Mission/Ethics/Ethos

Kinfolkology recognizes that slavery’s injustices are compounded by an archive fragmented by intention and neglect. Kinfolkology seeks out the fullest representations of identity and tends to scattered pieces with patience and care. Kinfolkology scales the walls of digital silos and prizes narratives over snapshots. Kinfolkology finds meaning and community in record-linking, story-seeking, and family-finding.

Kinfolkology recognizes that without active intervention, data that represents violence and dehumanization can reify harm. Kinfolkology takes up the digital as a tools of memorialization, justice and redress. Kinfolkology prioritizes ethical data practices and keeps one eye fixed beyond the spreadsheet.

Kinfolkology honors the claims of kinfolk, past and present. Kinfolkology recognizes that the dead belong to the living: not as property, but as ones for whom love has been proclaimed.