This is the first in a series of threads focusing on Black knowledge creators, scholars, scientists, and more who have influenced our work and shaped our thinking on science and technology. Today, we start with: Data & Technology. 
Quick note, this thread is part of our #ScientistSolidarity Drive, calling on non-Black scientists to support orgs/funds doing grassroots racial justice and abolition work. We are $800 away from hitting our (*updated*) $6110 match goal!
This list is, of course, non-exhaustive - pls @ us w/folks who have influenced you & your work. Include some info about them and what they have taught you! Knowledge sharing and community learning is how many of us learned about the work of folks included here. On to the sharing!
Kim M. Reynolds @Kimberland_1, Tamika Lewis & Tawana Petty @CombsThePoet are 3 of the leaders of #OurDataBodies, which focuses on the intersection of digital data systems & human rights, rooted in community organizing & partnerships to build #DataJustice odbproject.org
.@Data4BlackLives are scientist-activists who use data for social justice & combat uses of data for oppression. From analyses of the current COVID crisis to race & policing, they bring sharp political insight to make data work for movements medium.com/@YESHICAN/data…
Read @Data4BlackLives's COVID19 Movement Pulse Check & Roundtable Report here: d4bl.org/reports.html, and attend a movement pulse check this Wednesday!
Critical race and code scholar Ruha Benjamin (@Ruha9) speaks to the intersection of race, racism, and technology with a focus on the power differentials that shape technological developments.
.@Ruha9’s recent book "Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code" is essential reading for anyone looking to learn more about how technologies that are too often coded as ‘objective’ or ‘scientific’ perpetuate and amplify racial hierarchies.
In the anthology "Captivating Technology," @ruha9 brings together a powerful selection of writings exploring how technological innovation is entangled with and driven by the carceral complex, as well as explorations of abolitionist and liberatory technologies.
Pro tip, the intro of "Captivating Technology" is currently free to download:
Simone Browne’s "Dark Matters" examines how systemic racism and anti-Blackness fuel and intersect with modern surveillance technologies, emphasizing that, while surveillance technologies may be rapidly evolving, the practice of surveillance is not new.
The research, education, and advocacy work of AI experts Timnit Gebru (@TimnitGebru), Joy Buolamwini (@JovialJoy), and Deborah Raji (@Rajiinio) is a central pillar of the ongoing fight to limit the development of face recognition technology and prohibit its use by police.
Learn more about the work of the Algorithmic Justice League @AJLUnited (founded by @JovialJoy) and the on-going fight against surveillance technologies:
And check out the documentary "Coded Bias" to learn more about the work of @JovialJoy, @TimnitGebru, @Rajiinio, and others, now streaming until June 20th: hrwfilmfestivalstream.org/film/coded-bia…
AI policy expert Rashida Richardson works on issues of technology, privacy, and surveillance. Her recent paper "Dirty Data, Bad Predictions" investigates the corrupt, illegal, and racially biased policing practices that underlie predictive policing technologies.
.@SafiyaNoble is author of “Algorithms of Oppression,” which reveals how biases against women of color are embedded in search engine results and algorithms. She's written many publications about race, gender, technology: safiyaunoble.com/research-writi…
These are only a few of many Black scholars, scientists, artists, activists who've innovated & influenced both the technologies we use & the frameworks to interrogate technology. We invite you to share with us Black knowledge creators who've shaped your thinking in the comments!
