Welcome to the GIS for Equity & Social Justice Group – Let’s get started!

MargotBordne · ‎04-20-2020

Welcome and thanks for joining the GIS for Equity & Social Justice Group on GeoNet. In this group, members can find a community of people who are leveraging GIS to advance equity and social justice. This is a space for members to collaborate, share their work, connect with other professionals, ask questions, participate in discussions, share successes and challenges, and learn about relevant events. The Esri administrators of the group, Clinton Johnson and Margot Bordne, will also share the latest information and resources from Esri on this topic.

To get started, we invite you to first review the group features and overview page and familiarize yourself with the group info, admins, and GeoNet 101 information in the left column. As you explore the group, you’ll also find tools to connect and collaborate so we encourage you to use them to share files, create blogs, ask/answer questions and read the latest blogs posts and join discussions.

Next, we invite you to post a comment below to introduce yourself, share about the work you do, and something you hope to gain from this space.

We’re excited to connect and collaborate with you and we look forward to seeing your contributions.

- Clinton & Margot

GregoryBabinski · ‎04-29-2020

Clinton & Margot - Thanks for setting up this discussion. It was just late 2018 that a few of us conceived the idea of focusing on GIS for equity and social justice. Somewhere in my consciousness I've known that geography could be applied to social justice since my days at Wayne State University at the time that William Bunge had launched the Detroit Geographic Expedition with Gwendolyn Warren, and as a result, got himself fired and listed by HUAC.

In addition to helping organize the first GIS for ESJ session at GIS-Pro 2018 in Palm Springs, the following year I collaborated with Nicole Franklin and Mark Salling to write an article on the topic of GIS for ESJ for The GIS Professional. Then Nicole and I developed the Introduction to GIS for ESJ workshop. Last year I was awarded an American Geographic Society EthicalGEO Fellowship, to develop a GIS for ESJ Best Practices. This will become a new topic in the GIS & T Body of Knowledge.

And recently I published an article about a geographic analysis of the true message of Confederate Civil War monuments in the GIS Professional.

I look forward to collaborating with you all to further the use of GIS for ESJ.

MargotBordne · ‎04-29-2020

Welcome Greg!!

Anonymous User · ‎05-04-2020

Hi Margot, have a look at Geonet Conservation GIS group Conservation GIS, especially the Tribal & Traditional section & the Community - Environmental Justice section. I started esri's grants in 1989 and granting to first nations & social justice groups was high on the agenda, however conservation was the name adopted for the whole program so it's likely folks might not know about all the tribal & community work. I just added a link to your new group in a new post on Dolores Huerta I was working on, I hope that's ok. Let me know if you want to collaborate more!

VictoriaBeckley1 · ‎05-06-2020

Hey Margot, Clinton, and everyone else! Thanks for putting this together!

Brief intro -- I'm Victoria, and I work for Redwood City in the Bay Area where I work on a variety of GIS projects. Those projects aren't social justice oriented, but they do use Esri's ArcGIS Online (/Enterprise), so I'll go ahead and link to the majority of those incase anyone is seeking web mapping inspiration or input -- I'm always down to talk about design, or data management, or technical stuff.

Outside of work I'm able to focus more on social justice oriented cartography. Not sure how successful I've been thus far, but always looking for new projects and collaborations and whatnot. My portfolio is here if anyone's interested.

Anyway, excited about this space, and hoping to hear more about what others are doing and gain inspiration from you all. Definitely could use it during these COVID times.

Best,

Victoria

PatrickEwing · ‎05-08-2020

Hi everyone!

I'm Patrick, a sociology/human geography grad student and researcher in NYC studying spatial justice and the right to the city. I'm interested in using GIS to uncover and communicate inequity across the city. I'm excited to see how others are using ArcGIS to map social justice issues at different scales.

Thanks!

Patrick

MargotBordne · ‎05-08-2020

Hi Patrick, welcome to the site! You may be interested in this story map by the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum called A Right to the City. Would love to learn more about your work.

RebeccaTheobald · ‎05-08-2020

Thank you for facilitating this group.

I am Rebecca Theobald, a research professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. My current focus is encouraging students and community members to understand the apportionment and redistricting process through the GeoCivics project (Welcome to GeoCivics | GeoCivics | University of Colorado Colorado Springs ).

Check out the story map (http://arcg.is/1W0Wyj), TEDx Talk (REDISTRICTING of the people, by the people, and for the people | Rebecca Theobald | TEDxMashpeeED - ...), and background research (https://www.uccs.edu/geocivics/sites/geocivics/files/inline-files/InteractiveMapping_TransparentRedi...) for more information. Explore the resources for your state (State Resources | GeoCivics). We want people to understand the power of GIS in drawing electoral districts.

Nice to meet all of you!

MargotBordne · ‎05-11-2020

Hi Rebecca,

Nice to meet you! Great Story Map and Ted Talk.

Have you seen this latest Esri Blog post on the Dolores Huerta Foundation's fight for fair redistricting in California? Maps: The Fight for Fairer Redistricting and Voting Rights

You may also be interested in this Race and Equity Census 2020 Data Hub project by the Race and Equity Anchor Collaboration.

You are doing important work! Keep it up

-Margot

LaToyaGray · ‎05-12-2020

Greetings!!! This is the group that I've been waiting for!! My name is LaToya Gray and I live in Richmond, Virginia. I am a Masters of Liberal Arts grad student who is applying for a transfer into a graduate Historic Preservation program. I have also been serving on a planning committee that is drafting the City of Richmond's 2020 strategic plan. It is through this experience that I learned more about the power of maps. Maps that were used to devalue and destroy neighborhoods--including ones that my loved ones resided in.

I wanted to take back some of that power, so I enrolled in a G.I.S. class last fall and received a Fundamentals in G.I.S. certificate and am now working on my own projects. One includes a Story Map which addresses the maps used by planners during the 1940s-1950s to shape the City of Richmond. Another is a map of the residents, businesses and other places that were displaced from the downtown Richmond area during the urban renewal period. Admittedly, the latter has been harder for me because I want to do my best to honor those who experienced such a painful and devastating injustice.

I have been looking for a group to share my work with, with understanding that I am a novice at this! I look forward to suggestions and reading about what others are working on. Thank you so much for creating this group Margot and Clinton!

Sincerely,

LaToya