Data for Black Lives Statement of Solidarity with Black Minnesotans
We at Data for Black Lives are enraged by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. We join other organizations in urging Hennepin County DA to charge the officers that murdered George Floyd immediately. We believe that is necessary to support demands to defund and abolish the police. But it cannot stop there. We have to recognize that murder at the hands of law enforcement is only one form of state sanctioned violence.
Policing is a byproduct of larger, more insidious, but often less visible systems. Police exist to protect white capital and to reinforce already existing economic and political conditions. We know that when we see aggressive policing practices — behind it are the most brutal forms of economic and social inequality.
We Will Be Counted: the 2020 Census
We Will Be Counted: the 2020 Census
There have been only 22 censuses in our nation's history. Every 10 years the data that is the result of nationwide count is used for redistricting, to allocate government funding and for research that impacts the social and economic lives of many. This is also the first census where operations wi...
Algorithmic Justice: Race, Bias, and Big Data
Algorithmic Justice: Race, Bias, and Big Data
Speakers will discuss algorithms, race, and justice–the problems and the possibilities.
What is Data for Black Lives?
What is Data for Black Lives?
Data for Black Lives is a movement of activists, organizers, and mathematicians committed to the mission of using data science to create concrete and measurable change in the lives of Black people. Since the advent of computing, big data and algorithms have penetrated virtually every aspect of ou...
Black People vs Robots: Reparations and Workers Rights in the Age of Automation
Black People vs Robots: Reparations and Workers Rights in the Age of Automation
In 2009, 13% of the US population were either self-employed or working as independent contractors, in 2016 this number had doubled. And from Silicon Valley to the US Supreme court, the rights of workers are under attack. At the same time, robots capable of driving cars, assembling goods, and cari...
Yeshimabeit Milner FAccT 2021 Keynote
Yeshimabeit Milner FAccT 2021 Keynote
In this keynote address at the FAcct 2021 Conference, Founder & Executive Director Yeshimabeit Milner calls on researchers to do more than push for fairness, accountability and transparency-- but to demand justice, power and self-determination in the fight to make data as a tool for social chang...
Data for Black Lives Statement in Solidarity with Palestine 🇵🇸
Data for Black Lives Statement in Solidarity with Palestine 🇵🇸
We at Data for Black Lives stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and demand an end to Israeli Apartheid.
Closing Panel: What is a Movement Scientist?
Closing Panel: What is a Movement Scientist?
Defeating Jim Crow required an army of lawyers and a national legal strategy. But new forms of racism and oppression demand new forms of activism and resistance. And scientists are answering the call. From academics and professional researchers to the everyday citizen scientists among us, people ...
Opening Remarks and Keynote Address
Opening Remarks and Keynote Address
Opening Remarks and Introduction of Keynote Speaker: Yeshimabeit Milner, D4BL Executive Director (10 min) Keynote Address: Meredith Broussard (45 min) Poetry: Joy Buolamwini (5 min)
CA Reparations Task Force
CA Reparations Task Force
The state of California is the first and only state to have created a state body dedicated to the study and proposal of reparations. On January 27 I gave expert testimony on discrimination in technology to the California Task Force to Study and Develop a Proposal for Reparations at the first meet...
D4BL I Thank You
D4BL I Thank You
D4BL Movement Roundtable | Abolition & Self Determination
D4BL Movement Roundtable | Abolition & Self Determination
We convened a roundtable of organizers, activists, and practitioners to discuss how we can organize, mobilize and coordinate in this moment and for the long haul. Together, we ask the questions - what does it mean for us to practice liberation in this moment? To demand and build the infrastructur...
Pain, Place, and Race
Pain, Place, and Race
In cities like Chicago and Baltimore, where you live determines the length and quality of your life. Life expectancies range from the mid-80s in more affluent neighborhoods to 60s in the poorest communities. From gun violence to opioid addiction to suicide to sexual violence, Black and Brown comm...
“The seas are rising but so are the people”: Data, Disaster & Collective Power
“The seas are rising but so are the people”: Data, Disaster & Collective Power
For many Black communities, a storm of policies and practices hit well before the first rains of Katrina, Harvey, Matthew or Florence. And everyday, these storms rage in plain sight. Climate change has magnified the devastating impact of displacement driven by unbearable housing costs. It has rev...
Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Education Justice and Mathematics
Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Education Justice and Mathematics
Almost 65 years after the US Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v Board of Education, public education in this country remains fundamentally separate and unequal. In general, white children from affluent backgrounds receive a world-class public education (OECD), while Black and brown children from lo...
D4BL II
D4BL II
This weekend we will turn a critical eye to the role that data and technology have played in Black communities. In panels, workshops, and over meals, we will chart out a bold new vision for the future, in which data is used in novel ways to build progressive movements and promote civic engagement...
24th Session of the OHCHR Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
24th Session of the OHCHR Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent public session Data for Racial Justice will be held in Geneva from 25-29 March 2019. This thematic session will involve specific focus on its mapping exercise and bring together experts to discuss the human rights situation of people of A...
Congressional Briefing on AI and Civil Rights
Congressional Briefing on AI and Civil Rights
Briefing on Artificial Intelligence and Civil Rights With Senator Cory Booker and Data for Black Lives & Leading Advocates
Oxford Union Debate: AI is an 'Existential Threat'
Oxford Union Debate: AI is an 'Existential Threat'
On October 19, 2023, our Founder & CEO debated Max Tegmark & Jaan Taalin of the Future of Humanity Institute and the authors of the Open Letter to Pause AI. The video of her speech will be live on the Oxford Union YouTube channel soon. We will be sharing it on this page once it is live.
