I completed my Master's of Data Visualization from Maryland Institute College of Art in December, 2020. I did not face the challenges of having teachers, friends, or colleagues telling me I couldn't do it. That's not to say earning this masters was not difficult - working full time, managing a chronic autoimmune disease in the midst of a global pandemic, moving across the country, and starting a new job were all huge challenges this year - but I had all the resources I needed to be successful at my fingertips.

My thesis is about people who don't have this available to them. It is, in fact, about perpetual marginalization of the dispossessed at the hands of our own government. Our country's history of racialized legislation and culture has led to a system of mass incarceration today, the likes of which no country has ever seen before. What is different now, from previous periods of racial control like slavery and the Jim Crow era? We have data, and we're seeing the injustices live streamed.

Although we celebrate colorblindness in America, our laws and leadership have enabled systemic racism and control that is exerted disproportionately on People of Color. Let us better understand our history so we can demand the change needed.

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"I am a man" illustrated photo credit: Bob Adelman