D4BL III: Utilizing Public Datasets for Good

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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)

“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...

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...

An Open Letter to Facebook from the Data for Black Lives Movement

Give Black researchers, data scientists and Black communities access to our data.

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...

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...

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, ...

Abolish Big Data - UCI Bren ICS

At the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences Abstract: Bid 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 ad who makes the,...

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...

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...

D4BL III: AI for Liberation

Livestream of the Data for Black Lives III opening panel, "AI for Liberation."

Data Capitalism and Algorithmic Racism

​​​​​Big companies are using data to preserve the power imbalance that keeps them rich. This economic model is rooted in chattel slavery and relies on the extraction and commodification of data.

D4BL III

November 18-20, 2024 at the Pérez Art Museum in Miami.

D4BL-DMV Virtual Panel: Equity Implications of COVID-19 in the DMV (6/25/2020)

Learn about the disparate impact that Black and Brown communities in the DMV have been facing as a result of COVID-19, highlight the work that local DMV organizations are doing, and provide ways for people to get involved. Featured panelists: Carmen Daugherty, Policy Director at Youth First ...

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 Farewell

D4BL I Thank You

DECOMPRESS presents Vanguards

We launched Decompress on Juneteenth with trailblazing voices in electronic music, such as Kenny Larkin, house music legend DJ Heather, Greg "Stryke" Chin, Godfather of the Miami electronic music scene, and Paperwater, pioneers of a new sound that has reached the globe and put Miami back on the m...

DECOMPRESS III

It is with great joy that we invite you to the third Decompress Miami event this Saturday, November 4, 2023. We are thrilled to feature artists and performers Ezili Jean, Speaker Music (DeForrest Brown), Suzi Analogue, and idealblackgirl (Amanda Williams). Doors open at 7 PM, panel conversation at 8 PM, and performances start at 10 PM. This event will be recorded. Register at the link below.

Meet the Inaugural D4BL Movement Scientist Fellows

Today, we are overjoyed to announce—after years of planning and many months of interviews, assessments, and deliberations—the first cohort of D4BL Movement Scientist Fellows. These fellows are critical practitioners who center issues of liberation, equity, and justice in the creation and deployme...

D4BL III: Data for Organizing & the Public Interest

Livestream of the workshops, Data for Organizing & the Public Interest

Data for Black Lives III Welcome & Keynote

D4BL III Welcome & Keynote

Livestream of the opening night of Data for Black Lives III.

D4BL III: AI for Liberation

Livestream of the Data for Black Lives III opening panel, "AI for Liberation."

D4BL III: Funding Data Activism

Livestream of the breakout session, "Funding Data Activism."

D4BL III: Water, Public Investment & Power

Livestream of the breakout session, "Water, Public Investment & Power"

D4BL III: Our Bodies Keep Score

Livestream of the breakout session, "Our Bodies Keep Score."

D4BL III: A New Education is Possible

Livestream of the breakout session, "A New Education is Possible."

D4BL III: No More Data Weapons

Livestream of the breakout session, "No More Data Weapons."

D4BL III: Data for Organizing & the Public Interest

Livestream of the workshops, Data for Organizing & the Public Interest

D4BL III: Reparations AI Future of Work

Livestream of the breakout session, Reparations AI: Future of Work.

D4BL III: Utopia

Livestream of the closing panel, "Utopia."

D4BL III: Food, Land & Justice

Livestream for the breakout session, "Food, Land & Justice."

D4BL III: Reparations AI Housing

Livestream of the panel, "Reparations AI: Housing."