Adapting to 2020: Virtual Conference Series

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    Welcome to the Adapting to 2020: Virtual Conference. Today, we are lucky to host and listen to six organizations who are combating issues of race, space and segregation and what they have done to adjust during this global pandemic to keep serving and providing for their communities. COVID-19 has affected the daily practices and the sense of normalcy for everyone throughout the year.

We’ve decided to continue our conference series virtually to accommodate these constraints, as we find it to be a safe and informative space to discuss the difficulties this pandemic has left us. We hope to share strategies on how to organize virtually and socially distanced in 2020 and in the future, as well as raise awareness of the active work that these organizations have to share. 

The resilience of the organizations presenting today demonstrates how their methods of adaptation to such events only make them stronger. The theme of this year’s conference highlights the visionary work and how their methods, platforms, and organizing continue to serve their communities under continuing segregation.

During 2020, we have also seen an increased interest in activism, and we hope to give tangible examples of how new activists can support our communities in person and online, from newsletters to protesting to education. This conference is also a chance to not only raise awareness for important issues, but also to build connections between the people in these organizations and the forces of segregation that they combat. 2020 is and will continue to be a year where interconnecting factors like disease, recession, and violence push us to remain separate in our struggles. It is our hope that 2020 Adapting to Virtual Space Conference can be a space and time to virtually build solidarity and learn from each other on how to tackle our issues with new tools in this new context.

ORGANIZATIONS WITH US TODAY

1. Color Compton

2. Data for Black Lives

3. Undocublack Network

4. Antiracism Daily

5. Project New Village

6. YMCA (Stand Against Racism)

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About Data For Black Lives

Data as protest. Data as accountability. Data as collective action.

Data for Black Lives is a movement of activists, organizers, and mathematicians committed to the mission of using data science to create concrete and measurable change in the lives of Black people. Since the advent of computing, big data and algorithms have penetrated virtually every aspect of our social and economic lives. These new data systems have tremendous potential to empower communities of color. Tools like statistical modeling, data visualization, and crowd-sourcing, in the right hands, are powerful instruments for fighting bias, building progressive movements, and promoting civic engagement. 

Data also is too often wielded as an instrument of oppression, reinforcing inequality and perpetuating injustice. Redlining was a data-driven enterprise that resulted in the systematic exclusion of Black communities from key financial services. More recent trends like predictive policing, risk-based sentencing, and predatory lending are troubling variations on the same theme. 

In their most recent initiative, D4BL has worked to consolidate state level data to explore the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black people in the US. D4BL established a team of volunteer data scientists to develop a codebase for automating the data extraction from state websites and storing it into this dataset. It demands the visibility of COVID-19 data as a form of resistance, to implement programs that address available and accessible testing sites that meet the health needs of Black communities in light of the social determinants that cause racial health disparities, rent suspension, establishing a reparative stimulus plan, and transparency with data collection and contract tracing.

Hear more about their organization on their Twitter, Instagram, and website.

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Episode 1 of Crash Course: D4BL. “what even IS an algorithm?”

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CMU grad student launches data platform to 'dig deeper' into why systems are failing Black residents in Pittsburgh

Alex Jackson has always been interested in the intersection between technology and ethics. As a Carnegie Mellon University student working on particle...

“As any city kind of rebrands and reinvents themselves, especially with a technology focus, it’s really important to ask who’s being brought in to that new economy and who’s being left out”

The goal of the Data for Black Lives hub is to help amplify the work of existing organizations by providing them with data analysis in order to make recommendations for public policy, Ms. Jackson said.

For example, the group plans to look at mass incarceration in the greater Pittsburgh area and will analyze data from jails, including who is incarcerated, for how long, what services do they receive while incarcerated and what services do they not, and how has all that changed amid COVID-19.

Hear more about their organization on their Twitter, Instagram, and website.

Register for our virtual conference including Data for Black Lives here.

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One of our preliminary speakers for _ Conference is Data for Black Lives, an organization using data science to bridge the gaps of data collection affecting Black issues. 

Hear more about their organization on their Twitter, Instagram, and website.

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It is time for this to change!

The Undocublack Network prioritizes the health and mental well being of their members above all! In a world where mental health is so overlooked, we cannot afford to allow even more overshadowing to occur and allow people to suffer in silence.

Take care of each other.

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Our Work — UndocuBlack Network

  Mental Wellness Initiative:  to underscore and address the trauma that our community experiences. During this time of political crisis, increased targeting, criminalization and deportation of our community members, the UndocuBlack Network is prioritizing our community’s survival and resistance through mental wellness. We believe our community’s holistic survival is a matter of urgency. The initiative therefore focuses on expanding the dialogue on the increased urgency of mental wellness within our affected communities, creating and facilitating supports, and ensuring adequate access to mental health services. The first roll-out from the initiative is our guide, The UndocuBlack Guide for Mental Wellness Specialists. This guide is meant to highlight experiences of Black undocumented community members in mental healthcare, and offers some insight and direction to mental health providers on considerations while engaging their Black undocumented community members as clients.

