Black in Design 2019: African American Design Nexus

The African American Design Nexus was launched through the GSD library in 2019. The project honors the legacy of Black designers while exploring “the intersection of design, identity, and practice”. BiD is excited to partner with the Nexus through this rich conversation with four women who have fundamentally shaped the field through their visions for transformative design.
Panelists: Felecia Davis, Allison Grace Williams and Diane Jones Allen
Moderated by: Gabriel Ramos & Mariah Barber
The Black in Design Conference, organized by the Harvard University Graduate School of Design African American Student Union (GSD AASU) recognizes the contributions of the African diaspora to the design fields and promotes discourse around the agency of the design profession to address and dismantle the institutional barriers faced by our communities.
The 2019 Black in Design conference, “Black Futurism: Creating a More Equitable Future” explores pathways to liberation through a design lens, considering the historical past and present structural oppression of black and brown communities locally and internationally. The conference will demonstrate how designers, creatives, organizers, educators, and policymakers are imagining more sustainable and equitable futures for black and brown bodies. The conference will lead discussions and exhibitions on the intersection of black futurism and design, contending with the role of the radical imagination as we tackle complex urban problems of social and economic injustice. We seek to create a learning environment where participants collaborate, grappling with questions of equity and possibility, while also sharing visions for the future of black communities across the world. This environment gives agency to black and brown voices to define what a more sustainable future looks like and how we can collectively realize this vision.