5/1/2020 I was saving up for a car to take down to college my second year. It was so exciting to open a savings account and see the number grow over the months. After hours of budget videos and used car research, I formed a budget success plan to take me to my goal. So when I finally hit my first milestone of $1,000, it felt like I was finally getting somewhere, and it was one of the few times I felt proud of myself. But after I lost my job and returned home, I couldn't even look at the success plan that used to instill so much motivation in me. I watched my single mother tear her hair out over the bills as she struggled to support a family of 6 during this time. It was heartbreaking. And one day, she called me to the kitchen as she sat with papers scattered around her, and she told me she couldn't afford to cover the month's expenses. She asked if she could borrow money. I transferred my entire savings to her. Months and hours of work. A few days later, I got a notification from my bank. It was an account fee. I did not have a sufficient minimum daily balance in my savings account.https://www.instagram.com/p/CDcD1c1FNNh/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDPqFcllKxx/

5/5/20 The pandemic has separated me and family. Going home was a risky option and did not want my family to be at risk. I decided to actually stay on-campus since resources are still available. It is hard being away from my family as we are starting to get close again. I come from a low income household and never had the much support from my mother as I am a bisexual person of color. She wanted me to fit in at college and because of that, we’ve had issues; however, this Spring Quarter I have gotten close to her and seeing how this pandemic is affecting my family is pretty saddening. My dad has been risking his life so that he can work and help me pay for my tuition, dining, and housing here at Cal Poly. I am unable to work as jobs have been capped. It is a little frustrating since many resources like the health center and counseling services are harder to attain. Despite that, thanks to SLO’s environment, I have found myself taking more frequent walks and life here is pretty peaceful even though there are barely any people left. Not how I imagined my first year to go but there’s always next year to join groups. :)

Catherine Trujillo co-creates with people at Robert E. Kennedy Library, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. She works within the Creative Works department which supports nontraditional approaches to scholarship with a commitment to amplify underrepresented topics and voices. She does this work with collaborators and colleagues to name, question and intervene in racism within the arts, academia, and communities. Her lived experiences and background in community engagement have shaped her academic career within museums, archives, and libraries growing her expertise in the stewardship of cultural histories, storytelling, publishing and design. 

For the projects, it is her hope that communities are able to gather stories and co-develop tools, knowledge, and resources that can be accessed without barriers and into the future.

As a person of color and as a scholar of color on the Central Coast I know that it has been easy to forget how critical immigrant, people of color, and Indigenous lives have been to the making of this region. I’ve been involved with oral history and digital archiving projects to help document and share the stories of our diverse communities on the Central Coast (check out reco.calpoly.edu). As a researcher and teacher, my approach is to know that I have more to learn from others than they can learn from me. A great example is how the young cultural workers on this project have been teaching me how to use Instagram for outreach and how digital tools like this are changing how we think about archiving, curation, and storytelling! And as I’m hearing more of our communities’ stories, I’m learning that we need to listen more because we still have so much to learn.

jaime ding works in Creative Works at the Robert E. Kennedy Library, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Before Kennedy Library, jaime worked with trash for years, beginning in history and visual arts disciplines, learning from questions about cleanliness, beauty and value within things and on streets, and answers from Black feminist scholars. She loves snacks, trash, and accessible resources.  

This project is a chance for institutional systems of archiving to shift in decentering whiteness. 

Laura Sorvetti is the Reference and Instruction Specialist at Kennedy Library’s Special Collections and Archives. She assists students, faculty, staff, and the research community to access and use primary sources in their research. 

Satsriakal! My name is Manmit Singh Chahal (he/him/his) and I am one of the folxs working on the Dream Journals project focused on sharing spaces of dreams, hopes, heartbreaks, reflections, etc. I am so excited for this project because there are a lot of heartbreaks that I am working through right now, some from the institutions, others from my own families. I have gotten to writing a lot of poetry with this heart, one of which I will share with you for those who need this and can feel in community through this. In this moment, I have been holding desperately to conversations about hope, healing, dreams to keep moving towards a better world where we can all flourish, collectively.

“I hold myself gently amidst this chaos. I hold on tightly for what is to come.” 

                                                               - @decolonialbulaklak on IG

For me, this project is the radical documentation and preservation of marginalized voices during the hxstorical moments we’re facing today. These significant experiences that, in the past, were intentionally excluded, are brought to the center. They capture intersections, intricacies, and feelings that provide individual insight as well as broader context to complicate and restore the future hxstorical narrative. This project is super exciting for me because it’s my first real experience with oral hxstories! 

My name is Victoria Siaumau, my pronouns are she/her/hers and I am a fourth year Child Development and Comparative Ethnic Studies double major. I'm a first generation student and am pursuing a career in child psychology. My goal is to serve underserved communities that don't have access to mental health services and help break the systemic barriers currently in place. 

 I am very passionate and proud to be a part of this project. Being able to archive and highlight stories that are often not listened to or even told is a huge honor. This project is very fulfilling as I continue to learn about the stories of others and how their experiences are being contextualized in this moment.