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Color Compton partnered with their sister orgs @ GIRLSPACE and @ Compton G.IRLS Club to raise funds to help alleviate some of the financial burden brought to families due to COVID-19 

Color Comptons offices are currently open (with limited spaces due to Covid), they recognize that there are people who are in need of a quiet space in which they can get their work done. They have co-working space for people to host meetings, workshops. This provides a space for community members since there is limited spaces in libraries, coffee shops, this is an additional space for the community  

*Compton-resident students under 22 are free, price range from $20-$120

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Meet Abigail Lopez-Byrd, Founder and executive director of Color Compton 

https://shoutoutla.com/meet-abigail-lopez-byrd-founder-executive-director/

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Art is the fourth pillar at Color Compton. Founder and executive director, Abigail Lopez-Byrd believes that through art one can learn history and curate a narrative of self-identity/self-awareness and community identity/ awareness. Abigail is passionate about art and wanted to create a space in Compton, a creative space, where people could talk about art, history, and identity. 

Color Compton offers summer and year-long internships to students. This internship will allow students to create their own visual art projects while they learn more about California and Compton through visual archives.

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The third pillar is Community. 

How do you define community? WHAT does it look like?   #AnaLiliaGarciaM.

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One of the core pillars of Color Compton: History

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One of the pillars of Color Compton focuses on identity. They hope to engage youth in exploring and celebrating their own identity as well as looking at community identity. For example, they pose the question: Does Compton have its own identity? 

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About Color Compton

ColorCompton

An organization working with Compton youth to build community among people of color though history and art.

Color Compton is “An organization geared towards working with the youth to build community relationships among people of color while exploring identity, and creating art. Grounded on history, students will be introduced to concepts and history to engage in dialogue and use art mediums to develop their own narratives through collective engagement. All students will be able to gain leadership skills and play a critical role in community activism”

They hope to "aim to empower all students in the Compton community by sharing the histories of people of color and introducing art as a form of communication"

Community Partners include: GirlSpace International, Compton G.IRLS Club , and The Variety Group.

Please give a warm welcome to Abigail Lopez-Byrd, founder and executive director of Color Compton. Abigail is a Compton native and her vision was to cultivate a creative space for Compton youth and community to have a space where they could have conversations about art, history, identity and community. She herself recalls her first experience with the arts (photography) in high school and how that allowed her to look at life through an artistic lense. She recalls having to qualify for this extracurricular class and how they would meet after school, making it inaccessible for all students. With Color Compton, Abigail hopes to expose youth to the power of communication and knowledge through art. Alongside unlocking a creative outlet which allows youth to explore their self identity and how they see themselves in and apart of a collective community.

Like many of the organizations we have today, Color Compton has shifted to accommodate on a remote platform due to COVID-19. Color Compton and their sister organizations have moved to host conferences online as well as limited in person events. For example, Paint Night & Wine Tasting was hosted over the summer. Tickets were limited at an outside venue for social distancing and masks were required. Color Compton has been working to adapt to the social distancing while still providing for its community. Color Compton has also partnered with their sister organizations to raise funds for families who have been affected by the global pandemic. Community is one of the organizations pillars, so it was especially important for them to show up for their community and provide mutual aid to alleviate some financial burden many people are having to face. Color Compton is also providing limited access to office space to provide to the community because they recognize that one of the challenges brought by the global pandemic is people not having a quiet space to do their work.

For more information, click on the link to learn more about Color Compton and if you feel inclined to, follow the support tab at the top to make a donation.

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Good Food District

Visit the post for more.

Project New Village: The Good Food District

The Good Food District is a place-making program to create a “Good Food Hub” on the property of the Mt Hope Community Garden. This hub will be a large-scale community building that contains community kitchens, growing spaces, and senior apartments among many things. According to Project New Village, the goal of this project is to use “urban agriculture to achieve broader goals of food abundance, regenerative place-making, community resilience, and social equity in Greater Southeastern San Diego.” The creation of this hub facilitates solidifying community-centered control of neighborhood spaces while combating forces of gentrification in the area. Project New Village defines “good food” as food that is sustainable, equitable, health, affordable, and accessible to all residents. For more info, visit the link above.

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Click to watch a video about this project!

Project New Village: Community Pantry Project

The Community Pantry Project was started at the beginning of 2020 when families began to feel the first impact of the pandemic in their homes and jobs. This program is free to sign up for, and provides the educational resources needed to start growing fresh food at home through newsletters and videos. Due to COVID, organizing in person right now is difficult and risky, but the Community Pantry Project empowers local and individual action in contributing to the “community food shed”. For more info, visit this link: https://projectnewvillage.org/our-projects/cpp/

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Mt. Hope Community Garden Re-Opens With Focus On Food Justice

Diane Moss, managing director of Project New Village, who oversees Mt. Hope Community Garden, spoke with Midday Edition about the vision to turn the area into a hub for good food.

Project New Village: Mt. Hope Community Garden and People’s Produce Farmers Markets

Project New Village is responsible for advocating for, building, and now managing the Mt Hope Community Garden, located in Southeastern San Diego. With 40 available garden beds for use, this garden provides the space to grow local, fresh food that otherwise might not be available to residents due to price or distance. As a place to learn about and participate in urban agriculture, Mt Hope is a resource to neighborhood residents, social/educational groups, and emotional healing groups in the area.

Before COVID restrictions, the Mt. Hope Community Garden operated in conjunction with the People’s Produce Farmers Market. Normally open every Tuesday, this market promotes and accepts food stamp/EBT use so all residents have access to fresh, local and sustainably grown community food. People’s Produce Farmers Market also provides a venue for neighborhood growers to sell their produce and make an income. However, due to COVID, these markets are now closed, and Project New Village is in the process of implementing alternative programs.