The Connecting Communities Digital Initiative (CCDI) Advisory Board advises CCDI staff on program administration, supports initiative outreach activities, and helps the Library imagine ways that it can deepen connections with Black, Indigenous, Hispanic or Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and other communities of color. Its members include nine professionals ranging from senior scholars to leading librarians, archivists, and early-career professionals in Libraries, Archives, and Museums.
Samip Mallick is the co-founder and executive director of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA).
In this interview post, Samip shares how he created SAADA, highlights the significance of preserving and sharing South Asian American stories, and offers tips on researching your South Asian American family history.
You’re a member of our first Advisory Board for CCDI. What made you want to get involved in this effort?
It is an honor to serve on the inaugural advisory board for the Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. What made me want to serve is the recognition of how powerful it is to see your stories reflected in our country’s institutions. As one SAADA community member put it, to see yourself reflected is “to suddenly discover yourself existing.” My hope is that the work being done through the CCDI initiative will help more Americans feel that their stories, experiences, and perspectives matter.
As the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA), you’ve helped build the largest publicly accessible archive of South Asian American stories. How did your background in computer science enable you to create this repository?
We founded SAADA nearly fifteen years ago with the recognition that South Asian American stories were not being systematically collected and preserved by mainstream cultural heritage institutions. Through our work, SAADA has created a place of belonging for South Asian Americans. SAADA’s archive, our storytelling projects, artistic partnerships, walking tours, lesson plans, films, books, and everything we do, is, one step at a time, creating a future where South Asian Americans are recognized as an essential part of the American story. The digital medium provides a powerful channel for connecting with our community, particularly the more than 5.4 million South Asian Americans that live all across the U.S., in all fifty states and in cities, suburbs, and rural parts of the country.
My backgrounds in computer science, library science, non-profits, and education were essential when, in SAADA’s early days, I was our sole staff member. I was able to utilize my personal passions, interests, and experiences to help the organization grow. Now, with strong support from our community and investments from the Mellon Foundation, IMLS, and others, we are fortunate that SAADA is blossoming. We now have a full-time staff of five, a dedicated board of directors, and thousands of volunteers and supporters across the country.