D4BL I

Opening Remarks and Keynote Address

Conference​ ​Welcome:​ ​​Rafael​ ​Reif,​ ​President​ ​of​ ​MIT​ ​(5​ ​min) Opening​ ​Remarks​ ​and​ ​Introduction​ ​of​ ​Keynote​ ​Speaker:​​ ​​Yeshimabeit​ ​Milner, D4BL​ ​Executive​ ​Director​ ​(20​ ​min) Keynote​ ​Address:​​ ​​Ruha​ ​Benjamin​​ ​​(45​ ​min)

D4BL I Thank You

Code Black: Closing the Health Equity Gap

The distribution of health and disease is not random. Health disparities between Blacks and whites run deep, no matter the age or ailment. Here are the facts: Blacks have a higher mortality rate than any other racial or ethnic group for eight of the top 10 causes of death. African-American adults...

Opening Panel: Data for Black Lives

Since the advent of computing, big data and algorithms have penetrated virtually every aspect of our social and economic lives. New data systems have tremendous potential to empower communities of color. Tools like statistical modeling, data visualization, and crowd-sourcing, in the right hands, ...

Where are the Black scientists?

Black and brown people are vastly underrepresented in science, tech, and engineering. Although Black people report desiring to major in STEM at the same rate as their white counterparts, they are less than half as likely to end up in STEM-related jobs (US Census Bureau). And in a world that is in...

Black Work, Black Wealth, Black Futures

New innovations in technology are radically changing our economy. Self-driving cars are poised to transform the trucking industry, putting over eight million people at risk of losing their jobs. Exciting advances in 3D printing and digital fabrication will create new possibilities for manufacturi...

Automating (In)justice: Policing and Sentencing in the Algorithm Age

The U.S. incarcerates more people than any country in the world, and Black communities are disproportionately impacted by this mass incarceration. The disparities are staggering: although the majority of illegal drug users and dealers are white, three quarters of those imprisoned for these crimes...

The Revolution Will be Digitized: Music, Technology, and Black Cultural Production

Black artists have shaped the history of American music and continue to do so every day. Virtually every form of popular music around the world has roots in the powerful African-American musical traditions of Jazz, Blues, R&B, Rock and Roll and Hip Hop. But these same artists have historically be...

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...

Closing Keynote and Farewell

Keynote​ ​Address:​ ​​Ronald​ ​Sullivan Farewell:​ ​​Yeshimabeit​ ​Milner,​ ​Lucas​ ​Mason-Brown,​ ​and​ ​Max​ ​Clermont

No More Data Weapons

Data for Black Lives is launching #NoMoreDataWeapons. No more investing in Data Weapons, No more building new Data Weapons, No more disguising Data Weapons as legitimate and neutral.

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...

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.

Abolish Big Data

Abolition means the creation of something new - the history of big data and a prophecy for big data abolition.

Opening Remarks and Keynote Address

Conference​ ​Welcome:​ ​​Rafael​ ​Reif,​ ​President​ ​of​ ​MIT​ ​(5​ ​min) Opening​ ​Remarks​ ​and​ ​Introduction​ ​of​ ​Keynote​ ​Speaker:​​ ​​Yeshimabeit​ ​Milner, D4BL​ ​Executive​ ​Director​ ​(20​ ​min) Keynote​ ​Address:​​ ​​Ruha​ ​Benjamin​​ ​​(45​ ​min)

Automating (In)justice: Policing and Sentencing in the Algorithm Age

The U.S. incarcerates more people than any country in the world, and Black communities are disproportionately impacted by this mass incarceration. The disparities are staggering: although the majority of illegal drug users and dealers are white, three quarters of those imprisoned for these crimes...

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...

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...

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 ...

What's up with FACIAL RECOGNITION? | Crash Course: Data for Black Lives | Episode 2, Season 1

What's up with facial recognition? Facial recognition technology has become well integrated into so many parts of our lives. We unlock our phones with our face, Facebook can automatically recognize our friends' faces, and (most concerning) law enforcement can easily recognize our faces in picture...

