Samuel Sinyangwe
{{short description|Data scientist and activist}}
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| alma_mater = Stanford University
| occupation = Policy analyst, activist
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| organization = Mapping Police Violence
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Samuel Sinyangwe (born May 12, 1990){{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/samswey/status/1260366464059662338 |title=Samuel Sinyangwe on Twitter: "30 years old.🍾… " |access-date=2020-05-19 |archive-date=2020-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513104903/https://twitter.com/samswey/status/1260366464059662338 |url-status=live }} is an American policy analyst and racial justice activist. Sinyangwe is a member of the Movement for Black Lives, the founder of Mapping Police Violence, a database of police killings in the United States and the Police Scorecard, a website with data on police use of force and accountability metrics on US police and sheriff's departments. Sinyangwe is also a co-founder of We the Protestors, a group of digital tools that include Campaign Zero, a policy platform to end police violence and a co-host of the Pod Save the People podcast, where he discusses the week's news with a panel of other activists.
Early life
Sinyangwe was born May 12, 1990, to a Tanzanian father and a European Jewish mother who met while studying at Cornell University.{{cite tweet|number=874390139883204608|user=samswey|title=It's the 50th anniversary of Loving vs Virginia, the case which legalized interracial marriage. And I've got a story to tell... (1/x)|date=12 June 2017}} He grew up in the College Park neighborhood of Orlando, Florida and attended Winter Park High School in the International Baccalaureate program.{{cite news|last1=Cordeiro|first1=Monivette|title=How an Orlando data scientist is helping #BlackLivesMatter make the case against police violence|url=http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/how-an-orlando-data-scientist-is-helping-the-blacklivesmatter-movement-make-the-case-against-police-violence/Content?oid=2478826|access-date=11 September 2016|work=Orlando Weekly|date=March 23, 2016|archive-date=1 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701170238/http://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/how-an-orlando-data-scientist-is-helping-the-blacklivesmatter-movement-make-the-case-against-police-violence/Content?oid=2478826|url-status=live}} He has discussed the influence of his upbringing in Florida, where he was a black child often surrounded by white peers, on his eventual career trajectory; he was shaken and moved to action after the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, where Sinyangwe had regularly attended soccer practice: "I was that kid. I could have been Trayvon. That’s why it hit me so personally and that’s why I realized that needed to be something that took the priority in terms of my focus."
Sinyangwe graduated from Stanford University, where he studied how race intersects with American politics, economics, and class.{{cite news|last1=Marusic|first1=Kristina|title=This Map Of Police Violence Aims To Create A Path To Justice|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2133351/map-police-violence/|access-date=11 September 2016|work=MTV News|date=April 15, 2015|archive-date=18 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918060050/http://www.mtv.com/news/2133351/map-police-violence/|url-status=dead}}
Career
Sinyangwe started his career at PolicyLink with the Promise Neighborhoods Institute.{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dHxqDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Samuel%20Sinyangwe%22&pg=PT486|title=The Routledge Handbook of Developments in Digital Journalism Studies|last=Richardson|first=Allissa V.|date=2018-09-05|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781351982085|editor-last=Eldrige II|editor-first=Scott|language=en|chapter=28. The Movement and its Mobile Journalism: A phenomenology of Black Lives Matter journalist-activists|editor-last2=Franklin|editor-first2=Bob|access-date=2020-10-09|archive-date=2021-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215084228/https://books.google.com/books?id=dHxqDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Samuel+Sinyangwe%22&pg=PT486|url-status=live}} As protests emerged in the wake of the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, he connected with Ferguson activists online. With DeRay Mckesson, Brittney Packnett and Johnetta Elzie, he began working to develop policy solutions to address police violence in America. Sinyangwe particularly noticed the absence of official government statistics on police violence and began compiling them from other sources like Fatal Encounters and KilledbythePolice.net, in order to challenge claims about police shootings being rare events or only resulting from resisting arrest.
