Throughout the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab’s Spring ’22 semester, Payton Croskey and I led a group of research associates as we explored liberatory technologies and forms of digital marronage. Each week, we selected and evaluated different types of technology and collected liberatory forms of that tool in a Github repository. Based on our analysis throughout the semester, this Github functions as a liberatory technology toolbox for organizers and activists.
Recognizing that existing digital interventions aren’t always successful, we explored how to design technology centered on liberation and digital marronage while honoring community knowledge. We asked: how do individuals protect themselves from the state while also being able to dance in the sun? Our research culminated in our GitHub repository, a liberatory technology proposed by RAs, and a zine to present our research findings.