Digital Witnesses: The Power of Looking March 3, 2021 HELLO, EVERYBODY, AND WELCOME TO THIS VIRTUAL EVENT, HOSTED BY THE BERKMAN KLEIN CENTER, DIGITAL WITNESSES, THE POWER OF LOOKING. MY NAME IS ELLERY ROBERTS BIDDLE. AND I AM A BKC ALUM. I CURRENTLY WORK WITH RANKING DIGITAL RIGHTS PROJECT. IT'S A PLEASURE TO BE BACK AT THE BERKMAN KLEIN CENTER. ONE OF MY FAVORITE HOMES IN THE DIGITAL RIGHTS UNIVERSE THAT WE ALL INHABIT. IT'S A REAL PRIVILEGE TO BE SPEAKING TODAY WITH THESE THREE REMARKABLE WOMEN, SCHOLARS, ACTIVISTS, JOURNALISTS WHO I WILL NOW INTRODUCE. WE WILL BEGIN TODAY WITH ALLISSA RICHARDSON. DR. RICHARDSON IS AN AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST, PIONEER IN MOBILE Journalism AND ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF JOURNALISM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S ANNENBERG SCHOOL. SHE RESEARCHES HOW MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES USE MOBILE AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO PRODUCE INNOVATIVE FORMS OF JOURNALISM, ESPECIALLY IN TIMES OF CRISIS. -- DR. RICHARDSON IS ALSO THE AUTHOR OF BEARING WITNESS WHILE BLACK, AFRICAN- AMERICANS, SMARTPHONES AND THE NOW PROTEST JOURNALISM. HER JOURNALS APARTMENTS APPEARED IN THE JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION. JOURNALISM STUDIES. CONVERGENCE AND THE BLACK SCHOLAR, AMONG OTHERS. NEXT UP WE HAVE HANNANE FERDJANI. HANNANE IS A JOURNALIST IN NIGER. SHE WORKED FOR AFRICA NEWS, EURO NEWS AND FRANCE NEWS COVERING BUSINESS, POLITICS AND SECURITY. AND DONE IMPACT REPORTING ON BOKO HARAM ON POPULATIONS IN THE LAKE CHAD REGION. AS A NEIMAN BERKMAN KLEIN FELLOW IN JOURNALISM AND INNOVATION SHE STUDIED HOW TO DEVELOP JOURNALISM METHODS WHEN COVERING NATIONS UNDERGOING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONS, WITH A FOCUSED ON ENSURING RIGOROUS AND EFFECTIVE REPORTING. TODAY SHE HOSTS BEYOND THE NOISE, AN INDEPENDENT DIGITAL JOURNALISM PROJECT FOCUSED ON PROVIDING RELIABLE INFORMATION AND DEBUNKING FAKE NEWS AND MYTHS CIRCULATING ONLINE IN AFRICA. AND WE'LL CONCLUDE WITH NANA NWACHUKWU. NANA IS A KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ADVISOR FOR THE UK DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. FOR MORE THAN A DECADE, SHE HAS WORKED ON ECONOMIC POLICY, GOVERNANCE AND INTERNET RELATED ISSUES AND SHE'S CURRENTLY TRACKING AND MONITORING THE MANIPULATION OF FACEBOOK AND TWITTER COMMUNITY SAFETY GUIDELINES. SHE IS FINISHING HER MASTERS DEGREE IN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF YORK IN THE UK WHERE SHE IS RESEARCHING THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF TECHNOLOGY IN IMPROVING HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE. SO TO GET US STARTED, I WANTED TO JUST INVOKE THE NAME OF A DEAR COLLEAGUE AND BERKMAN KLEIN SCHOLAR AND WRITER, An Xiao Mina, WHOSE BOOK MEMES TO MOVEMENTS CAME TO MIND AS I WAS READING AND THINKING ABOUT WHAT EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE SHARING TODAY. I WANTED TO READ A TINY EXCERPT FROM HER INTRODUCTION WHERE AN TALKS ABOUT AND LINKS DIFFERENT SORT OF CURRENTS OF DIGITAL ACTIVISM IN THE -- THE PROTESTS IN FERGUSON MISSOURI IN 2014 FOLLOWING THE POLICE MURDER OF MICHAEL BROWN, AND THE PROTEST MOVEMENT IN HONG KONG THAT HAS BEEN THROUGH SEVERAL WAVES BUT A MAJOR ONE OF WHICH OCCURRED IN 2014. SO SHE SITUATES US IN FERGUSON AND WRITES OF THE PROTESTERS. "AS THEY RAISED THEIR HANDS AND FISTS ANY ALSO RAISED