With other activists, Sinyangwe founded We the Protestors, an organization aimed at developing a set of digital tools to support Black Lives Matter activism.{{Cite news|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3064214/meet-the-startup-building-the-digital-civil-rights-movement|title=Meet The Startup Building The Digital Civil Rights Movement|last=Peters|first=Adele|date=2016-10-03|work=Fast Company|access-date=2018-10-08|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215084229/https://www.fastcompany.com/3064214/meet-the-startup-building-the-digital-civil-rights-movement|url-status=live}} Sinyangwe built projects including a database of police killings, Mapping Police Violence,{{cite news|last1=Hellman|first1=Jaime|title=No clear picture on how many people are killed by police|url=http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/Ali-Velshi-On-Target/articles/2015/5/28/No-data-on-how-many-killed-by-police-in-America.html|access-date=11 September 2016|work=Al Jazeera America|date=May 28, 2015|archive-date=21 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421204241/http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/Ali-Velshi-On-Target/articles/2015/5/28/No-data-on-how-many-killed-by-police-in-America.html|url-status=live}} and a platform of policy solutions to end police violence called Campaign Zero.{{Cite news|url=https://splinternews.com/the-latest-numbers-on-police-killings-show-the-problem-1793853657|title=The latest numbers on police killings show the problem may be worse than we thought|last=Meyerson|first=Collier|work=Splinter|access-date=2018-10-08|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009013300/https://splinternews.com/the-latest-numbers-on-police-killings-show-the-problem-1793853657|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thefader.com/2017/05/20/activist-samuel-sinyangwe-louisiana-mass-incarceration|title=Activist Samuel Sinyangwe Sheds Light On Louisiana's Horrible Mass Incarceration Problem|last=Lawler|first=Opheli Garcia|date=May 20, 2017|work=The Fader|access-date=2018-10-08|language=en|archive-date=2018-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008095823/https://www.thefader.com/2017/05/20/activist-samuel-sinyangwe-louisiana-mass-incarceration|url-status=live}} Sinyangwe also serves as a data scientist for OurStates.org, a project focused on state legislatures{{Cite web|url=https://www.abqjournal.com/981351/black-lives-matter-activists-turn-attention-to-statehouses.html|title=Black Lives Matter activists turn attention to statehouses|last=Whack|first=Errin Haines|date=April 3, 2017|website=Albuquerque Journal|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-08|archive-date=2018-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009052741/https://www.abqjournal.com/981351/black-lives-matter-activists-turn-attention-to-statehouses.html|url-status=live}} and with Mckesson and Brittney Packnett founded the Resistance Manual, an open-source project aimed at connecting anti-racist activists with activists focused on intersecting issues.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediaite.com/online/deray-launches-resistance-manual-an-open-source-site-designed-to-take-on-trump/|title=DeRay and Stay Woke Activists Launch Resistance Manual, an Open-Source Site Designed To Take on Trump|last=Ellefson|first=Lindsey|date=January 17, 2017|website=Mediaite|language=en|access-date=2018-10-08|archive-date=2018-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009052635/https://www.mediaite.com/online/deray-launches-resistance-manual-an-open-source-site-designed-to-take-on-trump/|url-status=live}} He has also been responsible for a number of CPRA requests for RIPA-formatted police stops data through the non-profit organization MuckRock.{{Cite web |title=MuckRock |url=https://www.muckrock.com/foi/list/?q=RIPA&status=&has_embargo=&has_crowdfund=&minimum_pages=&date_range_min=&date_range_max=&file_types=&sort=date_submitted&order=desc |access-date=2022-09-28 |website=MuckRock |language=en-US}}
During the 2016 U.S. Presidential campaign, Sinyangwe and colleagues met with Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders{{cite news|last1=Liebelson|first1=Dana|last2=Reilly|first2=Ryan J.|title=Black Lives Matter Activists Meet With Bernie Sanders To Make Sure He's On Board|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-black-lives-matter_us_55f9ca9ce4b00310edf57b02|access-date=11 September 2016|work=The Huffington Post|date=16 September 2015|archive-date=13 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913171622/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-black-lives-matter_us_55f9ca9ce4b00310edf57b02|url-status=live}} and Hillary Clinton on these policy issues.{{cite news|last1=Liebelson|first1=Dana|last2=Reilly|first2=Ryan J.|title=Inside Hillary Clinton's Meeting With Black Lives Matter|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-lives-matter-hillary-clinton_us_56180c44e4b0e66ad4c7d9fa|access-date=11 September 2016|work=The Huffington Post|date=9 October 2015|archive-date=13 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160913171606/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-lives-matter-hillary-clinton_us_56180c44e4b0e66ad4c7d9fa|url-status=live}} He has been a vocal critic of the "Ferguson Effect", using data to refute the theory that policing had diminished and crime increased in face of activist scrutiny of police use of force.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5nxqDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Samuel%20Sinyangwe%22%20%22ferguson%20effect%22&pg=PA120|title=Black Lives Matter: From a Moment to a Movement|last=Hillstrom|first=Laurie Collier|date=2018-09-07|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781440865718|pages=120–121|language=en|access-date=2020-10-09|archive-date=2021-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215084230/https://books.google.com/books?id=5nxqDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Samuel+Sinyangwe%22+%22ferguson+effect%22&pg=PA120|url-status=live}} Melissa Harris-Perry has compared Sinyangwe to journalist and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells, noting that Wells began her work by "compil[ing] the data, the social science and research about how, when and where lynchings were happening to begin to make it stop."
