On November 13th, ATC hosted a conference call for our network on racial justice and implicit bias, NSA/privacy issues, and updates on the government shutdown and its effects on important issues including immigration and the economy. As with past conference calls we invited top experts and leaders in the field to provide us with important issue updates and to discuss ways artists can get involved.
The list of speakers, their affiliated organizations, Twitter handles, and actions highlighted during their presentations are below. If you would like for ATC to facilitate an introduction to any of the presenters, please contact jamie [at] atctower.net.
For anyone who missed the call or would like a refresher, you can listen to a full recording of the call below or here.
NOTE: As referenced on the call, here is ATC’s blog post on Super Typhoon Haiyan, including best practices and how artists can help.
SPEAKERS: Alexis McGill Johnson + Phillip Atiba Goff
Alexis is the Executive Director of the American Values Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to building upon extant research to identify new methods of reducing implicit bias and racial anxiety in our society and Phillip is the Executive Director of Research for the Center for Policing Equity and Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles
Quotes from the call:
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We are currently in a racial moment — killings of Trayvon Martin, Jonathan Ferrell, Renisha McBride; and the racial conversation — have ignited countless debates on the topic of race with — what appears in the mainstream media — not much depth or understanding behind them
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We need new tools — in research and in our culture to drive more nuanced and humanizing depictions of people of color
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Bringing together artists, cultural influencers, and thought leaders together to re-imagine race and reduce our anxieties
Actions for Artists and their fan networks:
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Watch and share Alexis’ videos on implicit bias:
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Visit and share Harvard’s Project Implicit
Twitter: @alexismcgill @DrPhilGoff @AmValuesInst
SPEAKER: Ashkan Soltani
An independent researcher and consultant focused on privacy, security, and behavioral economics
Quotes from the call:
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Since all our activity has moved online, they’re able to exploit ‘the internet’ and how digital communications occur in an unprecedented way to access information on everyone.
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We can put pressure on certain actors. Data is collected by a commercial entity, not necessarily a government spy and make the scale of this transparent
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We can also make the scale of this transparent and push people towards services that have different privacy values
Actions for Artists and their fan networks:
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Read and share Ashkan’s recent articles:
Twitter: @ashk4n
SPEAKER: Mike Lux
Co-founder of Democracy Partners and author of The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be
Quotes from call:
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Storytelling is key, critical in issues. Most people are too busy. We live in an economically & culturally stressed society.
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The passion that art can inspire is so powerful in activating people on issues.
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There is so much potential with modern tech and ability to cheaply produce videos, moving things out to mass audiences for cheap, artists can inject culture into explaining difficult issues. Projects with video content, music content, parodies of trailers, music videos, etc.
Actions for Artists and their fan networks:
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Read and share this letter from Elizabeth Warren
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For more info about the stories project using culture (video, music content, parodies of ads, movie trailers, music videos) to explain complicated economic issues, visit here or ATC can put you in touch with Mike directly.