THEIR PHONES, TO DOCUMENT, SHARE AND NETWORK WITH PROTESTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. I WATCHED MY SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS FLOOD WITH IMAGES OF PEOPLE WITH THEIR HANDS SHOWING, PALMS FACING THE CAMERA. THE PHOTOS REENACTED AS A PERFORMATIVE GESTURE, THE CHANT THAT WAS QUICKLY BECOMING SYNONYMOUS WITH THE FERGUSON PROTESTS. HANDS UP, THE CHANT LEADER WOULD CALL OUT. DON'T SHOOT, THE CROWD WOULD RESPOND. MEANWHILE, HALF A WORLD AWAY IN THE SUBTROPICAL METROPOLITANS OF HONG KONG TENSIONS WERE GROWING OVER ISSUES OF DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS AND UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE. A MONTH LATER IN SEPTEMBER 2014, THE SIMILARITIES BECAME IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE. STUDENTS HANDS WERE RAISED TO THE SKY IN A GESTURE AGAINST POLICE VIOLENCE. AND SHE NOTES HOW THESE SITUATIONS HAVE SO MANY DIFFERENCES BUT THAT'S THE STRIKING SIMILARITY OF THE HANDS UP GESTURE, REFLECTING COMMON CONCERNS ABOUT POLICE VIOLENCE. AND SHE -- AND SHE POINTS OUT HOW ONLINE PEOPLE IN BOTH MOVEMENTS WERE KIND OF INTERACTING WITH EACH OTHER, SHARING TACTICS, KIND OF USING AND REMAKING HASHTAGS TO -- AS A SIGN OF SOLIDARITY. SHE WRITES "THE INTERNET WAS THE ESSENTIALLY TO THE RISE OF BOTH MOVEMENTS, IT MADE THEM VISIBLE TO THEMSELVES AND TO EACH OTHER. IT'S NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE NOW TO THINK OF A SOCIAL MOVEMENT WITHOUT THE INTERNET. AND AS THE WORLD COMES ONLINE COMMUNITIES ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE ARE POPPING UP GLOBALLY IN PLACES LARGE AND SMALL, CHANNELING THEIR ENERGIES TO THE STREETS AND TO THE WEB." SO I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ABOUT MORE MOVEMENTS. SO LET'S KICK IT OFF WITH ALLISSA. THANK YOU SO MUCH ELLERY. I LOVE THAT INTRODUCTION. I LOVE THE FACT THAT WE ARE GROUNDING THIS IN THE FACT THAT THESE DEVICES HAVE GIVEN ORDINARY PEOPLE THE POWER TO PROTEST ALL AROUND THE WORLD. I WANT TO ANCHOR OR START US OFF WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS I MADE AS A "MOJO" HERE IN THE U.S. AS I WAS CRISSCROSSING THE THE WORLD GOING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN DIFFERENT POINTS IN AFRICA AND HERE. I'M GIVING A BRIEF HISTORY OF WHAT BLACK WITNESSING HAS LOOKED LIKE IN THE U.S., AS I CALL IT IN MY BOOK. AND TALK ABOUT HOW SOME OF THE TACTICS ARE INDEED SHARED INTERNATIONALLY. AND SO I ALWAYS LIKE TO TALK ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO, WHEN THE iphone FIRST CAME OUT WITH ITS FIRST FRONT AND REAR FACING CAMERA. ANDS THIS IS A COMMERCIAL THAT MY JOURNALISM STUDENTS AND I MADE TEN YEARS AGO TO SHOW WHAT WAS POSSIBLE IN JOURNALISM. WE CALLED OURSELVES THE MORGAN MOJO LAB. AND WE WERE SITUATED AT MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. AND IT'S A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE. AND SO MY STUDENTS WERE THE FIRST ONCE IN THE WORLD TO WORK IN A MOJO ONLY ENVIRONMENT, MOBILE FIRST ENVIRONMENT. AND WE WERE INVITED AROUND THE WORLD TO SHOW PEOPLE WHAT IT IS WE WERE DOING IN OUR TINY CLASSROOM. AT ONE PARTICULAR CONFERENCE WE WERE INVITED BY GLOBAL GIRL MEDIA TO COME TO SOUTH AFRICA TO REPLICATE OUR PROCESS AND OUR CURRICULUM. AND SO WE WENT AT THE TAIL END OF THE WORLD CUP. AND WE TAUGHT MANY, MANY GIRLS THERE HOW TO PRODUCE MOBILE JOURNALISM. WHILE I WAS ON THE CONTINENT IS WHEN I REALLY STARTED TO NOTICE THAT POINTS NORTH WERE IN GREAT TURMOIL. AS MANY OF YOU PROBABLY REMEMBER, THE ARAB SPRING ERUPTED. AND DURING THAT TIME I WAS GETTING MOST OF MY NEWS ABOUT THE ARAB SPRING FROM TWITTER. AND I WAS NOT GETTING IT FROM THE BROADCAST STATIONS THAT YOU MAY THINK OF MOST OFTEN. ONE OF THE THINGS I SHOULD ALSO SAY, THOUGH, IS THAT AS I BEGAN TO SEE UNREST REALLY SPREAD THROUGHOUT MOROCCO AND -- WELL ACTUALLY TUNISIA AND LIBYA, I WAS INVITED BY MOROCCO, I SHOULD SAY, JUST AS THEIR KIND OF VIOLENCE BEGAN TO RAMP UP TO REPLICATE THE MOJO LAB THERE TOO. WE TAUGHT 40 DIFFERENT GIRLS ALL ACROSS THE NATION HOW TO DO MOBILE JOURNALISM SO THAT THERE WOULDN'T BE VIOLENCE CONTINUING IN THAT NATION. AND SO I REALLY STARTED TO REALIZE THAT I COULD DO INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES WITH MY STUDENTS, HAVING STUDENTS IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, TALK TO MY STUDENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA OR MOROCCO JUST USING THESE DEVICES. I SHOULD ALSO MENTION THAT I WANTED TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL AFTER ALL OF THESE EXPERIENCES ABROAD, BECAUSE I REALIZED THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE PAID TO READ AND WRITE AND JUST TALK ABOUT WHAT THEY READ AND WROTE. AND THOSE PEOPLE ARE CALLED PROFESSORS. AS A WORKING JOURNALIST AT THE TIME I HAD NEVER THOUGHT OF ACADEMIA BUT I SAW JUST HOW MUCH TIME ACADEMICS HAD TO ANALYZE WHAT THEY WERE DOING, PARSE WHAT THEY WERE DOING, MAKE SENSE OF IT AND THEN SHARE BEST PRACTICES. AND SO THE FIRST WEEK OF MY GRAD SCHOOL Ph.D. EXPERIENCE, MIKE BROWN WAS KILLED. ONCE AGAIN, I REALIZED THAT I'M LEARNING ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN FERGUSON, NOT FROM BROADCAST TV BUT THROUGH BLACK ACTIVISTS ON TWITTER. AND MANY OF THEM LIKE THE ONES FEATURED HERE HAVE LITTLE MORE THAN THEIR CELL PHONE AND A WI-FI CONNECTION. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS BY NOW WE WERE THREE YEARS OUT FROM THE ARAB SPRING. AND THREE YEARS AWAY FROM THE OCCUPY WALL STREET MOVEMENTS, WHICH WERE ALSO MEDIATED BY MOBILE DEVICES. YET I WASN'T SEEING ANY LITERATURE ABOUT FERGUSON AT ALL. I SAW A TON OF ARTICLES, RIGHTFULLY SO, ABOUT THE ARAB SPRING, AND A TON OF ARTICLES ABOUT THE MOBILE PHONE'S IMPACT ON OCCUPY. BUT I KEPT SEARCHING, SAYING SURELY SOMEBODY IS GOING TO WRITE SOMETHING ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE'S USE OF CELL PHONES, AND HOW THIS HAS BEEN A COMPLETELY NEW WAY OF GETTING THE MY DAD WATCHING THIS VIDEO OF RODNEY KING BEING BEATEN ALMOST TO DEATH. AND I REMEMBER MY DAD WHO IS A SON OF THE CARIBBEAN SAYING, JESUS, THEY DON'T DO THIS TO PEOPLE BACK HOME. I THOUGHT BACK HOME? WELL THIS IS MY HOME. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO MAKE OF THAT? WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU? WHAT'S HAPPENING TO MY BROTHER? AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, LOS ANGELES WHERE I'M BASED NOW ERUPTED AFTER THESE FOUR POLICE OFFICERS WERE ACQUITTED. AND EVEN WITH THE VIDEO I SAW THIS AS A WATERSHED MOMENT FOR MOBILE WITNESSING AND I SAID SURELY SOMEBODY WROTE ABOUT THIS AND I SCOURED MORE. THERE AREO THERE WERE A FEW ARTICLES HERE AND THERE BUT THE MAJORITY OF THEM WERE ABOUT THE LEGAL CASE ITSELF AND NOT THE IMPACT OF THE VIDEO. THAT'S WHEN I BEGAN TO GET THIS IDEA THAT I NEEDED TO GO BACK IN TIME TO REALLY TRACE HOW MANY TIMES AFRICAN-AMERICANS HAVE HACKED TECHNOLOGY TO SHINE A LIGHT ON INJUSTICES.