Mapping for Racial Equity
February
Maps are inherently powerful beacuse they tell stories about space and how land is being occupied. Historically, maps have been leveraged as tools to both uphold and expand power. There are countless examples of how cartographers have created maps with the intention of perpetuating racist and discriminatory practices. This month, we're going to take a look back at the history of maps and discuss how open-source tools help democratize the mapping process.
Guest Speaker
Clinton Johnson
Clinton G. Johnson is a National Geographic Explorer and a tech industry veteran specializing in GIS, solution architecture, and racial justice. He began his career in Philadelphia, pioneering the city's first enterprise GIS platforms. At Esri, Johnson served as a Solution Architect before founding the Racial Equity & Social Justice Initiative and becoming Esri's first Racial Equity & Social Justice Lead. An intrapreneur at heart, he developed a framework combining racial equity, social justice, and geospatial practices. In 2023, he extended his reach as an Executive-on-Loan to NAACP, serving as their Interim GeoEquity Innovation Officer. Johnson also founded NorthStar of GIS, a nonprofit committed to racial justice and Black representation in geospatial fields. His work has earned him the 2023 National Geographic Wayfinder Award and the inaugural Individual DEI Trailblazer Award from the World Geospatial Industry Council.
Train Your Mappers
Overview of the Process
1. Create an OSM Account & Complete the iD Editor Walkthrough
2. Learn to Navigate the Tasking Managers & Find a Project
3. Selecting a Mapping Square
4. Tips to be a Good Mapper
5. Saving Your Edits & Submitting your Square
1. Creating an OSM Account
2. Completing the iD Editor Walkthrough
3. Navigating the Tasking Managers & Finding a Project
4. Tips to be a Good Mapper
5. Saving your Edits & Submitting Your Square
Mapping Workflow
1. Go to https://tasks.teachosm.org/projects/791
2. Sign in with your OSM Credentials
3. Read the instructions
4. Click 'Contribute'
5. Select an available mapping square
6. Start mapping! For this project, we are only mapping buildings.
7. Make sure to save every 10 edits using your chapter hashtag (#TeenMaptivists #TM_SchoolInitials)
8. When you are done mapping, indicate that the square is not completely mapped (while we are only mapping buildings, the project requests roads, so we will not mark the cell as completely mapped) and click 'Submit'
Goal: 20-30 Edits!
Mapping Task
Project #791
*Read slides 7-13 in the slideshow below to learn about this month's project below
Announcements
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Announce the location and time of February's Local Map-a-Thon
Planning a Local Map-a-Thon
In the above document, you will a brief overview of the purpose and objectives of the Local Map-a-Thon. We have also formulated some examples of activities your chapter may choose to do as well as some helpful tips and tricks.
After each Local Map-a-Thon, please submit a brief recap of what activity your chapter chose to do, using the above form. The form includes a section where you can upload some pictures for us to share with the broader network!