Designing for Liberation, Rehearsing Freedom
Summary
Amahra Spence will speak on the themes of the conference, reflect back key insights that emerged over the course of the three days, and leave us with critical questions we can carry forward as a community, and individuals after the conference is over.
Key Insights
-
•
Liberation surpasses equality and equity by addressing past injustices and enabling future progress simultaneously.
-
•
Amara's work is deeply informed by Black imagination, diaspora experiences, and cultural forms like hip hop and grime music.
-
•
Scientific fiction is a metaphor for organizing: imagining futures that don’t yet exist to practice new realities.
-
•
The concept of 'designing from imagination' challenges us to reject inherited limiting worldviews in civic design.
-
•
'Yard,' a community space inspired by Amara’s grandfather’s Caribbean home, serves as a prototype for radical hospitality and mutual aid.
-
•
Organizational governance benefits from models beyond flat or hierarchical, such as a solar system metaphor centered on mission interdependence.
-
•
Marginalized groups, including youth and elders, hold crucial embodied wisdom that must be recognized and invested in.
-
•
Culture and the arts are critical to liberation work by fostering new narratives and experimenting with systems change.
-
•
Mutual aid should be the default community practice, emphasizing generosity beyond transactional interactions.
-
•
Designing for generative endings is necessary to avoid clinging to outdated power structures and enable regenerative transformation.
Notable Quotes
"Liberation not only repairs past injustice, makes fair in the present, but removes barriers to progress and influences future outcomes."
"All organizing is science fiction; it’s about the imaginations we choose to design from."
"I often feel trapped inside someone else’s imagination and I must engage my own imagination to break free."
"The Caribbean front room of my granddad’s home was both affirming and radicalizing, a site of education and politics."
"Hip hop is a social critique born from necessity, and what if its musicality could inform the built environment’s future?"
"We don’t want a flat or hierarchical organization; we designed a solar system where the mission is the sun."
"We have to design for better endings, the most regenerative possible, instead of hoarding power or clinging to long-term roles."
"The small things are how we do the big things; there’s no shortcut to real change."
"Our future is made up of today’s decisions, relationships, practices, and commitments—what do we need to practice now?"
"To the brave people here: support other organizers, be them if you can’t support, and protect them with everything you can."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"There is no certainty ever in research; qualitative and quantitative approaches complement each other for different purposes."
Anna Avrekh Dr. John Pagonis Klara Pelcl Sina SchreiberExpert Panel: Leading in and with Research
March 10, 2022
"Democratizing research is okay as long as we remain experts in rigorous methods and question questionable research kindly."
Taylor KlassmanShaping the Next Era of UX Research: Collaborative Forum
March 11, 2025
"Our standard research frameworks and tools are often inadequate for addressing complex social problems."
Dr. Jamika D. Burge Steve Portigal Alba Villamil Sam LadnerThe Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps
July 29, 2021
"When you test inclusively, you’re learning about the people who will be directly impacted by your work, your users."
Marisa BernsteinIt Takes GRIT: Lessons from the Small, but Mighty World of Civic Usability Testing
December 9, 2021
"I give every team I work with an 80/20 rule: 80% of your UI can be standard components, and 20% must be custom designed."
Dan Mall“Ask Me Anything” with Dan Mall, Author of Upcoming Rosenfeld Title, Design that Scales
October 2, 2023
"I challenge all of us to pull back from self-congratulations when we hear talk of extractive practices."
Chris GeisonTheme 1 Intro
March 9, 2022
"Weave in great user stories that exemplify your key points to maximize engagement."
Bruce GillespieLearning from journalism: Balancing impactful communication with compassionate storytelling
March 13, 2025
"In India, a cow crossing the road can disrupt Uber pickups, showing the need to design with local realities in mind."
Nancy DouyonWe'll Figure That Out in the Next Launch: Enterprise Tech's Nobility Complex
June 15, 2018
"Redemptive design means to buy back or restore something or someone to its rightful place."
Liz EbengoThe Burden on Children: The Cost of Insufficient Post-Conflict Services and Pathways Forward
December 4, 2024
