Blog 08

The speaker that I chose is Sasha Constanza-Chock on Design Justice. They are an associate professor at MIT and a non-binary trans-identifying person. Sasha is currently the Head of Research & Sensemaking at OneProject.org and an associate professor at Northeastern for Arts, Media, & Design. Sasha starts off by recounting a story about going through airport security, already apprehensive of what is to come. The TSA scan operator was prompted to choose either “male” or “female” on the UI. While Sasha presents as a woman, the millimeter scan labeled Sasha otherwise. Either way, Sasha is read by the technology as “risky” and is immediately flagged. Sasha’s story leads to design justice and dismantling oppressive design structures. Sasha is an effective communicator for their sincerity and detailed breakdown of topics. They wrote a book called Design Justice, breaking down community-led practices and how they can be reformed to be more inclusive. Sasha’s personal story was very digestible so that the audience can empathize and understand the issue at hand.

https://oneproject.org