The Black Census is the largest survey of Black people conducted in the U.S. since Reconstruction

"We want to change the dynamic where candidates talk about Black communities, but don't talk to us," Alicia Garza told Teen Vogue in an interview published in June. "We see Black communities being engaged culturally, but not with substance about the issues we care about." 

Garza, who is the principal and co-founder of the Black Futures Lab, is determined to flip that script—beginning with "the largest survey of Black people conducted in the United States since Reconstruction." 

Over 30,000 Black people participated in the Black Census, which the organization clarifies is "not a traditional probabilistic survey sample, which often fails to fully represent populations whose experiences are important to understanding the complexity of Black life." Instead, the self-administered survey—initially developed for the Black Lives Matter Global Network by scholars including Brittney Cooper and Melanye Price, and later adapted and re-designed by the Lab and its organizational partners—was accessible at blackcensus.org and circulated by organizers offline to communities including homeless and incarcerated people.

Because the project purposefully oversampled specific segments of the Black community, its respondents were younger, queerer and more likely to be female than the Black population at-large; nearly 60 percent of respondents were women, and a full 18.5 percent identified as LGBT+. The results, therefore, shed light on life at too-often overlooked intersections.

The Lab's first report, which was published on May 28, reveals just how stark the political power of Black people across identities is. One-third of respondents reported a high level of engagement around elections, indicating that they had fundraised, canvassed, and participated in Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts in 2016.  The specific urgency of reaching Black women voters is also clear from the report's results. Women accounted for 57 percent of the Black Census respondents, but 63 percent of electorally engaged voters. Men were one-third of respondents, but 41 percent of those who reported not voting or being otherwise electorally engaged.

The Lab's second report, published in June, zeroed in on the experiences of Black queer women. Six percent of the survey's 5,400 LGB+ respondents identified as "lesbians." Sixty-two percent reported lower household incomes than their straight counterparts, 53 percent reported being treated discourteously at least a few times in any given month, and a full 80 percent reported feeling threatened or being harassed at least once a year, with 24 percent reporting such incidences happening at least weekly. 

"To tell Black voters to look beyond identity politics is silly," Garza reminded Teen Vogue, "because that's telling that voter that you are ignoring how their lives are being shaped through no fault of their own by racism, classism, sexism, ableism and more." 

Although both reports note how various responses may change based on respondents' gender, data from the Black Census was not segregated explicitly by gender in either report. Regardless, the responses paint a clear picture of a way forward for Black communities, which echoes a current intersectional feminist agenda. Economic issues were top-of-mind for respondents, as were problems like gun violence and police accountability. 

The Lab's data is proof: all politics are identity politics, and Black people want policies to address the complexities of their lives.