AfroCROWD User Group

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Introduction

Afro Free Culture Crowdsourcing Wikimedia (AfroCROWD) is an awareness initiative which seeks to increase the number of people of African descent who actively partake in the Wikimedia and free knowledge, culture and software movements.

Objectives

A main aim of AfroCROWD is to promote participation of people of African Descent in the Wikimedia community and increase content about people and events in Africa and the African Diaspora.

AfroCROWD editathon events take into account that many Afrodescendant groups in the United States might find that access to Wikipedia’s multilingual crowdsourcing platform can help them transfer free knowledge to populations of African descent outside of the United States that they are connected to through origin or direct familial bonds. Multilingual Afrodescendants may also want to use such platforms to develop and maintain online bodies of relevant knowledge in native languages such as Garifuna, Haitian Kreyòl, Igbo, Bozal Spanish, Twi or Yoruba, thereby contributing to the survival of -- and increasing their proficiency in -- those languages while also feeling more culturally grounded.

History

Since its launch during Black Wiki History Month in 2015, AfroCROWD has sensitized thousands in its new audience about free culture crowdsourcing and the need to close the multicultural and gender gaps in Wikipedia. AfroCROWD has also held monthly multilingual editathons in partnership with cultural institutions such as the Schomburg Center to Research in Black History and Culture, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the United Nations, The Swedish Mission to the United Nations, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) and Haiti Cultural Exchange. AfroCROWD has also trained future trainers in the target community. We have also participated in the Wikimedia Community, partnering with other Wikimedia organizations and affiliates. We have also participated at Wikimania since 2016, presenting and keynoting at Wikimania 2017 in Montreal and serving as a keynote at Wiki Conference North America in Montreal. AfroCROWD is also proud to have participated in Indaba, 2017 in Accra Ghana. We were also a part of the worldwide WikiGap teams helping to promote the contributions of women on Wikipedia. AfroCROWD is proud to have held at least one editathon or other Wikimedia event almost every month since it's inception in 2015. We have also expanded to the London and Los Angeles and look forward to more growth.

Activities

Coming soon in 2018

May: Harlem History edit-a-thon, New York, USA
June: Haitian Transtate-a-thon, New York, USA
July: Wikimania Panel, Cape Town, South Africa
August: Afro Record-a-thon, New York, USAかくはむはあまひはなあたはたはたはまたひつ
June-September: Oral History project, Several locations including New York, USA
October: Training the Trainers event, New York, USA

Contact information

Contact Tom@AfroCROWD.org or tslape@AfroCROWD.org

Interested in participating

Affiliations Committee resolutions

2018 November - Recognition of the AfroCROWD User Group