How to Talk About What We Don’t Want to Talk About: Driving Conversations About Racial Injustice

Thursday, November 17, 2022
4:00 PM 5:30 PM

Grand Rapids Center for Community Transformation OR Online 1530 Madison Avenue Southeast Grand Rapids, MI, 49507 United States (map)

Google Calendar ICS

This event is offered both in-person and online.

In conversations about race and injustice, what is your role in supporting your organization’s stance and sharing that voice consistently?

Join Renee Cummings, a PR practitioner and data ethicist in residence at the University of Virginia, for this candid conversation about how to create an organizational point of view on racial injustice. Cummings, who studies the impact of algorithms and artificial intelligence on criminal justice, specifically in communities of color and incarcerated populations, will help communicators in developing their organization’s stance and finding their voice in conversations on these critical topics.

With West Michigan in the global spotlight following the killing of Patrick Lyoya, the timing of this conversation is relevant as local organizations struggled with whether to speak or remain silent, and for those compelled to speak, what to say.

After Cummings’ presentation she will join a panel discussion with West Michigan leaders including:

Cle Jackson, President, Greater Grand Rapids NAACP
Eric Winstrom, Police Chief, Grand Rapids Police Department
Rich Griffin, returning citizen and contractor, Black Impact Collaborative

The panel will be moderated by Joel Van Kuiken, West Michigan PRSA member and co-founder of The Delta Project.

This WMPRSA event is part of Disrupting Data Injustice, a week-long exploration in Grand Rapids of how the use of data can influence systemic racism leading to racial disparities in criminal justice and incarceration, education, employment, health care and other community systems.

About our speaker

Renée Cummings is a leading data ethicist, criminologist, and criminal justice consultant. She serves as the first Data Ethicist in Residence at the University of Virginia. She’s been called an AI Jedi. Learn more about the journey that brought her to data ethics and why you need to be better informed about this emerging area. She was recently featured on All Tech is Human where she also provided insight on AI & Human Rights.