AfroCROWD (Afro Free Culture Crowdsourcing Wikimedia), is an initiative founded in 2015 by Alice Backer in New York City. Its mission is to increase awareness and participation of people of African descent in the Wikimedia and free knowledge, culture, and software movements. The organisation addresses the underrepresentation of Black history and culture on Wikipedia and other

Wikimedia projects The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...

by organising edit-a-thons, workshops, and partnerships with cultural and educational institutions.

Description

Some observers have noted a dearth in content pertaining to sub-Saharan African history on

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

. In 2015, Daniella Bien-Aime of '' The Haitian Times'' called AfroCrowd "a multilingual initiative to increase Afrodescendant participation in crowdsourcing initiatives such as Wikipedia". Described as a "do-it-yourself initiative", AfroCROWD hosts

edit-a-thon An edit-a-thon (sometimes written editathon) is an event where some editors of online communities such as Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap (also known as a " mapathon"), and LocalWiki edit and improve a specific topic or type of content. The events typ ...

s and talks across the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

. The group has partnered with the

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two Brooklyn Publ ...

and other organizations such as the Haiti Cultural Exchange and Haitian Creole Language Institute to host these events. AfroCROWD also seeks to increase the number of people of African descent who actively take part in the Wikimedia and

open knowledge Open knowledge (or free knowledge) is knowledge that is free to use, reuse, and redistribute without legal, social, or technological restriction. Open knowledge organizations and activists have proposed principles and methodologies related to the ...

movements.

History and Mission

Alice Backer, a Haitian-American attorney and digital activist launched AfroCROWD to after attending a Black Lunch Table (BLT) edit-a-thon. Inspired by the event’s emphasis on diversifying Wikipedia content, Backer aimed to create a platform that would empower Black communities to contribute to the digital knowledge space. AfroCROWD’s mission aligns with broader efforts to confront systemic bias in digital knowledge platforms and to promote inclusivity in information sharing. Daniella Bien-Aime included Backer in '' The Haitian Times''' 2015 list of 10 "Haitian social media influencers you should follow". In 2020, leading up to

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the End of slavery in the United States, ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's n ...

, AfroCrowd hosted efforts to improve Wikipedia articles related to

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

. The group has received funding from the

Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered there as foundation (United States law), a charitable foundation. It is the host of Wikipedia, th ...

Activities and Collaborations

AfroCROWD conducts regular edit-a-thons and training sessions, mainly in collaboration with libraries, museums, and academic institutions. These events are designed to teach participants how to edit Wikipedia. They try and encourage creation and improvement of articles related to African and

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from List of ethnic groups of Africa, people from Africa. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the native West Africa, West and Central Africans who were ...

histories and cultures. Notable collaborations include partnerships with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the

. AfroCROWD has also participated in international Wikimedia campaigns aimed at increasing the representation of marginalized communities. It has been involved in initiatives such as #VisibleWikiWomen and frequently collaborates with user groups like Art+Feminism, Whose Knowledge?, and the Black Lunch Table to advocate for greater diversity on the platform.

Impact and Significance

AfroCROWD has played a significant role in addressing the content and contributor gaps on Wikipedia. By focusing on the inclusion of Black voices and histories, the initiative challenges the

systemic bias Systemic bias is the inherent tendency of a process to support particular outcomes. The term generally refers to human systems such as institutions. Systemic bias is related to and overlaps conceptually with institutional bias and structural bi ...

es that have historically marginalised these narratives in digital spaces. Scholars have recognised AfroCROWD's contributions to diversifying Wikipedia's content and community, highlighting its role in fostering a more equitable

information ecosystem Information ecology is the application of ecology, ecological concepts for modeling the information society. It considers the dynamics and properties of the increasingly dense, complex and important digital informational environment. "Information ec ...

Recognition and Academic Engagement

The work of AfroCROWD has been acknowledged in

academic literature Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes Research, academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in academic journal articles, books or Thesis, theses. The part of academic written output that is n ...

as a model for community engagement and digital activism. Researchers have examined the organization's strategies for promoting inclusivity and have emphasized the importance of such initiatives in reshaping the digital knowledge landscape. AfroCROWD's efforts have been featured in discussions on the role of libraries and archives in supporting marginalised communities' participation in knowledge creation

References

External links

* * AfroCROWD Wikipedia Meetup page {{Authority control 2015 establishments in New York City African-American culture African-American history in New York City Organizations based in New York City Organizations established in 2015 Post–civil rights era in African-American history Wikimedia community projects