Data for Black Lives: digital technology as a tool for change

Have you ever thought about ways to use artificial intelligence technologies not as weapons but as tools for emancipation and change for local communities?

O Data For Black Lives  appears in this scenario as a movement of activists, organizers and scientists committed to the mission of using data to create concrete and measurable changes in the lives of black people.
Between the 18th and 20th of November, I participated in the III Data for Black Lives Conference that took place in Miami, USA, and here, in this text, I want to present to you some issues discussed there.

Data For Black Lives: much more than a conference

The Data for Black Lives (D4BL) movement emerged at a crucial moment, marked by a new political landscape after the 2016 elections and the early steps of artificial intelligence in transforming industries and society. They recognized that society was facing new battles for the most urgent civil rights of our time. As they wisely inform us, forms of racism and oppression require, in turn, new approaches to activism, resistance, and research.

Seven years later, the movement has entered a new phase. The reconfiguration of the political system, the global economy, and society is now entering a distinct phase. Amid the political instability that everyone faces, an opportunity arises to move forward with a new collective vision for the future, where Black communities and other historically marginalized groups have the political power and the necessary tools to thrive.

According to D4BL, history shows us that, without an inspiring vision, people cannot move forward. From the beginning, this movement has been guided by a strong and clear vision, which is reflected in its actions to transform data into a tool of empowerment, rather than an instrument of oppression. The goal is to dismantle the structures that concentrate the power of big data in the hands of a few and redistribute it to those who need it most, as well as oppose the use of surveillance technologies and other data tools as weapons that seek to intimidate, weaken, and silence the political voices of Black communities.

The work of D4BL is rooted in research, advocacy for rights, and building movements that challenge the discriminatory use of data and algorithms in different systems. Through a national network that brings together more than 20,000 scientists and activists, the initiative seeks to ensure that data and technology become forces for good, rather than instruments of oppression in Black communities.

What are the main discussions brought up at the 2024 conference?

Annually, D4BL hosts a conference as a way to bring together activists, scientists, and researchers to discuss new possible futures in the use of digital technologies. The conference serves as a space for opportunity, connection, collaboration and among some of the leading data scientists, mathematicians, movement organizers, and activists who are on the frontlines of research and political battles concerning data protection and the use of AI.

The goal is to view data as a form of protest. Data as a form of accountability. Data as a form of collective action.

More than 40 speakers discussed:

• Artificial intelligence for liberation; the opening table of D4BL III had as its main debate the defense of the dismantling of structures that concentrate the power of artificial intelligence (AI) in the hands of a small group of people and the redistribution of this power to those who need it most, promoting a profound and long-overdue transformation in our society. We were warned that big data is not a recent innovation, but part of a historical legacy of control and oppression that dates back to surveillance and classification practices used throughout history to reinforce social and economic inequalities. From slavery, where people were treated as commodities and controlled by political and economic systems, to contemporary public policies, data has always been used to perpetuate discrimination and marginalization. What we now call “big data” is, therefore, a modern version of a historical process of surveillance and control, which continues to reflect and amplify the power structures and oppression established over the centuries.
  So, how can AI be used for liberation?
• Data Trauma and public safety. As explained by the professor Renée Cummings, data trauma is what happens to you and what happens within you. Different communities experience data in different ways, and these datasets do not have the luxury of historical amnesia. The emotional and psychological harm caused by the misuse, mishandling, or unethical collection of data is what we call data trauma. This trauma manifests in suffering and long-term impacts on individuals and communities when their data is extracted, exploited, neglected, or devalued, resulting in bias, discrimination, and lack of resources, opportunities, and access, undermining legacies and denying dreams. Data trauma highlights the need for ethical, responsible, secure, and trustworthy practices in the use of data and AI, as well as practices guided by justice, informed by trauma, that aim to mitigate harm and promote equity, justice, and fairness in data practices and in the design, development, adoption, and acquisition of AI. Data trauma is the decision of the past trapped in the memory of data; data permeated by cultural meanings, regardless of its computational significance. And this is related to data bias, data discrimination, data marginalization, data profiling, and victimization by data.
  The central question that remains is: are we using new technologies to modernize old racial typologies?
•     Ustopia, and not utopia or dystopia. It all starts with imagination. Every system, every political force, every place. What we create in our mind, we manifest in our body. Even in the face of adversity, and with renewed hope, we were able, collectively, to envision a future and develop strategies to exist and prosper in extremely challenging environments. At the closing session of the third conference Data for Black Lives, Ruja Benjamin explored the role of imagination, new world-building, and shared visions of Utopia in social transformation and the development of technologies aimed at freedom. Or rather, the Ustopia for liberation from the spirit of the oppressor; creating new ways of being and imagining.  She pointed to paths through AI as ancestral intelligence and abundant imagination.
  In this sense, what can we achieve when we dream and imagine together? 

And how do we think about this in our Brazilian reality?

Ancestral intelligence as a tool for developing stories, data and technologies.

Thinking about the Brazilian reality means confronting the use of technologies in a society that is also racialized – as we see in the U.S. Not that the two societies are so similar in their history and culture, but they are societies shaped by the legacy of slavery. By the mark of racialized institutions and by racial hierarchy as a constituent of social relations.

Thus, discussing the use of digital technologies, artificial intelligence, and data protection is a racialized discussion. It is, or needs to be, a form of collective action. A listening to ancestral stories in search of a more inclusive future. Stories and ancestry can give us clues on how to use technologies in favor of populations that have been historically sidelined. Putting ancestral knowledge and dreams at the forefront.

And here, I invite whiteness to think about possible ways to debate racialization and technological knowledge. To see itself within this racial hierarchy that is renewed by the use of technology; the racialization of technological knowledge involves understanding how technologies, from their creation to their application, are deeply intertwined with dynamics of power, privilege, and racial discrimination. Whiteness, as a system that privileges white people in various spheres of society, also influences the construction and use of technologies, reflecting historical and social inequalities. 

Conclusion – Forms of Resistance and Revolution

The Data for Black Lives (D4BL) movement emerged at a decisive moment when new technologies and the post-2016 political landscape generated new forms of oppression and challenges to civil rights. Since then, D4BL has fought against the discriminatory use of data and AI, aiming to empower Black communities and other marginalized populations. The movement advocates for the redistribution of big data power, transforming it into a tool of resistance and social transformation, rather than a weapon of control. Its mission focuses on combating the historical structures of surveillance and oppression that, through data, continue to reinforce racial and economic inequalities.

At the 2024 conference, D4BL continued to debate how artificial intelligence can be a tool for liberation, addressing topics such as data trauma and public safety. The discussion centered around the need for ethical and just practices in the use of data, warning of the psychological and social harm caused by the misuse of information. Additionally, the event emphasized the importance of collective imagination for creating a more just and equitable future, where technologies are used for freedom and empowerment, and not to perpetuate the inequalities of the past.

I conclude by reminding that by recognizing and challenging the racialization of technological knowledge, we can seek alternatives that promote a fairer and more equitable use of technology, capable of combating racial inequalities instead of perpetuating them.

I invite all readers to learn more about the importance of this debate through some texts from IRIS:

https://irisbh.com.br/o-papel-das-mulheres-negras-no-ativismo-digital/
https://irisbh.com.br/me-homenageiem-em-vida-para-que-depois-eu-possa-so-descansar/
https://irisbh.com.br/como-nao-esta-o-antirracismo-na-regulacao-de-ia-no-brasil/