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.

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 ...

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

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

Abolish Big Data

A call to action to dismantle the structures that concentrate the power of Big Data into the hands of a few and to put data in the hands of people who need it the most.

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 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 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 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)

Abolish Big Data

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

Closing Keynote and Farewell

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

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,...

D4BL I Thank You

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, ...

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...

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 Movement Roundtable + Pulse Check: COVID-19

On April 15th, 2020, Data for Black Lives hosted a virtual roundtable and pulse check for our movement in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The roundtable features experts including Black epidemiologists who have been leading the research and efforts to change the conditions that make Black ...

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...

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...

D4BL II Welcome

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

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...

D4BL II Farewell

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...

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...

Music Is a Black Technology

To commemorate Juneteenth and the launch of Decompress, we convened a powerful panel discussion featuring electronic music pioneers DJ Heather, Daygee Kwia, Eddy Andre Samy of Paperwater, and Greg Stryke Chin about the role of electronic music as a tool for social change. Moderated by Founder & C...

Congressional Briefing on AI & Civil Rights

Our Founder & CEO, Yeshimabeit Milner, was invited to deliver remarks on legislative and governance solutions at a Congressional Briefing on AI & Civil Rights hosted by Senator Cory Booker and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights. Watch her full speech at the link.

Music is a Black Technology Panel II

Music is a Black Technology II

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-...

Mindful Machines: Unpacking Ethical Considerations in AI

On March 20, 2024, Partnership on AI organized an urgent roundtable. This exclusive gathering assembled leaders in philanthropy and the social sector to discuss the impacts of artificial intelligence and share strategies for positive intervention. Yeshimabeit Milner presented on behalf of Data fo...

MKE Tech Podcast S:3 Ep.5 Data for Black Lives

The MKE Tech Podcast focuses on driving equity and diversity in tech and startup spaces. In this episode, Yeshimabeit Milner shares the origin story of Data for Black Lives, and highlights the #NoMoreDataWeapons campaign among other urgent initiatives.

Just Equations Conference

In April 2024, Yeshi Milner delivered a powerful opening keynote at Just Equations’ sixth annual conference, titled The Mathematics of Opportunity: Closing the Divide.

What’s behind the algorithms shaping our world?

Yeshi Milner, founder of Data for Black Lives, joins host Mary Steffenhagen on the AI Peace Talks Radio Podcast to expose the hidden biases in AI systems and how they are being weaponized against Black communities.

Movement Roundtable + Pulse Check: COVID-19

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 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...

Just Equations: Mathematics of Opportunity

Just Equations’ sixth annual Mathematics of Opportunity conference will explore the future of equity in mathematics education and showcase the voices of education leaders, policymakers, and equity experts working to elevate math opportunities for the next generation. D4BL founder & CEO, Yeshi...

Just Equations' Sixth Annual Conference

In April 2024, Yeshi Milner delivered a powerful opening keynote at Just Equations’ sixth annual conference, titled The Mathematics of Opportunity: Closing the Divide.

Data Days CLE Conference

This October, our CEO, Yeshi Milner, will deliver a powerful keynote speech at Data Days CLE, a conference focused on harnessing accessible data and civic technology to drive action for social justice, research, and policy.

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...

Abolish Big Data (Podcast)

This talk by Yeshimabeit Milner, founder & executive director of Data for Black Lives, serves as a call to action to reject the concentration of Big Data in the hands of a few, to challenge the structures that allow data to be wielded as a weapon of immense political influence. To abolish Big Data would mean to put data in the hands of people who need it the most.

What We Mean When We Say #AbolishBigData2019

Despite clear evidence that algorithms, models, and data schema serve as vehicles for bias, data-intensive technologies mediate more and more of our individual and collective lives (Noble, 2018). Datafication, the reliance on digital data and prediction to perform important, societal functions, n...

Data as Protest (Radical AI Podcast)

How can we claim agency over data systems to fight for racial justice? What is Data for Black Lives? How can you join the movement? To answer these questions and more we welcome Yeshi Milner to the show.

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.