Black Women’s Resistance Online with Dr. Raven Maragh-Lloyd

AAUW Seattle members spent a fascinating morning with Professor Raven Maragh-Lloyd, who has used her AAUW fellowship grant to conduct focus groups with Black women regarding racial issues on social media and in the news, in order to uncover the social media issues that are consuming Black women. She found a huge need for sensitive support and recognition.

Social media overloads those who follow racial news with more and more racial news. This can be depressing. Some solutions are to limit screen time and/or game the algorithm by choosing Black “happy” pages – or get the algorithm changed.

What is needed is a Black space where participants are able to be vulnerable - where they can be seen and heard. Dr. Maragh-Lloyd later found her focus groups were meeting on their own after the initial meeting to provide help and support to each other.

She also shared her understanding of Performative Allyship - when others on social media may express condolences for Black violence in the news but often it feels insincere or “performative” with no real meaning - and what others have shared on the topic: “Don’t offer fake appreciation.”; “You are not required to smile and agree.”; “You are definitely not required to defend or change your hair!!”; “You are not required to ‘be strong’.”; “Don’t answer invasive questions.”; “You can always say “I just can’t answer that today.”

To support in a positive manner on social media,

• help boost Black creators by “liking” and making those creators more visible.
• develop a code of civil rights for cyberspace and government oversight on technical bias.
• take individual responsibility through quiet activism or digital activism rather than commercialism which profits from racial violence and killings shown repeatedly on media.

Following the presentation, members were able to chat with and offer questions to Raven as we discussed issues and solutions for discrimination and racism in our communities.

She is currently working on her first book, Reshaping Black Resistance: Strategic Rearticulations in the Digital Age, which explores the shifting nature of Black resistance online. And with the AAUW Fellowship Grant she received, Raven was able to complete focus group data for her book, parts of which will be published in an upcoming anthology titled Intersectional Internet.

Here are some links Dr. Mragh-Lloyd gave us, including her website.

• The Equity Engine
• Women-Owned AJL (Algorithmic Justice League) - The Movement Towards Equitable and Accountable AI
• Raven Maragh-Lloyd’s Website