HACKING RACIAL EQUITY
We brought together Grand Rapids community members from faith, education, development and non-profit sectors. We focused each hacking session on an artifact they felt conveyed an inaccurate narrative about Grand Rapids. Then we hacked the artifact. The hacks generated critiques, insights, hopes, and dreams. We then used what generated from the hacking sessions to produce a final report of re-illustrations, comics, erasure poems, and more about racial equity leadership in Grand Rapids, MI.
How to Hack
- Get some friends together. At least three.
- Pick an artifact that needs to be hacked. Like the ones mentioned above. Even job ads and photos can be hacked.
- Pick a few pages. Go old school. Print them out. Everybody needs a hard copy.
- Get stuff to write with. Pencils, markers, whatever.
- Set the clock for 10 minutes. Maybe a bit longer. Everybody works individually. Get to hacking:
- Re-illustrating
- Re-writing
- Making micro edits
- Annotating
- Putting something on it
- Re-illustrating
- Then, talk with each other. One at a time, share how you hacked the artifact. Point to things you did. Lay it out so people can see. Tell them what you were thinking.
- Listen to each other. Respond to other people’s hack. Make sense together.
You can hold a hacking session on your own, but can also hack this document. In fact, we want you to. We expect you to. That’s why in each of the sections, we’ve built opportunities for you to write on, re-illustrate, and annotate what we created. We are inviting you to hack. You’ll know that when you see
Because you’re a hacker. Not with a computer but with the story that’s being told about Grand Rapids.
Sit with your friends. Sit with your community. You are a hacker.
Grand Rapids, MI
2019—2021
Products: