“For the master’s [DH] tools will never dismantle the master’s house”: An Alternative Primer for a Critical Black DH Praxis

Building on an earlier e-Black studies manifesto from the late aughts, this paper outlines a Black DH, that as a social movement and as a political project challenges without hesitation or apology a still white-dominated field of digital humanities – and is resolute concerning its commitment to racial justice. As Moya Bailey, Kim Gallon, and Jessica Marie Johnson have argued elsewhere, Black DH should be simultaneously experimental, analytical, computational, speculative, and have unique design capabilities as a series of practices and speculative exercises. This paper proposes guidelines or principles to assist this and makes clear that the process of scholarly inquiry with Black knowledge-making, and discovery takes precedent over final product. This praxis is possible if we promote collaborative co-creation models of teaching, research, and service for the humanities in an interdisciplinary framework that centers and helps prioritize Black women and queer voices and perspectives in Black DH work.