Data for Black Lives Statement of Solidarity with Black Minnesotans

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...

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.

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?

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...

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?

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​ ​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

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

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

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...

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...

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

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 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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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...