ABSTRACT
The ambient archive is not just data at our fingertips, it is an extension of our selves, and it exists outside of the established archival space. The news articles, blogs, social media, and other websites related to the Black Lives Matter movement are archived through some community-led and university-partnered archive initiatives with the broad purpose of preserving and making accessible these voices. Historical archives are increasingly being digitised and made publicly available without having to go into a physical archive. While the extent of the influence of this way of documenting is still unravelling, it tells us something of the power of the archive and of archival practice. The ambient archive caters largely to those with both physical and financial access to and knowledge of how to use the available platforms and technologies. Ultimately, the archives that are created and preserved through these platforms are largely archives of life and events of a certain cohort in the Global North.
