Rise Up Digital Feminist Archive

Leleti Tamu, member of the Black Women’s Collective, is surrounded by others at the Sophia Cook protest. There is a yellow banner in the background with an illustration of a police officer on it.

Leleti Tamu at the Sophia Cook protest, December 16, 1989, Rise Up Digital Feminist Archive, a community heritage organization nominated for the 2021 Heritage Toronto Awards. Image by Amy Gottlieb.

Established in 2016, Rise Up Digital Feminist Archive is dedicated to collecting and preserving the stories of feminist activism from 1970 – 1990s. By making these resources more accessible to the public through an online platform, and highlighting experiences from BIPOC, immigrant, disabled, and 2SLGBTQ+ communities, Rise Up is working to bring awareness to the feminist movement and the role of women at the forefront of community-led activism.

The Rise Up Digital Feminist Archive contains over 3000 original publications, documents, buttons, posters, photos, oral histories, and other items representing feminist activism from 1970 to the 1990s. This volunteer-led project hopes to inspire others to take action against oppression in their communities, including standing in solidarity with other movements including anti- racism, workplace and union equality, eliminating poverty, and anticolonial activism.