In 2018, we conducted the largest survey of Black people in the United States since Reconstruction. Over 30,000 Black people from across the country participated in the inaugural Black Census Project, providing their views, political beliefs, concerns, and aspirations. 4 years later, we’re excited to launch the second Black Census Project. Take the Black Census today and let your voice be heard!
Alicia GarzaPrincipal, Black Futures Lab
The Black Census Project is an important step in transforming Black communities into constituencies that build power in cities and states. We’re talking to 200,000 Black people from diverse communities across the country because we want to know what you care about and we want to hear your dreams.
Interested in supporting Black Futures Lab?
Not registered to vote yet? What are you waiting for?
Your voice matters.
Our voice matters.
Black people are often spoken about or spoken for but Black people are rarely listened to.
The Black Census Project aims to set the record straight.
In order to give Black people an opportunity to speak for ourselves, the Black Census Project will conduct the largest national survey of Black people across class, disability, gender, geography, immigration status, and sexuality. The collected information will clarify the diversity of wants and needs that Black people imagine for our communities.
This survey will capture a more accurate picture of who we are and what we care about. The Black Census asks Black communities what we see as the key issues in our communities and asks us about what we think needs to be done to address those issues, so that our lives can change for the better.
Black Futures Lab works with Black people to transform our communities, building Black political power and changing the way that power operates—locally, statewide, and nationally.
The problems facing Black communities are complex. The solutions to these problems will come from our imagination, our innovation, and experimentation. Changing our communities for the better requires changing culture that takes Black people for granted and changing policies and laws that make us criminals and keep resources from our communities.
To get there, we work to understand the dynamics impacting our communities; we build the capacity of our communities to govern; and we engage and include Black people in the decisions that impact our lives.
We are talking to 200,000 Black people in 2022. The Black Census Project uses an interactive online tool as well as in-person surveys so Black community members can share their stories and discuss their concerns. The survey collects information about key issues impacting Black communities including: generational oppression, mass incarceration, police violence, and inequities in healthcare and economic access. The information gathered will guide the priorities and positions of the Black Futures Lab. This project is historic—you should take it so that your voice can be heard, and so that the things you care about can get addressed!
We won’t collect or share any personal information—but we will share the information we collect about the patterns we see happening in our communities and what Black people want to see done about what they see. We’ll share that data with survey participants, with Black-led community-based organizations, and with elected officials and legislators who make decisions about our communities. This information will be a resource for improving the ways we serve our Black communities.
Join our mailing list to receive
the latest news and updates from the
Black Futures Lab team.