February Lecture

Dr. Nkem Ike – University of Toronto

February 12, 2026 @ 7:30pm via zoom – Register Here

Title: Shifting the Narrative: An Archaeological Study of Black Placekeeping and Anti-Black Violence

Abstract: The early 20th century in the United States was a time of socio-cultural transformation and a period of unimaginable violence that orbited everyday life. Majority Black communities and enclaves were particularly susceptible to this violence, which impacted almost every region of the country. With a specific focus on three historic Black communities in Springfield, IL (1908), Tulsa, OK (1921), and Rosewood, FL (1923), this research contends with the contemporary impact of mass racial violence in the form of race massacres and racial terror lynchings. Data such as the archive material, archaeology, and memorialization are used to interrogate the structuring of anti-Blackness and the generational impact of racial violence on the altered landscape. As communities seek justice in increasingly turbulent times, this research asks, how do contemporary Black communities remember these historic events?

Bio: nkem ike is an Assistant Professor in African Diaspora Archaeology at the University of Toronto. Her current research on the archaeology of anti-Black violence centers on blackness, placemaking, and memory, and how contemporary Black communities contend with violence from the past. Most recently, she was a fellow at the Digital Archaeological Archives of Comparative Slavery. She participated in two archaeological projects in Tulsa, OK, associated with the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. The first being the mass graves investigation, and second, Mapping Historical Trauma in Tulsa 1921-2021 in the Historic Greenwood District. She received her PhD from the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, OK, in 2023.