I was a designer for Campaign Zero, and here's how all that started.
It’s going to be an all-nighter
In Summer of 2016 at 6 p.m., the phone rang. DeRay McKesson wanted to know if I could help him with a report that the team at Campaign Zero had just completed. It needed design, and more importantly, it needed data visualization. By morning. Maybe there was some wiggle room?
The desire to bide for time faded when I read it and reviewed the data sheets. If you’re a designer, you know powerful that is. “I’ll get right on it.” I wrote back.
If I make it look easy, I’m doing my job. All I really have to do is create a comprehensive design system, apply that system to type, pacing, composition, imagery, and data. Then just make sure that it can be applied to future campaigns, social media, websites, and maybe open a beer to take the edge off.
Scrolling platforms are the goldfish of the internet. Information can be consumed and forgotten. That’s why conveying large data sets in a simple way is essential for social justice movements. Sharing supporting research like this can inspire policy changes and prompt action.
The report was about Police Union Contracts. Specifically, how they make it harder to hold police accountable. It starts with info like this:
It goes on to identify 6 major areas in these contracts that make it difficult to hold police accountable for misconduct.
Then city by city, it lists which of these provisions the contracts include.
When it was released, it was picked up quickly! Fast Company even did an article explaining the importance of statistical storytelling within the BLM movement. Cities started looking harder at police union contracts. It made a difference, and so, we just kept visualizing the data.
Then 2020 happened, and activists spilled into the streets. The New York Times declared it “The Largest Movement in U.S. History”. The NYT article goes on the say:
“Four recent polls — including one released this week by Civis Analytics, a data science firm that works with businesses and Democratic campaigns — suggest that about 15 million to 26 million people in the United States have participated in demonstrations over the death of George Floyd and others in recent weeks”
The Women of BLM
I watched the documentary, Making of an Activist, on Disney + & Hulu, which detailed the start of Campaign Zero and specifically, the Police Union Contracts report. Mostly, it focused on founders DeRay McKesson and Samuel Sinyangwe, two brilliant and innovative activists. I would have loved to hear the perspectives of the 2 women founders too: Johnetta Elzie and Brittany Packnett.
In fact, without women, the BLM movement wouldn’t exist. BLM was founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi: 3 women. Disney Plus, if you’re listening, I’ll watch all the documentaries I can get, but i’ll especially take this one. Give the women their flowers.
It’s impossible to truly measure the lives that were saved through the advocacy and awareness this movement ignited. Even if it’s just one, that’s more than enough.