I am the data – Closing.

Welcome to Data Uncollected, a newsletter designed to enable nonprofits to listen, think, reflect, and talk about data we missed and are yet to collect. In this newsletter, we will talk about everything the raw data is capable of – from simple strategies of building equity into research+analytics processes to how we can make a better community through purpose-driven analysis.

Today we are concluding our exploration of the last two weeks – what does it mean to "be in the data". I don't want, though (to conclude). Reading and writing these recent editions have liberated me in a sense that makes me realize that this is a topic that can never truly end.

And, I have one particular book to be grateful for in allowing me to make this messy exploration - "Living in Data" by Jer Thorpe.

I think Jer, you and I speak the same language. Neither of us wants this conversation to be turned into a "how-to" guide.

Here is a snippet from the book (highlighted with the portion that spoke to me. You will have to excuse me for my poor photo skills here.)

(image description: black and white picture of text from the book Living in Data, highlighted with black digital marker in the middle.)

Do you see? You and I got a friend here.

From all that we have learned, challenged, and discussed before, when added to Jer's work, here is what comes to my mind -?

All those times when

• "95%" seems more significant than "5"
• the design of social identity questions is centered around the needs and understanding of funders, donors, and grant-makers
• the algorithms prioritize "efficiency" over the harms of racial bias,
• visualizations primarily aim for "best practices", and the word "best practices" refers to all those things that we picked in our habit over the years because they served the majority population
• people are categorized, segmented, and scored as an act of "smart strategy"
• and many more such ways we can have and act around data

we end up excluding, demeaning, harming, and alienating someone.?

Just imagine all those times that?we allowed. Knowing or unknowingly.

And, regardless of how many or who is excluded and alienated, that kind of harm must be unacceptable,?always.?I often wonder how we reached this point, and that's when I am learning to remind myself how grateful I am for you – so I no longer have to confront this alone.

In the last two editions, I promised to bring two stories from the book to you - real-life stories that can force us to look at data differently. To conclude this topic, let's take a look at two of them:

#1. The Library of Missing Datasets MIMI ?N??HA

?Artist and data researcher Mimi Onuoha has been collecting and building this dataset of things that aren't, called?The Library of Missing Datasets, since 2015. This dataset includes data on people excluded from public housing because of criminal records, undocumented immigrants currently incarcerated, trans people killed and injured in hate crimes, how much Spotify pays each artist per play of their song, publicly available gun trace data, and such.?

All those data points neglecting which afforded more "convenience" than collecting them.

"For every data set where there's an impetus for someone not to collect, there is a group of people who would benefit from its presence", she writes.

Her work explores why critical data points like these often go missing.

Choosing to omit or ignore missing data points is an equally harmful action as a few data harms we listed above. Such "data harms" of selectively collecting data are often inflicted upon already marginalized groups: such as people of color, non-binary, migrants, and the disabled.

Here is the link to learn more about?The Library of Missing Datasets.

?

#2. Mapping Police Violence by Samuel Sinyangwe

Sam (Samuel) Sinyangwe is a U.S.-based policy analyst and racial justice activist. In 2015, Sam realized that the data available on fatal encounters in the U.S. was heavy and hard for an average person to understand. It became a bigger challenge when added with all those missing data points needed for him to answer his question back then – how many Black people were being killed by the police? So, together with Brittany Packnett and DeRay McKesson, Sam launched Mapping Police Violence – a visualization-based tool that shares a "humanized" version of encounter stories (i.e., beyond just "how many" but also "who" and "from where").

But here is something interesting about this work I found through Jer's work. Right around the time Mapping, Police Violence was created,?

The Washington Post released a similar project, collating stories of various citizen-driven efforts into a single database. In theory, both these projects had a similar purpose. However, the two projects took very different approaches when it came to building narratives of police killings from the data points. Jer writes, "The Post,?crucially, decided that it would classify incidents in which kids were brandishing toy guns as cases where the victim was 'armed'".??

The way I understand this, the data points were politicized, weaponized, and used in a way that potentially caused harm. And unfortunately, I have no doubts that they (data points) still are.

Here is the link to learn more about?Mapping Police Violence.

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Closing this topic does not mean we will not revisit this. Instead, today's conclusion is about beginning a process of reflection within ourselves to answer – "what does it mean to occupy space in the world as data?"

To me, that reflection leads to something like this: for all these years, I have been comfortable being in the data as a mere bystander - both for myself and all those who have been in this data before me. But with the knowledge and consciousness I am gaining each day, I am becoming uncomfortable - especially for those yet to come in the data.

I want this kind of awareness for you and me.

Because?We are?I am the data.

(that "I" refers to both you and me while keeping the accountability that comes with "I").

You and I should invite Jer for a coffee, wouldn't you agree?

***?So, what do I want from you today (my readers)?

Today, I want to share what spoke to you on this topic?

?*** If you (or anyone you know) would be interested in seeing your work highlighted here (via a very friendly convo with me - about work, data+ equity, and all life things in between),?fill out this form.

*** Here is the continuous prompt for us to keep the?list of community-centric data principles?alive.