Why do we work on Wikipedia, and what are some of the decolonizing practices we bring to the online encyclopedia?
“Adding Our Knowledge to Wikipedia” is Part 3 in the “Our Stories, Our Knowledges” Resource Series.
This resource shares why we have decided to create and share our knowledge on Wikipedia, and how we’re doing this work. Members of Native American communities of the Kumeyaay and Shoshone, Dalit feminist communities from India and the diaspora, LGBTIQA communities from Bosnia Herzegovina, and Whose Knowledge? allies have many different stories to share about our experiences editing the world’s largest online and free encyclopedia. Many of our experiences have been joyful but unfortunately many of them have also been traumatic. Dealing with Wikipedia’s rules of notability and reliable sources often mirrors and makes us relive the pain that systemic oppression has inflicted upon us and our communities in our everyday lives.
By sharing what we’ve learned from adding our knowledge to Wikipedia, we hope that other marginalized communities – including women, people of color, LGBTQIA communities, indigenous peoples and others from the global South – will use our experiences as a jumping-off point for your own explorations. Our goal is to encourage the next generation of knowledge-makers to continue the hard but necessary work of decolonizing knowledge on Wikipedia. We also aim to strengthen our existing network of Wikipedian allies, and educate and motivate new allies to support and join us in centering knowledge from the margins.
Learn more about this resource series by reading our post about Part 1: Decolonizing Our Stories and Knowledges and Part 2: Transformative Practice for Building Community Knowledges, and check back soon for Part 4: How to Ally and Be a Good Guest, with tips and suggestions specifically for allies
