works. This presentation prompted a variety of questions on TEI customization and content warnings. The project team outlined several possible approaches to encoding and publishing racist or potentially harmful language from historical documents, thinking carefully through how different approaches will impact both the scope of possible work and the experiences of readers.

Panel 2

Clayton McCarl (University of North Florida) started the second panel with his talk: “Digital Editing for Undergraduate D*** and I***.” McCarl shared the perspective of Florida educators who are currently facing an assault on free speech—particularly on topics related to diversity and inclusion. This presentation touched on the projects Editing the Eartha M.M. White Collection, Viola Muse Digital Edition, North Florida Editorial Workshop, and coloniaLab. McCarl repeatedly highlighted the way he centers his students and asks them to direct the work through a “Student Leadership Model”—which will become increasingly important as the speech of educators is more restricted. Giving students agency in these projects allows them to feel invested in the work and grapple with complex questions like the ones we explored throughout the symposium.

In “Ticha: Exploring Antiracist Markup and Community Engaged Digital Scholarship,” Brook Danielle Lillehaugen (Haverford College) and Xóchitl M. Flores-Marcial (California State University, Northridge) detailed their work on Ticha. Ticha is a digital project that centers “knowledge repatriation and language reclamation” with a specific focus on Zapotec culture. The pair noted how important it was to receive direct input from the communities they are aiming to represent, one example being that users asked for a downloadable pdf option which the group was then able to implement. The presentation mentioned how Twitter has been a great tool in helping them connect to people interested in learning about the culture and their project; they specifically mentioned the hashtags #UsaTuVoz and #ZapotecoColonial.

Closing Discussion

We finished the day with an hour-long group discussion where participants and presenters were able to ask more questions about each other’s work. Some of the topics that emerged are outlined below, and we look forward to continuing these conversations! 

  • How do we create an encoding practice where the user is not assumed to be white? What practices can be developed within a project so that Black voices are served best? Antiracist work can be done at any level of a project and these questions should be considered.
  • It is important to keep track of instances where the encoding still needs to be better. Things can be changed later once a more solid practice is developed. Projects should also feel comfortable voicing when they are unsure about a practice. Other projects may have the answers and might be able to provide insight.
  • We need to be in conversation with the communities we are trying to serve. Ticha highlighted the importance of asking what people want to see and what would make their work more accessible. If your project is not specifically working with marginalized groups you should still ask either your peers or users how you can better serve them.
  • Acknowledging labor and devising a labor practice that incorporates antiracist and anticapitalist ideals helps the project better implement those concepts into their work.
  • We spent some time talking about the benefits and challenges of using <gap> or encoding slurs. What does it mean to include offensive language and what does it mean to take it away? We don’t want to force people to interact with material that may trigger them but we also don’t want to give the writer distance and make them appear innocent.
  • Trigger warnings were also something the group explored. While these are of benefit to modern users, The Winnifred Eaton Archive in particular detailed how these warnings may attract negative attention, and raised questions about how we can control how and why people are getting access to sensitive materials, and how to protect against possible misuse.

The WWP team is grateful to the presenters and participants for their generous contributions to this symposium. We also wish to thank the Northeastern University Humanities Center for making the symposium possible. Please contact us (wwp[at]northeastern[dot]edu) with questions, feedback, or suggestions. 

Slides and Project Links

See this resources document for additional links and readings

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