Umoja Quotes

This monopoly of information is a threat to democracy...

...artificial intelligence will become a major human rights issue in the twenty-first century.

...large technologies such as Google need to be broken up and regulated, because their consolidated power and cultural influence make competition largely impossible. This monopoly in the information sector is a threat to democracy...

The implications of such marginalization are profound. The insights about sexist and racist biases... are important because information organizations, from libraries to schools and universities to governmental agencies, are increasingly reliant on being displaced by a variety of web-based "tools" as if there are no political, social, or economic consequences of doing so.

Google Search is in fact an advertising platform, not intended to solely serve as a public information resource in the way that, say, a library might. Google creates advertising algorithms, not information algorithms.

Google creates advertising algorithms, not information algorithms.

FACT: The black family (and the black male/black female relationship) was systematically DESTROYED by over 500 years of institutionalized slavery, racism, and racist media stereotypes. The white family was not.

It is impossible to achieve equality when one group has the power to deny rights to another group. Until we understand that distinction, we will not understand the difference between tolerance and acceptance.” -- Umoja

Kiswahili ni lugha rasmi ya nchi za Tanzania, Kenya na Uganda. Ni lugha isiyo rasmi ya nchi za Rwanda, Burundi, Msumbiji na Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo. Lugha ya Kiswahili ni mali ya nchi za Afrika ya Mashariki, si mali ya nchi za Afrika Mashariki peke yake. Pia, Kiswahili ni lugha rasmi ya Umoja wa Afrika; pamoja na Kiarabu, Kiingereza, Kifaransa, Kireno na Kihispania. Kiswahili ni lugha inayozungumzwa zaidi nchini Tanzania kuliko nchi nyingine yoyote ile, duniani.

algorithmic oppression is not just a glitch in the system but, rather, is fundamental to the operating system of the web.

We need people designing technologies for society to have training and an education on the histories of marginalized people, at a minimum, and we need them working alongside people with rigorous training and preparation from the social sciences and humanities.

The notion that Google/ Alphabet has the potential to be a democratizing force is certainly laudable, but the contradictions inherent in its projects must be contextualized in the historical conditions that both create and are created by it.

If Google isn’t responsible for its algorithm, then who is?

Where men shape technology, they shape it to the exclusion of women, especially Black women.

Unganeni kiuchumi, kisiasa na kijamii. Umoja ni nguvu! Mtaishia kumfunga yeyote japo awe mkubwa!

Rather than prioritize the dominant narratives, Internet search platforms and technology companies could allow for greater expression and serve as a democratizing tool for the public.

I do not think it a coincidence that when women and people of color are finally given opportunity to participate in limited spheres of decision making in society, computers are simultaneously celebrated as a more optimal choice for making social decisions.

If one holds power, one can withstand or buffer misrepresentation at a group level and often at the individual level. Marginalized and oppressed people are linked to the status of their group and are less likely to be afforded individual status and insulation...

some of the very people who are developing search algorithms and architecture are willing to promote sexist and racist attitudes openly at work and beyond, while we are supposed to believe that these same employees are developing “neutral” or “objective” decision-making tools.

