*Announcing AfroCROWD Intro to Wikimedia and How to Edit Wikipedia
workshops at the Brooklyn Public Library. Please let me know if Wikimedia
NYC would like to be added to the list of outreach partners below. As
Afrocrowd is kicking off in NYC, we welcome Wikimedia NYC's
invaluable assistance. Against the backdrop of Black History Month, the
workshops seek to further the International Decade for People of African
Descent’s development and education goals and Wikimedia’s goal of
increasing its reach. Technology companies Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo and
Twitter have recently reported that their workforce is 2% Black, a figure
non-proportionate to the 13% of Blacks living in the United States. The
Black Twitter phenomenon shows that Afrodescendants have successfully taken
to social media as an organizing tool. Exposing more Afrodescendants to
Wikimedia has the potential to take this foray a step further and transfer
skills that might deepen Afrodescendant exploration of online technology.
But beyond it all, editing Wikipedia alone or as a group is a constructive
and rewarding way to spend time online.The workshops will be the first in a
series of activities by Afro Free Culture Crowdsourcing Wikimedia
(AfroCROWD), a new initiative which seeks to increase the number of people
of African Descent who actively partake in the Wikimedia and free
knowledge, culture and software movements. The workshops are open to all
Afrodescendants including but not limited to individuals who self-identify
as African, African-American, Afro-Latino, Biracial, Black, Black-American,
Caribbean, Garifuna, Haitian or West Indian. (See the Afrocrowd MetaWiki
grant proposal:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:PEG/AFROcroWd_and_Interglider.ORG/Ou…
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:PEG/AFROcroWd_and_Interglider.ORG/Outreach_to_Afrodescendant_community_in_US>)Although
the February workshops will be held in English, they will take into account
that many Afrodescendant groups in the United States might find that access
to Wikipedia’s multilingual crowdsourcing platform can help them transfer
free knowledge to populations of African descent outside of the United
States that they are connected to through origin or direct familial bonds.
Multilingual Afrodescendants may also want to use such platforms to develop
and maintain online bodies of relevant knowledge in native languages such
as Garifuna, Haitian Kreyòl, Igbo, Spanish, Twi or Yoruba, thereby
contributing to the survival of and increasing their proficiency in those
languages while also feeling more culturally grounded. When:Saturday,
February 7th 12:30 -3PMSunday February 8th 1-3:30PM Where:Brooklyn Public
LibraryMain Branch10 Grand Army PlazaBrooklyn.
NYhttp://www.bklynlibrary.org/ <http://www.bklynlibrary.org/>(Subway: 2,3,
4 to Grand Army Plaza)Sessions will be livestreamed to facilitate access to
Afrodescendants in cities other than NY who wish to attend.Please RSVP if
you plan to attend in
person:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/afrocrowd-intro-to-wikimedia-how-to-edi…
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/afrocrowd-intro-to-wikimedia-how-to-edit-wikipedia-101-tickets-15350655223>
If
you plan to view via Livestream from a different city, please let me know
of your interest at alice.backer(a)gmail.com
<alice.backer(a)gmail.com>.AfroCROWD founders are Alice Backer, founder of
www.kiskeacity.com <http://www.kiskeacity.com/>,
www.haitianbloggers.com
<http://www.haitianbloggers.com/>, and Global Voices Lingua, a
Brooklyn-based lawyer, blogger and free knowledge and culture enthusiast
who has been aggregating and disseminating Haitian online expression since
2005 and has launched citizen media campaigns in Haiti, the Caribbean,
Africa and the United States and Milos Rancic, founder of Anarchopedia,
veteran Wikimedian with over 10 years in the movement, Wikimedia Language
Committee member and chair of
Interglider.ORG. Milica Gudovic,
Interglider.ORG's CEO, participant to the process of localization of
Creative Commons Licenses for Serbia and experienced feminist activist of
20 years, has lended considerable time and expertise to our grant proposal
and will help us with training in the coming months. Outreach partners
(evolving list):Afrolatin@ ProjectBrooklyn Public LibraryHaiti Cultural
Exchange Haitian Creole Language Institute of New York Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/afroCROWD
<https://www.facebook.com/afroCROWD>(Apologies in advance for cross-posts
to various lists as we try to network with interested wikipedians in
various cities.) Best,Alice *
A L I C E B A C K E R
Haitian Blog Aggregator:
http://haitianbloggers.com
LOF1804 Podcast:
http://www.kiskeacity.com
Blog:
http://www.kiskeacity.com
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/kiskeacity
Newsletter: Kiskeácity Daily
<http://paper.li/kiskeacity/1310337365?utm_source=subscription&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=paper_sub#>
skype: alicebacker