When I present on panels about equitable and inclusive design, there are two areas I emphasize; as both a social scientist and tech ethicist, these are the areas where we, as humans have the greatest opportunity to bring about transformative change. The first and most fundamental tool we have within our arsenal is the call-in. The call-in is the seed from which the best accessible, equitable, and inclusive products and processes take shape. Who am I designing this for? Who am I designing it with? If they are not one and the same, we must go back and begin again. …
Inequities
I recently sat down with a group to discuss the pros and cons of emerging technologies from my perspective as both anthropologist and ethical technologist; specifically, smart lock systems. For those who may be unfamiliar with smart lock systems, they are a relatively new technological advancement that uses image and facial recognition software to enable users entry to businesses and residences thereby eliminating physical keys; this technology is believed to increase safety and ease of accessibility. No more misplaced and lost keys, costly locksmith services, and the ease of allowing temporary and/or limited access to vendors, guests, and service providers. …
Artist, art educator, and entrepreneur Charlecia Joy joins host and incluu founder, Dr. Dédé Tetsubayashi at the Brave Spaces Roundtable to discuss equity in visual art spaces and the pain points that gave way to the creation of The Stapledon Arts Melanin series.
Join incluu’s own, Dr. Dédé Tetsubayashi and guest Debbie Reynolds, “The Data Diva” as they talk data across various intersections and iterations; a foray into the perks and pitfalls of AI, ML, and data in the 4th industrial revolution, and as always a little levity. Are you team Terminator or Robocop; have a listen to this month’s episode and tell us in the comments.
At first, you might be thinking, what does design have to do with liberation? You might feel a tinge of discomfort come over you, and a sigh of, “Is nothing safe from ‘wokeness’?” You’d be partially right. As our critical thought processes evolve, as binaries and ceilings become more expansive, we are forced to reckon with the pervasive, insidious nature of the oppressive, exploitative, white supremacist, capitalist, heteronormative, patriarchal structures we have all been indoctrinated into, voluntarily… and not. “Liberatory Design is an evolution of the design thinking methodology. It’s an approach to problem solving that helps people translate their …
One of the biggest misconceptions about tech is aptly summarized by Hessie Jones, “[Tech is]afforded a supremacy that humans feel comfortable not questioning. And yet, technology isn’t just a neutral tool.” As AI/ML continues to become rapidly enmeshed in our daily lives, so have discussions of ethics, and the lack thereof, in tech. The dangers of the myriad intersectional biases in tech design have made their way from the confines of esoteric spaces into broader mainstream discussions of diversity, equity, inclusion, and ethics. Although many big tech companies are hiring in-house DEI consultants and broaching the topic of more equitable …
I was only five years old the first time I mentally code switched and went into another person’s experience. My father was never able to handle the pain caused by the sickle cell anemia I was born with, and it was in the throes of a painful sickle cell crisis that I learned he couldn’t cope with hospitals. Children are very perceptive to their parents’ emotions, and in that moment I could feel his terror and helplessness pulsing within me as if it were my own. During that experience I decided that I had to be strong for the both …
As a Black Woman, I’m Either Hyper Visible or Utterly Unseen Read More »
2015 brought us #OscarsSoWhite shedding light on the absence of BIPOC voices and representation in the Academy Awards; “an award given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry”. 2018 brought us another hashtag: #WellnessSoWhite. #WellnessSoWhite began making its way into the discussions of diversity, equity, and inclusion in health and wellness via popular social media platforms and has resulted in small, albeit marked changes in the United States’ multi-trillion dollar industry. “Wellness is about making healthy lifestyle choices and maintaining one’s wellbeing both physically and mentally. In recent years, more people around the world have begun to recognize …
“Race-norming”— also called “race correction,” “ethnic adjustment,” and “race adjustment” — refers to the adjustment of medical test results or medical risk assessment algorithms based on a patient’s race, the practice however, can and often does, include additional factors such as age, assigned sex at birth, and pain tolerance. Race-norming is believed to have been integrated into clinical risk assessment tools in 1981. Similar to the “soft-bigotry of low expectations” the practice is predicated on othering BIPOC communities, and most adversely affects Black people. “Race norming” was first used by the Carter Administration and then further implemented and extended by …
International Women’s day is a day in which many celebrate the progress we’re making towards equal pay and fair wages between men and women. Over more than a century, this day has been observed in February on the Julian calendar and March on the Gregorian calendar. What is encoded in the language-as is often the case-is that International Women’s Day is actually only a marker of the progress being made to bridge the wage gap between white men and white women. Black women currently observe equal pay day in August—August 3rd, this year, and it has yet to become cause …
Equal Pay & Caregiving: How Covid19 Further Exacerbates Existing Inequities Read More »