Dear colleagues, Below I share the response from the American Association of Geographers president to my email, and my response. Thank to Kalpana Shankar for asking for more info from the AAG. While steps are being made and a greater explanation of the implications of this bill can be found below, your support will be a great help in the days ahead. All best, Jack ** Dear Glen, Thank you, Glen! Thank you for your reply and for all that you have done already, especially your reply to the Muslim ban. It is affirming to me (and surely others) that you have already begun work on this and are offering next steps. For those of you who (also) do not deeply take in the presidential missives of the AAG (I can see Mona nodding at me in my mind's eye on this matter), I am posting an excerpt of Glen's full blog post <http://news.aag.org/2017/01/creating-and-preserving-actionable-and-policy-relevant-geography/> at the end of this message in which our letter advocated many of his ideas. Thank you to entire Executive Committee for leading the AAG in these times. As a reminder, the heart of this bill is not simply some issue of access to data or a discussion of science, as Sharlene Mollett thoughtfully pointed out on the GeogFem list. This bill is totally and absolutely racist and anti-poor. If passed, it would further the oppression of minorities by not only ignoring them but completely invisibilizing them. And it is with data and with the knowledge we create from our analysis of it that we can fight for justice. The data are a means to an end. The focus is resisting oppression and violence, and supporting and enacting social justice through the actionable policy Glen mentions below. To remind folks of further actions suggested in our previous letter, please share the contents and repercussions of this bill with scholars in other fields, activists, and journalists. Also, please share your expertise and thoughts via social media. For those of you who would like to enter or even understand the world of Twitter, I highly recommend microbiologist/zoologist Jojo Scoble's simple and thoughtful "Twitter for Academics." <https://onlineacademic.wordpress.com/social-media-for-academics/twitter-for-academics/>The #datarefuge hashtag <https://twitter.com/hashtag/datarefuge?lang=en> is drawing more and more use by the day, and, also note the #PresidentAAG hashtag Glen uses below, as well as @theAAG account directly. Best regards, Jack *Excerpt from Glen MacDonald's "Creating and Preserving Actionable and Policy Relevant Geography" <http://news.aag.org/2017/01/creating-and-preserving-actionable-and-policy-relevant-geography/> published Jan. 29th, 2017* ... Not only would the creation of new Federal geospatial databases on racial disparities be prohibited, so too would access to existing geospatial information of this sort and the use of Federal funds from agencies such as the National Science Foundation to study such data. As written, this represents a direct attack on the ability of geographers and others to produce actionable and policy relevant research on racial disparities in this country. What then can be done about the threat posed by S.103 and H.R. 482 to geospatial and geographical information and research? The AAG has already drafted and sent a letter of concern to Senator Lee. However, I would suggest more needs be done by our members directly. First, spread the word to geographers, other scholars and the public about the threat posed by S.103 and H.R. 482. Second, take a moment to contact your Federal Senators and representative – easily done via https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials. Third, you may want to also contact the Bill’s sponsors with your concerns. Finally, stay aware, informed and communicative of similar threats to geospatial information or geographical research that may arise in the future. We may well be entering an era when not only has the need to create actionable and policy relevant geography never been more pressing, but the fight to preserve our ability to conduct such research never more necessary. Join the conversation on Twitter #PresidentAAG. -- Jen Jack Gieseking Assistant Professor of Public Humanities American Studies, Trinity College @jgieseking jgieseking.org peopleplacespace.org

...

sent on the go

On Feb 1, 2017, at 12:17 AM, Glen MacDonald <macdonal@geog.ucla.edu> wrote: Thanks Jack! Please take a look at my February AAG President’s Column which takes aim at these bills and suggests some actions folks can take. http://news.aag.org/2017/01/creating-and-preserving-actionab le-and-policy-relevant-geography/ The AAG has also already sent a letter of protest to the bills’ senate authors. Cheers, Glen -- Jen Jack Gieseking Assistant Professor of Public Humanities American Studies Program, Trinity College 300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106 www.jgieseking.org www.peopleplacespace.org @jgieseking <https://twitter.com/jgieseking> On Tue, Jan 31, 2017 at 11:30 PM, Jack Jen Gieseking <jgieseking@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear AoIR colleagues,

Colleagues and I just posted this collaboratively written email to various geography lists. Please help us get the word out and encourage AoIR, @theAAG (American Association of Geographers), and other disciplinary groups (AAA, ASA, ASA, MLA, AHA, et al) to take action.

With you, Jack

**

Dear Geographers,

We are writing to bring your attention to the US HR 482 and SB 103, which are an attack on the collection, storage, and distribution of geospatial information, antiracism work, and affordable housing (see below). The text of the bill <https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/482/text?r=117>, “Local Zoning Decisions Protection Act of 2017,” will nullify HUD's 2015 “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” report to "have no force or effect," and does so by eliminating the data to support social change.

In other words, the bill stands at odds with the pursuit of knowledge about human geography, including census data. The bill would prohibit a significant amount of the work we do on race, racism, and fair housing in the US, as well as GIS research more broadly, all of which thwart work towards social justice. A key section reads as follows:

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no Federal funds may be used to design, build, maintain, utilize, or provide access to a Federal database of geospatial information on community racial disparities or disparities in access to affordable housing.

We encourage feedback, wisdom, and action among our respective lists, AAG specialty groups, other collectives and collegial relationships, and the AAG leadership. We ask you to share word about this bill with colleagues in other disciplines and on social media, using the hashtags #datarefuge and #datarescue when doing so to connect this issue to larger issues of public data and public data collection erasure, obfuscation, and elimination. We also encourage US citizens to reach out to your congressional representatives or to organize from afar in solidarity to stop this bill. Full links to the Senate and House bills are below.

Thanks to Euan Hague for bringing this to the CRIT-GEOG list's attention, and for Reed Underwood's response.

Onward together, Jack Gieseking, Trinity College Emily Mitchell-Eaton, USCS Hector Agredano, CUNY Graduate Center Elizabeth R. Johnson, Hobart & William Smith Colleges Naomi Adiv, Portland State University Ryan Burns, University of Calgary -- Jen Jack Gieseking Assistant Professor of Public Humanities American Studies Program, Trinity College 300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106 www.jgieseking.org www.peopleplacespace.org @jgieseking <https://twitter.com/jgieseking>