Royal Surprise: Reflections on Meeting Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, SXSW, and NAACP Image Awards
I am so grateful to be the recipient of the 2024 NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award! Here is a recap of how it happened.
On March 16, 2024, I was awarded the NAACP - Archewell Foundation Digital Civil Rights Award. You can read the official announcements from the Archewell Foundation and the Algorithmic Justice League (AJL) for more details. In this post, I want to bring you into the experience of receiving this award and an amazing week-long adventure leading up to it.
March 8th, 2024 - International Women’s Day
At 3:00am my alarm sounded. I had not yet packed for my 7:05 am flight. I scrambled to get a few outfits into my carry-on suitcase. Having made good time, I decided to bring a checked bag and threw in a pair of ankle cowboy boots. I was headed to Austin, Texas for South by Southwest (SXSW). Once I boarded the plane, I felt I could finally breathe. The night before I was burning the midnight oil in order to submit a written testimony for a public briefing on facial recognition technologies being held in Washington, DC on March 8th. While I couldn’t be in two places at once, my words would travel to places I could not.
I arrived at SXSW in time to catch the first keynote panel which featured Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex, Katie Couric, Errin Haines, Brooke Shields, and Nancy Wang Yuen. This high-power panel was especially fitting as we celebrated International Women’s Day. For now, I was part of the crowd.
March 9th, 2024 - Lounging Around
I visited the Female Quotient (FQ) Equality Lounge which was set up in a transformed boat house. The Equality Lounge is a traveling gathering place established by FQ to support gender equality alongside impactful conferences. The founder Shelley Zalis had invited me over for the day. One of my favorite sessions was called Dolphin Tank, a twist on the Shark Tank show where hopeful entrepreneurs pitch venture capitalists. The Dolphin Tank was less about drawing blood and more about providing support. Each entrepreneur was given feedback on how to make their pitch better, and they received audience support in the form of mentorship, future investment, and more. Dolphins included like Shelley , Kerry Rupp, Nneka Upkai,and Arlan Hamilton who recently published her second book Your First Million. No one drowns in a Dolphin Tank.
March 12th, 2023 - Documentary Loading
At the Driskill Hotel lobby, I met with Javier Lovera, a rising director collaborating with AJL on an exciting new project. Some of you may be familiar with the Emmy-nominated film Coded Bias which shows the origin story of AJL and the harmful impacts of AI on society. After it became available on Netflix in 2021, I was frequently asked if I might do another documentary. When Javier reached out about a documentary project he was working on looking at the lives of excoded individuals impacted by AI systems since 2021, I knew the answer to the future documentary question was finally … YES!. AJL is now an executive producer on his new documentary. We were meeting to both talk shop with his producer and plan a shoot for the following day.
March 13th, 2024 SXSW Keynote
As I prepared to wiggle into my white cowboy boots in the speaker’s room, I met The Ayoub Sisters. The pair was managed by their proud mother who introduced us after a sound check. I learned they would be playing the opening music before my keynote. Javier was lugging filming equipment and setting up his tripod as we got acquainted. We then made our way backstage where I met MacKenzie Sigalos, a CNBC journalist clad in a sleeveless purple suit. Before I took the stage Javier asked me questions about the written testimony I had submitted for the March 8th briefing he had attended. With 5 minutes to go, the sound man nervously attached a microphone to my lapel, and I made last minute adjustments to my slides. I had an ambitious program planned. First, I would present my research and the impact of AJL. Next, I would perform a new poem, and then do a moderated Q&A with MacKenzie who by now I was already calling Mac.
When I heard the announcer introduce me, I smoothed out my Indian silk yellow dress and stepped onto the stage overlooking a packed room with hundreds of people demanding to be entertained. I was in my element. “Hellllooooo Austin!”, I bellowed. I was met with an enthusiastic roar from the crowd. You can watch the full session below.
March 14th, 2024 - Big States
Having delivered a keynote and finished the Austin book signing for Unmasking AI, I took a last minute flight to LA. I had only planned to be in Texas that week, but some recent good set off a last minute logistics scurry. I was invited to deliver an acceptance address for a then yet to be announced award, which now everyone knows is the Digital Civil Rights Award .
March 15th, 2024 - Starstruck
I stepped onto the red carpet of the NAACP Image Awards Dinner. I spotted celebrities everywhere, I still couldn't quite believe I would be honored alongside so many people I had long watched and admired from afar. Backstage, I heard the playback of a video showing the moment I learned I would receive the good news from Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. I then walked on stage. I rarely have stage fright or blank out. But when I saw Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union sitting at one of the front tables peering at me, my mind went blank. The deep breaths I took felt like they captured infinite amounts of time. My words came to me, and I performed a tailor version of my poem AI, Ain’t I A Woman? to thunderous applause.
March 16, 2024 Catching my Breath
I woke up in the historic Hollywood Roosevelt hotel. Sunlight tickled my face as I lay in bed smiling to myself. My phone was full of messages singing congratulations.The AJL team was getting social media posts ready. I finally had some time to take it all in. I thought about the warm embraces I received from Meg and Haz (in my head, we are buddies now). I was truly moved that they had taken the time to learn so much about the work of the Algorithmic Justice League. I could also see the playful and mischievous spark in their eyes when they let me know I had received the award. I was thoroughly surprised. It now made sense why there was a cameraman and extra lighting when we met. As the sun shone brighter, I thought about the conversation I had with Prince Harry and Meghan. Among other topics, we discussed the way in which AI would exacerbate the online harassment they and their family had faced and most urgently what could be done. I chuckled that despite the conversation we had about biometric rights and algorithmic justice, the video released mainly showed me saying: “Y’all got me good!” Maybe it was the cowboy boots, or my childhood growing up in the American south..Whatever it was, my rawest expression of delight and gratitude circulated the internet.