Sinyangwe is a co-host of Mckesson's podcast Pod Save the People, which discusses the week's news with a panel of other activists including Mckesson, Packnett and Clint Smith.{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/careers/getting-started/2018/09/11/activist-deray-mckesson-offers-insight-protests-civil-rights-blacks/1258521002/|title=How I became a civil rights activist: DeRay McKesson talks protesting, pursuing justice|last=Hutcheson|first=Susannah|date=September 11, 2018|work=USA Today|access-date=2018-10-08|language=en|archive-date=2018-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009020212/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/careers/getting-started/2018/09/11/activist-deray-mckesson-offers-insight-protests-civil-rights-blacks/1258521002/|url-status=live}} The podcast particularly focuses on race, grassroots activism, discrimination and other forms of inequality;{{Cite news|url=http://www.dailycal.org/2018/07/26/5-political-podcasts-help-cope-worlds-current-chaos/|title=5 political podcasts to help you cope with the world's current chaos|last=Fadrilan|first=Katrina|date=2018-07-26|work=The Daily Californian|access-date=2018-10-09|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009092810/http://www.dailycal.org/2018/07/26/5-political-podcasts-help-cope-worlds-current-chaos/|url-status=live}} recommending Pod Save The People in GQ, June Diane Raphael of How Did This Get Made? wrote, "The stories they uplift and think critically about are the ones I'm now wondering why I've never been exposed to/exposed myself to."{{Cite news|url=https://www.gq.com/story/best-podcasts-recommendations|title=21 Fresh Podcast Recommendations from All Your Favorite Podcasters|last=Peele|first=Anna|date=2018-07-31|work=GQ|access-date=2018-10-09|language=en|archive-date=2021-02-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215084235/https://www.gq.com/story/best-podcasts-recommendations|url-status=live}} Sinyangwe has also been featured on CNN,{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/04/15/ctn-sam-singyangwe-police-violence-reports.cnn|title=Researcher: 'Police shootings are on the rise'|date=April 15, 2015|publisher=CNN|access-date=2 December 2016|archive-date=2 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202032847/http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/04/15/ctn-sam-singyangwe-police-violence-reports.cnn|url-status=live}} MSNBC,{{cite web|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/57833246/ns/msnbc/|title='The Melissa Harris-Perry Show' for Sunday, September 6th, 2015|date=September 6, 2015|website=The Melissa Harris-Perry Show|publisher=MSNBC|access-date=2 December 2016|archive-date=28 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160928001437/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/57833246/ns/msnbc/|url-status=dead}} BBC News,{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32740523|title=Why do US police keep killing unarmed black men?|date=May 26, 2015|work=BBC News|access-date=8 September 2016|archive-date=23 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923201540/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-32740523|url-status=live}} FiveThirtyEight,{{Cite news|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/blacks-are-killed-at-a-higher-rate-in-south-carolina-and-the-u-s/|title=Blacks Are Killed By Police At A Higher Rate In South Carolina And The U.S.|last=Fischer-Baum|first=Reuben|date=2015-04-08|work=FiveThirtyEight|access-date=2018-10-08|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009052721/https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/blacks-are-killed-at-a-higher-rate-in-south-carolina-and-the-u-s/|url-status=live}} The Los Angeles Times,{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-police-campaign-zero-20150821-story.html|title=Activists come up with a plan to end police killings. Here it is.|last1=Pearce|first1=Matt|date=August 21, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=11 September 2016|archive-date=11 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911075809/http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-police-campaign-zero-20150821-story.html|url-status=live}} and other publications. He has written for the Huffington Post and The Guardian.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/13/ferguson-effect-james-comey-fbi-policing|title=Giving the 'Ferguson effect' a new name won't make it truer|last=Sinyangwe|first=Samuel|date=May 13, 2016|website=The Guardian|access-date=2 December 2016|archive-date=7 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207155841/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/13/ferguson-effect-james-comey-fbi-policing|url-status=live}}
Awards and fellowships
In 2017, Sinyangwe was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for law and policy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30-2017/law-policy/#1148b8761f69|title=30 Under 30 2017: Law & Policy|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2018-10-08|archive-date=2018-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009014831/https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30-2017/law-policy/#1148b8761f69|url-status=live}} He was also a 2017 Echoing Green Black Male Achievement Fellow.{{Cite web|url=https://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/samuel-sinyangwe|title=Samuel Sinyangwe|website=www.echoinggreen.org|publisher=Echoing Green|language=en|access-date=2018-10-08|archive-date=2018-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009013328/https://www.echoinggreen.org/fellows/samuel-sinyangwe|url-status=live}}
Personal life
Selected writings
- {{cite news|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/police-arresting-fewer-people-for-minor-offenses-can-help-reduce-police-shootings/|title=Cities That Reduced Arrests For Minor Offenses Also Saw Fewer Police Shootings|date=July 26, 2021|work=FiveThirtyEight|access-date=1 April 2022}}
- {{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/samuel-sinyangwe/stop-pretending-the-ferguson-effect-is-real_b_8403786.html|title=Stop Pretending the 'Ferguson Effect' is Real|date=May 13, 2016|work=Huffington Post|access-date=2 December 2016}}
- {{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/may/13/ferguson-effect-james-comey-fbi-policing|work=The Guardian|title=Giving the 'Ferguson effect' a new name won't make it truer|date=October 28, 2015|access-date=2 December 2016}}
- [https://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/ripa/study-sinyangwe.pdf "Examining the Role of Use of Force Policies in Ending Police Violence"], Police Use of Force Project, September 20, 2016.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Black Lives Matter}}
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Category:21st-century American people
Category:Activists for African-American civil rights
Category:American people of Jewish descent
Category:American people of Tanzanian descent
Category:American political podcasters
Category:Black Lives Matter people
Category:Stanford University alumni
Category:African-American Jews