The Black Water Memory Project

What is your earliest memory of water?
What did your family tell you about the ocean?

For four hundred years, Black people have had a complicated relationship with water. This project collects the stories — fear, ease, family memory, first times, warnings passed down through generations. Your story is evidence. Your story is history. Your story matters.

The interview takes about ten minutes. It asks one question at a time and adapts to your answers — no question you can't skip, no wrong answer, no minimum length.

Share Your Story See the Questions
The Archive

Three questions.
Your answers, in your own words.

There are no right answers. There is no minimum length. A single sentence is enough. A page is welcome. What we are collecting is the lived record that the science has not yet gathered.

Share Your Story
Begin the Interview

One question at a time.
Your words, your pace.

The archive interview takes about ten minutes. It adapts to your answers — if you didn't grow up near water, it won't ask you about swimming lessons. If you prefer not to answer something, you can skip it. Nothing is required except honesty.

Most people answer 12–16 questions. Some answer more. Some answer four and that's enough.

Start Sharing Your Story
Or email your story directly to blackwatermemory@gmail.com  ·  Tag @blackwatermemory

Other ways to share

Use whatever feels most natural. Every format is welcome in the archive.

Google Form

Complete the same questions through Google — responses go directly to a private spreadsheet.

Open Google Form →

Email

Write as much or as little as you want. No format required. Just your story, in your own words.

blackwatermemory@gmail.com →

Social Media

Share your memory publicly or privately using the tag below. Stories will be added to the archive.

@blackwatermemory →

Zoom Conversation

Prefer to talk rather than write? Schedule a one-on-one conversation. Your story will be recorded with your permission and added to the archive.

Book a time →