Liberatory Computing: Empowering African American Students Through Data Activism

Abstract

Computing curricula often inadvertently reinforce a harmful, singular narrative about African American communities, focusing solely on stories that emphasize crime prediction and policing [4, 8, 9]. This reinforces the harmful stereotype that African American communities are primarily sites of criminal activity rather than centers of innovation, creativity, and resilience [1, 5, 7]. In contrast, the framework I developed, ''liberatory computing'', offers a guideline that can be integrated into computing curricula precisely to counter these cliches [13]. Composed of Dr. Aaliyah El-Amin's five pillars of liberation-a sound racial identity, critical consciousness, collective obligation, a liberation-centered academic identity, and activism skills-liberatory computing empowers students to challenge and mitigate systemic oppression through computing [2]. My research applies this framework as a way to empower African American students to address embedded racism through data activism, in which I created two Data Activism Programs [10]. The first taught students how to use data science to support the minoritized communities of the participants, while the second incorporated collaboration with community organizers, increasing the inclusion of desire-based research [12]. My first Data Activism program engaged 12 high school students of color; the second included 24 students of African descent who partnered with Greater Boston community organizations on projects involving data, geospatial, and qualitative analysis, as well as artistic expression. Pre- and post-surveys showed increased awareness of data science's role in addressing racism and enhanced advocacy skills [12]. Interviews revealed that working to challenge systemic oppression inspired students to continue integrating data activism into their futures.