Apartheid Is an Algorithm
Apartheid Is an Algorithm
On October 14, 2023, Founder & CEO Yeshimabeit Milner delivered the keynote speech Apartheid Is an Algorithm at the Milky Way Tech Summit held at Northwestern Mutual Financial in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
D4BL I
D4BL I
On November 17-19 2017 we brought together community members, organizers, academics, technologists, educators, artists, policy makers, and public servants for the inaugural Data for Black Lives conference at the MIT Media Lab.
D4BL III
D4BL III
November 18-20, 2024 at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami.
Data 4 Black Lives Catalog
Data 4 Black Lives Catalog
Catalog of datasets related underserved communities. An intermediate between community organizers and data scientists.
MJ Salon: Big Data for Big Organizing: Reducing Harm and Advancing Justice
MJ Salon: Big Data for Big Organizing: Reducing Harm and Advancing Justice
Data, noun. Things known or assumed as facts, making the basis of reasoning or calculation. Data, often presented as objective and unbiased governs much of the public policy that affects the lives of poor people and people of color. Join this important discussion featuring activists and organi...
D4BL Movement Roundtable | Abolition & Self Determination
D4BL Movement Roundtable | Abolition & Self Determination
We convened a roundtable of organizers, activists, and practitioners to discuss how we can organize, mobilize and coordinate in this moment and for the long haul. Together, we ask the questions - what does it mean for us to practice liberation in this moment? To demand and build the infrastructur...
D4BL II Welcome
D4BL II Welcome
Opening Remarks and Introduction of Keynote Speaker: Yeshimabeit Milner, D4BL Executive Director (10 min)
Closing Panel: What is a Movement Scientist?
Closing Panel: What is a Movement Scientist?
Defeating Jim Crow required an army of lawyers and a national legal strategy. But new forms of racism and oppression demand new forms of activism and resistance. And scientists are answering the call. From academics and professional researchers to the everyday citizen scientists among us, people ...
D4BL Movement Roundtable | Abolition & Self Determination
D4BL Movement Roundtable | Abolition & Self Determination
We convened a roundtable of organizers, activists, and practitioners to discuss how we can organize, mobilize and coordinate in this moment and for the long haul. Together, we ask the questions - what does it mean for us to practice liberation in this moment? To demand and build the infrastructur...
Pain, Place, and Race
Pain, Place, and Race
In cities like Chicago and Baltimore, where you live determines the length and quality of your life. Life expectancies range from the mid-80s in more affluent neighborhoods to 60s in the poorest communities. From gun violence to opioid addiction to suicide to sexual violence, Black and Brown comm...
Amazon is selling facial recognition software to the police - here's why it matters.
Amazon is selling facial recognition software to the police - here's why it matters.
In a country where we’re still trying to end the dangerous culture of racial profiling - from Starbucks to student lounges to public spaces - we won’t allow one of the biggest tech companies to use their immense resources to fuel the incarceration machine. Facial recognition software is most...
Data for Black Lives COVID-19 Movement Pulse Check and Roundtable Report
Data for Black Lives COVID-19 Movement Pulse Check and Roundtable Report
On April 15, 2020 the Data for Black Lives Movement held a roundtable to serve as a pulse check for our movement. Today we release the report of this historic event, a culmination of voices and expertise that provides a roadmap for how we must coordinate, organize and mobilize during this crisis ...
Closing Keynote and Farewell
Closing Keynote and Farewell
Keynote Address: Ronald Sullivan Farewell: Yeshimabeit Milner, Lucas Mason-Brown, and Max Clermont
Building Black Political Power in the Age of Big Data
Building Black Political Power in the Age of Big Data
In 2012, for the first time in American history, Black people had the highest rate of voter turnout of any racial or ethnic group. And advances in data and technology have created new opportunities to expand the political power of Black people and hold institutions accountable. SMS technology has...
The Impact of COVID-19 on Black Communities
The Impact of COVID-19 on Black Communities
In this critical moment, COVID-19 data is being collected, released, analyzed, interpreted, and used to inform recovery and response efforts. D4BL has worked to consolidate state level data to explore the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black people in the US. The D4BL COVID-19 Dataset cap...
24th Session of the OHCHR Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
24th Session of the OHCHR Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent public session Data for Racial Justice will be held in Geneva from 25-29 March 2019. This thematic session will involve specific focus on its mapping exercise and bring together experts to discuss the human rights situation of people of A...
Building in a Crisis
Building in a Crisis
From my desk, as the Founder of a movement that has found its purpose during the storm and its focus in the whirlwind, we are not celebrating the end of one crisis and the beginning of another manufactured one, but our resilience and persistence. And we are strapping in for the long haul.
Just Equations' Sixth Annual Conference
Just Equations' Sixth Annual Conference
In April 2024, Yeshi Milner delivered a powerful opening keynote at Just Equations’ sixth annual conference, titled The Mathematics of Opportunity: Closing the Divide.
D4BL I
D4BL I
On November 17-19 2017 we brought together community members, organizers, academics, technologists, educators, artists, policy makers, and public servants for the inaugural Data for Black Lives conference at the MIT Media Lab.