Black digital & experimental humanities @ UMD

Man you know what… Black people 😩😭

With a longer than expected hiatus from x, I finally activated my @bsky.app account, after attending a workshop with @rudyfraser.com hosted by @aadhum-umd.bsky.social this past week. Thank you Rudy taking us deeper into social media moderation than I've ever gone before and for the work you do.

You were excellent and we loved having you here. Don't be a stranger whenever you're in MD again - our doors are always open to you! 🌟

Here at this @aadhum-umd.bsky.social workshop today, @rudyfraser.com is taking us under (I mean under) the hood to play with and learn about creating custom feeds in bluesky, in this case developing custom algorithms— thinking about weights and requirements, definitions and filtering the firehose. 😍

MEET YOUR MATERIALS Conductive thread We are using Karl Grimm silver-plated thread, but you can also use stainless steel conductive thread. Regular thread Embroidery needle These needles are a little bigger and good for embroidering. Embroidery hoop This will keep the fabric tight as you sew. Fabric Cotton and felt work well, but you should experiment! Beeswax Very helpful to help thread your needle. Amp We're using a Adafruit Mono 2.5W Class D Amp with handy alligator clips, 1/8" jack, and battery pack all soldered in for easy testing. (See the back for instructions on how to make your own!) GOOD VIBRATIONS WHAT IS SOUND?, Sound is a type of energy made when something vibrates. If you hit a drum (or any other object), the air particles around it vibrate. The air carries this energy in all directions in the form of sound When these waves of vibrating particles reach your ears, it causes the hair in your ears to vibrate, which your brain reads as sound. Sound waves keep going until the energy dissipates or it is absorbed by another object.

Your guide to soldering By AADHum! FABRIC SPEAKERS Spark Workshop May 22, 2018 liza stark // thesoftcircuiteer.net

A wooden loom considered one of the first computers because the woven fabric can be interpreted as binary numbers

Day 1 with @aadhum-umd.bsky.social was amazing. Introduced folks to @mmasnick.bsky.social’s Trust & Safety Tycoon. Great questions about building decentralized platforms and thinking through content moderation challenges.

And, and, aaaand — I soldered something for the first time!

We’re on Day 2 of such an amazing time with @rudyfraser.com. Join us at 5:30PM @ 1104 Taliaferro Hall at UMD, College Park for the custom feeds workshop. (Free parking after 4pm!)

Excellent audience question: how might the ethical and technical independence that undergirds #Blacksky be communicated its users? Fraser points us to this great explanatory thread by @msblis.bsky.social: bsky.app/profile/msbl...

Love how Fraser turns directly to other on the ground work w/ mutual aid, which informs digital vision. Cites @tressiemcphd.bsky.social's desc of mutual aid: 'horizontal networks of solidarity,' quoting Matthew Whitley. Also, Dean Spade on distinction between non-profit work and mutual aid.

Here we go! @rudyfraser.com is describing matters of representing/supporting Black communities on social media. Turns to technical infrastructure: open source, user support, & other considerations. Thinking about systems that are sustainable, and that can operate well into the future.

“Rudy Fraser talking decentralized social media and Blacksky~!” Screenshot from AADhum story showing my content moderation workshop where I explain how Blacksky does atproto wide moderation no matter what app someone uses

Whether speaking to students in @drkalyncoghill.bsky.social’s class on Hashtag Activism or folks at @aadhum-umd.bsky.social yesterday, it’s always great to see the reactions when I mention that folks are building TikTok alternatives on atproto like @skylight.social 🖤

So much fun having you here on Day 1! 🤩 We can’t wait to learn how to create & manage custom feeds w. you today

Alert!!! Rudy being awesome and brilliant again!!! Congratulations @rudyfraser.com ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

yes! But if we get consent we'll post it online afterwards!

So very thrilled abt this series of events w. @rudyfraser.com this wk @univofmaryland.bsky.social! ⭐

🌱 Our director w. a ft on The Black Studies Podcast. She talks formation of Black Studies btwn + beyond disciplines, & centrality of experimental work in the study of Black life!

Tues 4/22 ⇣

🧑🏽‍💻 2:30pm ⇢ MITH: Fraser leads content moderation wkshp

🌌 5:30pm ⇢ MITH: Fraser talks black social media, moderation, + digital infrastructure

Wed 4/23 ⇣

🧑🏽‍💻 5:30pm ⇢ AADHum: Fraser leads wkshop on creating + managing custom feeds

From #BlackTwitter to @blacksky.app - We are in for a treat w. 3 upcoming AADHum events w/ technologist, community organizer, & creator of Blacksky, @rudyfraser.com! RSVP here: go.umd.edu/blacksky

Join us tomorrow, April 3rd at 4pm in 0301 Hornbake Library to learn about AADHum faculty Andrew Smith's latest work.

🤖 Join us tmrw - Apr 3rd @ 4pm in MITH to learn abt AADHum faculty @awwsmith.bsky.social's latest work.

A researcher, developer, + artist, Smith investigates quantum computing as a new method for creative writing & human-computer co-writing. We hope to see you there!

When we say digital @aadhum-umd.bsky.social, we mean ‘digital + experimental,’ which is how we think about our own version of #digitalhumanities

Today? Sitting here at @busboysandpoets.bsky.social listening to Curry J. Hackett on landscape, Black life, Black joy, and AI image generation.

AI? Ecology? Poetics? Black joy? Sign. me. up.

Join us this week as we welcome the renowned artist and technologist Curry Hackett to AADHum, for a campus workshop + the second event in our ongoing series at @busboysandpoets.bsky.social Hyattsville!

RSVP at the link below! 🌱

Join us for two AADHum events led by transdisciplinary artist, designer, & educator @curryhackett.bsky.social!

Thurs 3/27 ⇣

💻 1pm ⇢ MITH: wkshp on AI, art, & visualizing Black joy

🌱 5pm ⇢ @busboysandpoets.bsky.social Hyattsville: convo on AI, eco-poetics, & Black life

Poster for Introduction to Web Archiving Workshop on March 26th, 2025 at 3pm EST.

New date for our Introduction to Web Archiving workshop. March 26th, 2025 at 3pm EST. Apologies for the schedule change. RSVP here: www.archivingtheblackweb.org/event/

AADHum & MITH got together and made a baby! We named it NarraSpace.

It feels good to push toward new and ever more interactive ways to share scholarship & to find and tell our stories — looking for the new new while also homebrewing... english.umd.edu/news/step-na...

Near and dear: @walterdgreason.bsky.social talking about his transition from working as a software engineer/game dev to PhD to using his critical media & computational skills to dev texts like the Wakanda Syllabus and this graphic history, as well as rocking #blackdigitalhumanities in general

🌱💚🌱

Afrotechtopia’s Ari Melenciano & Jeremy Kamal w/ audience talkback, thinking about introspective practice, multimedia, the work of the artist in imagining human/tech futures, the work of revelation and encoding in Black Metal

🛸 You are officially invited to the Black Metal Starship Program!

On Tues. 2/25 from 5-7p, creative technologist Ari Melenciano + artist Jeremy Kamal will join us @busboysandpoets.bsky.social Hyattsville for a book talk & interactive event abt Black Metal, a limited ed. art anthology.

Join us at Busboys & Poets Hyattsville on Tues, Feb 25 from 5-7pm for a book talk & interactive event about Black Metal, an art book that uses Afrofuturist speculative design.

* Please note reschedule date due to inclement weather *