What is PREDICTIVE POLICING? | Crash Course: Data for Black Lives | Episode 4, Season 1

What is predictive policing? Well, if you've seen the movie Minority Report, you already have a bit of an idea. Predictive policing involves using algorithms to analyze massive amounts of information in order to predict and help prevent potential future crimes. In this episode of the Crash Course...

Introducing #NoMoreDataWeapons | Crash Course: Data for Black Lives | Episode 1, Season 2

Data for Black Lives is launching #NoMoreDataWeapons. No more investing in data weapons, no more building new data weapons, no more disguising data weapons as legitimate and neutral.

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...

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...

We are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For: Organizing for Algorithmic Accountability

As algorithms and automated decisions continue to impact every aspect of our lives, in Black communities nationwide these decision-making systems animate already existing structures of oppression and inequality. From risk assessments to school enrollment algorithms to child predictive analytics a...

Abolition in the Age of Big Data

Fingerprints, facial recognition, background checks, gang databases, FBI lists, social media surveillance, credit scores: data has always been central to the expansion of the prison industrial complex, the immigration enforcement industry, and the financialization of our economy. Abolition is...

D4BL II Welcome

Opening​ ​Remarks​ ​and​ ​Introduction​ ​of​ ​Keynote​ ​Speaker:​​ ​​Yeshimabeit​ ​Milner, D4BL​ ​Executive​ ​Director​ ​(10​ ​min)

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...

AI Now Institute: Confronting Black Boxes: A Shadow Report of the New York City Automated Decision System Task Force

In 2017, New York City became the first US jurisdiction to create a task force to come up with recommendations for government use of Automated decision systems (ADS). This report is a community powered shadow report that provides a comprehensive record of what happened during the Task Force’s rev...

Ohio State Technology Law Journal Symposium

On Friday, March 22, Yeshimabeit Milner will speak at the Ohio State Technology Law Journal Symposium. Her remarks will expand upon the Data for Black Lives #NoMoreDataWeapons campaign, calling attention to harmful applications of AI in the criminal justice system. Please join us in person or via...

Data Activism + Decompress

This keynote was delivered by our founder and CEO, Yeshimabeit Milner on Data Activism at The Malcom X and Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial + Education Center on February 23, 2024 at 5 PM. The event was hosted in partnership with the Barnard Department of Computer Science and Barnard Library. London-...

Yeshimabeit Milner | Data Activism at The Malcom X and Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial + Education Center

This keynote was delivered by our founder and CEO, Yeshimabeit Milner on Data Activism at The Malcom X and Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial + Education Center on February 23, 2024 at 5 PM. The event was hosted in partnership with the Barnard Department of Computer Science and Barnard Library. London-...

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...

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.

“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

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

Algorithmic Justice: Race, Bias, and Big Data

Speakers will discuss algorithms, race, and justice–the problems and the possibilities.

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 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...

Data for Black Lives Statement of Solidarity with Black Minnesotans

Data for Black Lives Statement of Solidarity with Black Minneapolis -- Campaign to stop the Cradle to Prison Algorithm

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...

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...

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)

D4BL I Thank You

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.

Opening Remarks and Keynote Address

Conference​ ​Welcome:​ ​​Rafael​ ​Reif,​ ​President​ ​of​ ​MIT​ ​(5​ ​min) Opening​ ​Remarks​ ​and​ ​Introduction​ ​of​ ​Keynote​ ​Speaker:​​ ​​Yeshimabeit​ ​Milner, D4BL​ ​Executive​ ​Director​ ​(20​ ​min) Keynote​ ​Address:​​ ​​Ruha​ ​Benjamin​​ ​​(45​ ​min)

Opening Panel: Data for Black Lives

Since the advent of computing, big data and algorithms have penetrated virtually every aspect of our social and economic lives. New data systems have tremendous potential to empower communities of color. Tools like statistical modeling, data visualization, and crowd-sourcing, in the right hands, ...

Automating (In)justice: Policing and Sentencing in the Algorithm Age

The U.S. incarcerates more people than any country in the world, and Black communities are disproportionately impacted by this mass incarceration. The disparities are staggering: although the majority of illegal drug users and dealers are white, three quarters of those imprisoned for these crimes...