Kiswahili ni lugha ya Kibantu na lugha kuu ya kimataifa ya biashara ya Afrika ya Mashariki ambayo; maneno yake mengi yamepokewa kutoka katika lugha za Kiarabu, Kireno, Kiingereza, Kihindi, Kijerumani na Kifaransa, kutoka kwa wakoloni waliyoitawala pwani ya Afrika ya Mashariki katika kipindi cha karne tano zilizopita. Lugha ya Kiswahili ilitokana na lugha za Kisabaki za Afrika Mashariki; ambazo nazo zilitokana na Lugha za Kibantu za Pwani ya Kaskazini Mashariki za Tanzania na Kenya, zilizotokana na lugha zaidi ya 500 za Kibantu za Afrika ya Kusini na Kati. Lugha za Kibantu zilitokana na lugha za Kibantoidi, ambazo ni lugha zenye asili ya Kibantu za kusini mwa eneo la Wabantu, zilizotokana na jamii ya lugha za Kikongo na Kibenue – tawi kubwa kuliko yote ya familia ya lugha za Kikongo na Kinijeri katika bara la Afrika. Familia ya lugha za Kikongo na Kibenue ilitokana na jamii ya lugha za Kiatlantiki na Kikongo; zilizotokana na familia ya lugha za Kikongo na Kinijeri, ambayo ni familia kubwa ya lugha kuliko zote duniani kwa maana ya lugha za kikabila. Familia ya lugha ya Kiswahili imekuwepo kwa karne nyingi. Tujifunze kuzipenda na kuzitetea lugha zetu kwa faida ya vizazi vijavyo.

From claims of Twitter’s racist trolling that drives people from its platform to charges that Airbnb’s owners openly discriminate against African Americans who rent their homes to racial profiling at Apple stores in Australia and Snapchat’s racist filters, there is no shortage of projects to take on in sophisticated ways by people far more qualified than untrained computer engineers, whom, through no fault of their own, are underexposed to the critical thinking and learning about history and culture afforded by the social sciences and humanities in most colleges of engineering nationwide. The lack of a diverse and critically minded workforce on issues of race and gender in Silicon Valley impacts its intellectual output.

Google’s enviable position as the monopoly leader in the provision of information has allowed its organization of information and customization to be driven by its economic imperatives and has influenced broad swaths of society to see it as the creator and keeper of information culture online, which I am arguing is another form of American imperialism that manifests itself as a “gatekeeper”18 on the web.

The spectacles of zoos, circuses, and world's fairs and expositions are important sites that predate the Internet by more than a century, but it can be argued and is in fact argued here that these traditions of displaying native bodies extend to the information age and are replicated in a host of problematic ways in the indexing, organization, and classification of information about Black and Brown bodies--especially on the commercial web.

Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu. Umoja una sisi (ubinadamu) si mimi (ubinafsi). Watu wanne wakifanya kazi kwa ushirikiano watakuwa na nguvu ya watu watano! Watakuwa na nguvu ya ziada kufanikisha malengo kama vile kuwa na uwezo wa kusaidia jamii kama timu moja au kama mtu binafsi, kujenga shule ya kijiji, kutengeneza ziada katika masuala ya uchumi wa nyumbani au wa kampuni au wa nchi au wa mtu binafsi, ushindi katika jambo lolote lile, na kadhalika. Mimi ni ubinafsi. Sisi ni ubinadamu. Ubinafsi ni uvivu. Ubinadamu ni uchapakazi.

Kuna nguzo saba ambazo hazina budi kuzingatiwa kama unataka kuheshimiwa na kuwaheshimu wengine. Kwanza kabisa jitambue: wewe ni nani na unafanya nini hapa duniani. Halafu, kabla ya kusema jambo lolote kwa mtu yoyote fikiria kwanza maana au madhara ya hilo unalotaka kulisema. Kisha jifunze tamaduni mbalimbali na watendee wengine kama vile unavyotaka kutendewa au kama vile wanavyotaka kutendewa. Jifunze kusamehe na kusuluhisha migogoro katika jamii unamoishi huku ukidumisha heshima na utu kwa binadamu wenzako. Jijengee imani kwa watu, punguza upendeleo, fanya kazi kama timu kwani hakuna ‘mimi’ katika umoja ila kuna ‘sisi’, na jitahidi kwa kadiri ya uwezo wako WOTE kwa manufaa ya wote. Kuwa kiongozi katika kila jambo unalofanya na katika kila kitu unachofanya. Jitahidi kufanya jambo au kitu kwa usahihi kwa kadiri utakavyoweza.

