Saida Largaespada, a graduate student in the Master of Library and Information Science program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), is a 2018 recipient of the Brenda S. Banks Travel Award given by the Society of American Archivists (SAA). The award recognizes individuals of color who are employed in archives and who manifest an interest in becoming active members of SAA.
The inaugural recipient of the award, Largaespada has demonstrated a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion in both her academic and professional pursuits. As a library assistant for the UCLA Digital Program, she shares selections from digitized historical collections through social media to highlight injustices involving race, class, and misogyny and uses language centering underrepresented peoples. Largaespada is also an archivist for the Los Angeles Contemporary Archive (LACA), where she helps marginalized artists to document and preserve their own materials and develops public critical discussions that question traditional archival values. With an interest in audio documentation and preservation, she would like to build a professional network within SAA and become active in its various component groups.
Largaespada wrote: “By becoming more active in the community and joining SAA’s larger groups, I hope to contribute to the understanding of liberatory archives and empowerment through community-centered practices.”