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Aug 30, 2023 |
| Power concedes nothing without a demand |
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Dear Friends, On Tuesday, August 15, I was invited to speak at the White House Roundtable on Data Brokers. I used this as an opportunity to declare what we see in the data and on the streets: we are in a state of emergency. Black communities and communities nationwide are now living through the aftershocks of the pandemic. In addition to the loss of life and enduring impact on physical and mental well-being, the impact is financial. Black people are 13% of the total population but make up over 40% of the unhoused. Black women under the age of 34 were given the highest interest rates of any demographic group when the pandemic boom created a once-in-a-generation opportunity to generate wealth. The explanation for being made to hundreds of thousands more for the same loans: FICO credit scores. In my speech, I called for the White House, the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission to abolish the use of the FICO scoring model and dismantle the undue power given to data brokers Experian, Equifax, and Transunion. It is illegal to deny people housing based on race, and you can’t sue an algorithm. But you can abolish its use. Read my full remarks at the White House Many people do not know FICO is not a federal agency, but the Fair & Isaac Co., founded in 1989 and one of the first companies to use machine learning. In 2022, FICO reported record profits to shareholders from their main product, the FICO score, earning $704 million, an 8% increase from the year before. That same year, a separate Nerdwallet study found that even when controlling for income and debt, Black people were three times as likely to score under 620 than white people. Over 90% of the country is currently being scored using FICO, and it is becoming increasingly impossible to buy or rent a home, secure an affordable car loan, and even get a job with a score under 620. While Black and other historically dispossessed communities struggle to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head, when student loans and medical debt cripple millions because new technologies like AI are only being used to extend the racist policies of the past – we will continue to work relentlessly to Abolish Big Data. As we Decompress, we are regrouping and strategizing for the next ten years because what we are against is the greatest Civil Rights Battle of our time. This is a long-haul fight that is just beginning. We have a lot of announcements to share in the coming months. But first, we are recipients of the Wikimedia Foundation Grant for our upcoming Movement Scientists Fellowship. We will be announcing an open call for the fellowship in the fall. We are excited to put the most powerful datasets and analytical tools in the hands of those who need them most. More soon. Much love to you all, Yeshi |
| 33 Leaders Standing Up to Big Tech in the Age of A.I. |
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Our Founder & CEO, Yeshimabeit Milner, has been named one of the top 33 nonprofit leaders fighting Big Tech in the age of A.I by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. To use the words of abolitionist Frederick Douglas, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress… Power concedes nothing without a demand.” Under the leadership of our CEO, we have shifted the political agenda in the age of Big Data. We commend her vision, courage, and commitment to making concrete and measurable change in the lives of Black people at a time when it is needed the most. |
| Read at the Chronicle of Philanthropy |
| Readout of White House Roundtable on Protecting Americans from Harmful Data Broker Practices |
| We look forward to continuing to work with leadership at The White House, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to Abolish Big Data and dismantle the structures that concentrate the power of data into the hands of a few. Read the official readout of the roundtable. |
| Read at the WhiteHouse.Gov |
| Announcing the second round of grantees from the Wikimedia Foundation Knowledge Equity Fund |
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In 2021, the Wikimedia Foundation launched the Knowledge Equity Fund specifically to address gaps in the Wikimedia movement’s vision of free knowledge caused by racial bias and discrimination that have prevented populations around the world from participating equally. Data for Black Lives is thrilled to announce that we are recipients of the second round of the Wikimedia Foundation Knowledge Equity Grant. This award will help fund our upcoming Movement Scientist Fellowship, where we will put the most powerful datasets and analytical tools in the hands of those who need them most. The Open Call for the Movement Scientist Fellowship will go live this fall. |
| Read at Wikimedia Foundation |
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