From claims of Twitter's racist trolling that drives people from its platform to charges that Airbnb's owners openly discriminate against African Americans who rent their homes to racial profiling at Apples stores in Australia and Snapchat's racist filters, there is no shortage of projects to take on in sophisticated ways by people far more qualified than untrained computer engineers, whom, through no fault of their own, are underexposed to critical thinking and learning about history and culture afforded by the social sciences and humanities in most colleges nationwide. The lack of a diverse and critically minded workforce on issues of race and gender in Silicon Valley impacts its intellectual output.

Contrary to what many well-intentioned people believe, the fact that we have multiple social media platforms today has little effect on spreading genuinely diverse narratives and perspectives. Social media is not only increasingly in the hands of a few billionaires strongly connected to the ruling class (e.g., Meta acquiring some of the most popular and active platforms), but also the fact that social media platforms operate based on carefully designed and manipulated algorithms to promote the viewpoints of the ruling class in what Cathy O’Neil has called ‘weapons of math destruction’, and what Safiya Umoja Noble insightfully calls ‘algorithms of oppression’, which apply not only to racial matters, but extend to every other matter that is potentially at odds with the desires of the ruling class.

Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu. 2 + 2 = 5. Umoja una sisi, si mimi. Watu wanne wakifanya kazi kwa ushirikiano, watakuwa na nguvu ya watu watano, watakuwa na nguvu ya ziada.

Umoja ni nguvu, utengano ni udhaifu. 2 + 2 = 5. Umoja una sisi (ubinadamu), si mimi (ubinafsi). Watu wanne wakifanya kazi kwa ushirikiano watakuwa na nguvu ya watu watano! Watakuwa na nguvu ya ziada kufanikisha malengo kama vile kuwa na uwezo wa kusaidia jamii kama timu au kama mtu binafsi, kujenga jengo la ofisi, kutengeneza ziada katika masuala ya uchumi wa kampuni au nchi au wa mtu binafsi, ushindi katika kitu chochote kile, na kadhalika. Mimi ni ubinafsi. Sisi ni ubinadamu. Ubinafsi ni uvivu. Ubinadamu ni uchapakazi.

Hakuna mimi katika umoja. Kuna sisi.

Katika umoja hakuna 'umimi', kuna 'sisi kwa pamoja'; na lengo la umoja ni kutengeneza nguvu, ya ziada.

Tabia yako ya siri mwanao atakuwa nayo! Kama Nelson Mandela alikuwa alama ya msamaha, msamaha ni tabia yetu. Kama Kwame Nkrumah alikuwa alama ya umoja, umoja ni tabia yetu. Kama Patrice Lumumba alikuwa alama ya uzalendo, uzalendo ni tabia yetu. Kama Robert Mugabe ni alama ya udikteta, udikteta ni tabia yetu. Kama Haile Selassie alikuwa alama ya ushujaa, ushujaa ni tabia yetu. Kama Samora Machel alikuwa alama ya ujamaa, ujamaa ni tabia yetu. Kama Julius Kambarage Nyerere alikuwa alama ya haki, haki ni tabia yetu. Sisi ni watoto wa wazalendo wa Afrika! Wao ni baba wa mataifa ya Afrika! Tumerithi tabia zao za siri.

Ukanda wa Gaza ni jimbo lenye miji minne na kambi mbalimbali za wakimbizi za Umoja wa Mataifa – lenye urefu wa kati ya kilometa 41 au maili 25 na lenye upana wa kati ya kilometa 6 mpaka 12 au maili 3.7 mpaka 7.5, pamoja na eneo la jumla la kilometa za mraba 365 au maili za mraba 141. Jimbo hili liliwahi kutawaliwa na Wamisri, Wakaanani, Waisraeli, Wasiria, Wababelonia, Wagiriki, Warumi, Waturuki, Waingereza, na Wapalestina, na limekuwa uwanja wa vita kwa karne nyingi kwa sababu za kidini na kihistoria. Ukanda wa Gaza uko chini ya Palestina. Uko chini ya serikali ya Hamas.

