GDAH Ep72 - Save the Field Museum & Organizing Heritage Workers

It’s been a few weeks since our last new episode, so we wanted to start this one off with a very important message:

All of us at Go Dig a Hole are committed to antiracism and supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. We also condemn the long history of acts of police brutality against communities of color in the United States.

We hope our listeners also join us in remaining committed to doing more, and doing better.

This statement alone doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of building power for an antiracist movement, but we hope it can serve as the start to more meaningful dialogues of racial disparities in archaeology and our broader society.

For info about the work black archaeologists are doing, check out the Society for Black Archaeologists - a link to the organization’s page is below these notes.

You can also check out the Black and Highly Dangerous Podcast, The Arch and Anth podcast, and episode 17 of the Go Dig a Hole podcast - for highlighting the work of black archaeologists. Once again, links to all those episodes are linked below.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created interrelated crises in public health and economic stress that has rippled through virtually every aspect of our lives. Decades of austerity cuts and political pressure against funding for humanities programs have left many heritage workers in precarious positions.

Chicago’s Field Museum has a staff of under 500 workers who have felt this pressure and, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, management and workers struggled to find a solution that was equitable for the staff moving forward.

Links
Society for Black Archaeologists: https://www.societyofblackarchaeologists.com/

Black and Highly Dangerous Podcast (episode 114): https://www.blackandhighlydangerous.com/single-post/2020/03/22/Episode-114-Black-Archaeology

Arch and Anth Podcast (episode 110): https://archandanth.com/episode-110-interview-with-justin-dunnavant/

Go Dig a Hole (episode 17 - society for black archaeologists): https://soundcloud.com/godigahole/ep17

Follow Jackie Pozza on Twitter @museonerd42 https://twitter.com/MuseoNerd42

Email the Field Museum workers: [email protected]

Save the Field Museum - Action Network Petition for Field Museum Workers: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/save-the-field-museum

Field Museum paid internship for Native American students: https://www.fieldmuseum.org/about/careers/internships

DSA Organizing Committees: https://www.dsausa.org/committees/

Support Go Dig a Hole on Patreon: www.patreon.com/godigahole

Like Go Dig a Hole on Facebook: www.facebook.com/godigahole

Steve Johnson, “Field Museum workers petition management to try to fend off COVID-19-related layoffs”. Chicago Tribune. June 10, 2020: https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-ent-field-museum-workers-layoffs-petition-coronavirus-0611-20200610-spstclsn2rf65nnmxzbrehgyme-story.html