Hello, Black World: Du Bois, Data, and a Visual Reflection of the Black Past and Present

“Hello Black World: Du Bois, Data, and the Black Experience” walks in Du Bois's footsteps to methodically consider how we have waxed and waned in our progression. Du Bois clearly understood that simply collecting the data was not enough; rather, it needed to be presented in a way that was accessible and engaging for the everyday person. “Hello Black World” pushes Du Bois's model further by incorporating 3D visuals, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). This new exhibit allows viewers to easily compare the statistical 2D graphs of Du Bois's time with present information in the 3D. The data visualizations in our initial exhibition and now in this webtext seek to encourage students and teachers to explore the world around them using the power of data-driven storytelling. Additionally, our work also responds to Meloncon and Warner's (2017) advice for future technical and professional communication scholars to pay attention to the affordances provided by innovative, interactive visualizations as they can enhance the work of science communication. Through the Hello Black World exhibition, we've tried to make a kind of science—data science—more accessible to the public at Howard University by communicating its impact and purpose in an engaging and accessible way using interactive data visualizations.