Kama George Bush angekuwa na amani ndani ya moyo wake na Saddam Hussein angekuwa na amani ndani ya moyo wake Vita ya Ghuba isingetokea. Vilevile, katika kitabu cha ‘Kolonia Santita’, kama Rais wa Tume ya Dunia angekuwa na amani ndani ya moyo wake na kiongozi wa Kolonia Santita angekuwa na amani ndani ya moyo wake Kolonia Santita isingepigana na Umoja wa Mataifa. Taifa lisingepigana na taifa, na mataifa yasingepigana na magaidi.

Mpelelezi wa Tume ya Dunia kutoka Jerusalem, Israeli, Kanali Daniel 'Yehuda Ben-Asher' Ebenezer, Daniel Yehuda, alikuwa komandoo wa kitengo cha mauti na utekaji nyara cha Shirika la Kijasusi la Mossad la Israeli (Kidon) kabla ya kujiunga na Kikosi Maalumu cha Kikomandoo cha Tume ya Dunia (EAC) huko Oslo, kwa makubaliano maalumu kati ya Baraza la Usalama la Umoja wa Mataifa (UNSC) na Shirika la Kijasusi la Mossad la Israeli.

In this case, the clicks of users, coupled with the commercial processes that allow paid advertising to be prioritized in search results, mean that representations of women are ranked on a search engine page in ways that underscore women’s historical and contemporary lack of status in society—a direct mapping of old media traditions into new media architecture.

Political conmanship has no place in Umoja, Nairobi, Kenya, or anywhere in the world. Let's avoid politicians and vote for leaders who will work hard and smart to ensure progress and sustainability.

During the summer of 1964, in the face of intensified racial terror and limited federal protection, local community residents organized themselves to protect their communities and hundreds of volunteers who came to support voter and human rights efforts in the state. Armed resistance by local people was a common feature and practice during Freedom Summer.

McComb became popularly known as the “bombing capital of the world” in 1964.89 There were twelve bombings of homes, churches, and businesses in the Black community of McComb between June 22nd and August 12th. The perpetrators of the rash of bombing were the local Klavern of the United Klans of America.

McComb became popularly known as the “bombing capital of the world” in 1964.89 There were twelve bombings of homes, churches, and businesses in the Black community of McComb between June 22nd and August 12th.

After midnight, state and city police fired hundreds of rounds into Alexander Hall, a female dormitory, from which officers claimed snipers had fired. Alexander Hall and other student residences were riddled with bullet holes, looking more like a war zone than a college campus. A 21-year-old Jackson State student, Phillip Lafayette Gibbs, and seventeen-year-old high school student, James Earl Green, lay dead from the assault of police officers on campus.

There is no algorithm that can replace human dignity. They created a system that simulates a value, based on their own algorithm...

In addition to the economic reprisals, terrorist violence was directed at the Hazelwood household. Crosses were burned on the lawn of the Hazelwood residence. Nightriders drove by the Hazelwood domicile and fired into the home. Regular raids on the Hazelwood home had become so common that the family became accustomed to sleeping on the floor with their son under the bed to better avoid gunfire from nightriders. The Hazelwood family had become so accustomed to responding to gunfire that Luella Hazelwood joked that her eight-year-old son once said, “Didn’t President [John] Kennedy know you are supposed to duck when someone is shooting?

The near-ubiquitous use of algorithmically driven software, both visible and invisible to everyday people, demands a closer inspection of what values are prioritized in such automated decision-making systems.

Michael Omi and Howard Winant, two key scholars of race in the United States, distinguish the ways that racial rule has moved “from dictatorship to democracy” as a means of masking domination over racialized groups in the United States.11 In the context of the web, we see the absolving of workplace practices such as the low level of employment of African Americans in Silicon Valley and the products that stem from it, such as algorithms that organize information for the public, not as matters of domination that persist in these realms but as democratic and fair projects, many of which mask the racism at play.