Algorithmic Justice: Race, Bias, and Big Data

Speakers will discuss algorithms, race, and justice–the problems and the possibilities.

What is Data Capitalism?

Data for Black Lives and Demos released a groundbreaking new report addressing data capitalism and offering solutions that build power for Black and brown communities. In the age of "big data" and surveillance, we need to be concerned about more than just personal privacy. Take a look at how d...

Data Intersections 2020 | The University of Miami Institute for Data Science & Computing

Big Data is more than a collection of technologies, more than a revolution in measurement and prediction. It has become a philosophy, an ideological regime, one that determines how decisions are made and who makes them. It has given legitimacy to a new form of social and political control, one th...

What Even IS an Algorithm? | Crash Course: Data for Black Lives | Episode 1, Season 1

What even is an algorithm? Algorithms seem to have this vice grip on our lives. However, most of us don't even know exactly what an algorithm is or does. Here at Data for Black Lives, we aim to fight algorithmic injustice, and in order to do that, we need to fully understand what we're up against...

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...

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)

We are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For: Organizing for Algorithmic Accountability

As algorithms and automated decisions continue to impact every aspect of our lives, in Black communities nationwide these decision-making systems animate already existing structures of oppression and inequality. From risk assessments to school enrollment algorithms to child predictive analytics a...

AI Now Institute: Confronting Black Boxes: A Shadow Report of the New York City Automated Decision System Task Force

In 2017, New York City became the first US jurisdiction to create a task force to come up with recommendations for government use of Automated decision systems (ADS). This report is a community powered shadow report that provides a comprehensive record of what happened during the Task Force’s rev...

Advancing Community Engaged Approaches to Identifying Structural Drivers of Racial Bias in Health Diagnostic Algorithms

Following an initial system dynamics workshop at the Data for Black Lives II conference hosted at MIT in January of 2019, a group of conference participants interested in building capabilities to use system dynamics to understand complex societal issues convened monthly to explore issues related to racial bias in AI and implications for health disparities through qualitative and simulation modeling.

No Humans Involved

The battle for the soul of AI is not about preventing tech from becoming human but about preventing AI from being used to define who is human and who is not.

Consentful Tech Curriculum

In 2021 Data for Black Lives joined forces with the Consentful Tech Project to release a curriculum guides practitioners through a process to develop technology in truly inclusive but also consentful ways, pushing back against the weaponization of data. We have designed this curriculum to be ...

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.

Data Activism + Decompress

This keynote was delivered by our founder and CEO, Yeshimabeit Milner on Data Activism at The Malcom X and Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial + Education Center on February 23, 2024 at 5 PM. The event was hosted in partnership with the Barnard Department of Computer Science and Barnard Library. London-...

Ohio State Technology Law Journal Symposium

On Friday, March 22, Yeshimabeit Milner will speak at the Ohio State Technology Law Journal Symposium. Her remarks will expand upon the Data for Black Lives #NoMoreDataWeapons campaign, calling attention to harmful applications of AI in the criminal justice system. Please join us in person or via...

Yeshimabeit Milner | Data Activism at The Malcom X and Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial + Education Center

This keynote was delivered by our founder and CEO, Yeshimabeit Milner on Data Activism at The Malcom X and Dr Betty Shabazz Memorial + Education Center on February 23, 2024 at 5 PM. The event was hosted in partnership with the Barnard Department of Computer Science and Barnard Library. London-...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

Closing Keynote and Farewell

Keynote​ ​Address:​ ​​Ronald​ ​Sullivan Farewell:​ ​​Yeshimabeit​ ​Milner,​ ​Lucas​ ​Mason-Brown,​ ​and​ ​Max​ ​Clermont

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

Data for Black Lives Statement of Solidarity with Black Minnesotans

Data for Black Lives Statement of Solidarity with Black Minneapolis -- Campaign to stop the Cradle to Prison Algorithm

D4BL II Welcome

Opening​ ​Remarks​ ​and​ ​Introduction​ ​of​ ​Keynote​ ​Speaker:​​ ​​Yeshimabeit​ ​Milner, D4BL​ ​Executive​ ​Director​ ​(10​ ​min)