VIEW: Woodrow Winchester, Afrofuturism and Inclusive Design

system · June 28, 2021, 2:55am

Engaging the Black Ethos:
Afrofuturism as a Cultural Design Lens for Inclusive Technological Innovations

Woodrow W. Winchester, III
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Thursday, July 1, 2021

In his essay “Technology & Ethos," Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) states that “Black creation – creation powered by the Black ethos – brings very special results." This talk will explore Baraka’s assertion, proposing Afrofuturism as an emancipatory design lens to make "forms that will express us truthfully and totally.” Engagement with Afrofuturism supports a more inclusive design of future technologies, more relevant and responsive to Black mind, body, and spirit.

An advocate for more equitable, inclusive, and consequential approaches to technology design and deployment, Woodrow W. Winchester, III is Director of Professional Engineering Programs in the College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

system · July 1, 2021, 5:39pm

Here are the links from Woodrow’s wonderful talk, plus some other supporting resources he has provided:

Today’s Pathway:
#WATBD2021
Amiri Baraka on his poetry and breaking rules
Are you a reductionist or holist in your design approach?
A Design Thinker Reckons with Design Thinking (Tania Anaissie)
Reckoning with Design Thinking featuring Tania Anaissie
To Build More Inclusive-Inclusive Technology, Change Your Design Process
The most popular design thinking strategy is BS
Design Thinking is Fundamentally Conservative and Preserves the Status Quo
GirlTrek: Take a Walk Join A Movement
Vision Concepts
Cennydd Bowles
Afrofuturism, Inclusion, and the Design Imagination
V.E.D.T (Inclusive and Consequential by Design): Woodrow W. Winchester, III
Lesley-Ann Noel (A Designer’s Critical Alphabet)
Eliciting Tech Futures Among Black Young Adults: A Case Study of Remote Speculative Co-Design. (Christina N. Harrington and Tawanna R. Dillahunt)
Shining a Light on the Impacts of Our Innovations (Ainissa Ramirez)
Technology Versus African-Americans

Pathway Forward: Supporting Resources:
Racism and inequity are products of design. They can be redesigned. (equityXdesign)
Cheat Sheet for a Non-(or Less-) Colonialist Speculative Design
Why so many products are so badly designed
Opening up inclusion: Anti-oppression and inclusive design
Time is key: Applying a Black Quantum Futurist lens to understanding solutions to housing inequality
Project al-Khwarizmi (PAK): Stephanie Dinkins
Afrotechtopia: Ari Melenciano
Afri_Design_X
ethos.design
Dark Matter University
Musings on the Relevancy of Culture in Interaction Design (My Early and Limited Blogpost that started it all)

anand · July 1, 2021, 5:51pm

That was an amazing presentation @woodrow.winchesterii and I really appreciate the way you intertwined both powerful critiques of conventional design and an emancipatory vision for alternative pathways of imagination and practice.

ggreene · July 1, 2021, 7:31pm

Hi! I wasn’t able to make it unfortunately, was this talk recorded and will I be able to access it on your platform?

anand · July 2, 2021, 2:56am

The link to the recording is now posted above.