Let's Make History Together!
ENTER YOUR OWN DATA
If you're an African American currently living abroad, click HERE to enter your data. |
TELL A RELATIVE/TELL A FRIEND
Reach out to African Americans you know who currently live abroad and tell them about this historic study. |
There has never been an attempt to do a global study of African Americans living abroad with the aim of including thousands of respondents, and there is no list of African Americans living overseas. #WeGlobal is NOT just a survey. It is a comprehensive program of interrelated initiatives that we believe will benefit current and future generations of African Americans. We imagine interactive exhibits at museums, study abroad programs, and a series of regional international conferences leading to a global gathering of African Americans living abroad; this online study provides the foundation to create these programs. For all these reasons and more, we need as many African Americans as possible – all around the world – to participate in this global effort.
With your help, we can make history together! If you consider yourself to be African American and are currently living abroad, you can enter your own data. If you know African Americans living abroad, you can tell them about the study and send them the link to this website. We hope everyone shares information about the study on ALL your social media platforms.
With your help, we can make history together! If you consider yourself to be African American and are currently living abroad, you can enter your own data. If you know African Americans living abroad, you can tell them about the study and send them the link to this website. We hope everyone shares information about the study on ALL your social media platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions About the #WeGlobal Study
If I am African American and currently living abroad, why should I participate in the study? The project gives you the unique opportunity to tell your story and share your experience living abroad with others! For too long, you have been invisible. Your life abroad is part of the larger African American experience that needs to be documented and shared. You may be curious about others who are living overseas in other regions of the world; this study will give you an opportunity to understand the vastness of this phenomenon. Sharing your experiences will encourage and inspire other African Americans to travel or consider living abroad.
Is this just a research project? What are the long-term goals of this project? #WeGlobal is NOT just a research project; it is a comprehensive program of interrelated initiatives that we believe will benefit current and future generations. We envision a world where information about African Americans living abroad, and an appreciation for their contributions’, is common knowledge. We imagine a series of initiatives to reach that goal; the online study provides the foundation to create them. Not only will we share findings from the survey via traditional academic avenues (conferences, scholarly articles, courses, and books), but also with libraries and museums. We envision exhibits at museums incorporating interactive and virtual reality technologies to share the information you have given us. We can even imagine utilizing the findings and the African American networks abroad to create study abroad programs. In addition, we hope to work with School Districts and curriculum developers so that this information is included in the K-12 curriculum. Obviously, we want to also share this information with African Americans living abroad. Working with organizations on the ground, we hope to help fund regional conferences where the results from the study can be shared and discussed among other things that are relevant to those living abroad. Ultimately, we would like those regional conferences to lead to an international meeting of African Americans living abroad!! We believe African Americans living in the United States would also be interested in attending such a global gathering. For all these reasons and more, we need as many African Americans as possible – all around the world – to participate in this global effort. This study is part of your legacy to future generations of African Americans.
Is it anonymous? YES! We don’t ask for any identifying information and will not be able to connect you to your questionnaire. Even we – the University of Michigan and #WeGlobal – don’t know who you are.
Will you sell the data, give it to for-profit companies, or the U.S. Government? Absolutely NOT! We never share even anonymous data with any government agency or for-profit company, and of course we do not sell this data to companies or anyone. This research is public-use data on African Americans living abroad globally and will be available to you, scholars, and others once the data is archived at the University of Michigan. Even when archived, it is aggregated data; people will not have access to individual records.
How will the data be secured? There are two levels of data security: security of the server itself where the data are stored, and steps taken to secure access to the data. The #WeGlobal Survey and the data are stored on the Esri ArcGIS Online Platform. Esri is an international supplier of geographic information system (GIS) software and management applications. They have over 40% of the global GIS market share. Esri’s ArcGIS platform has been certified or accredited (TRUSTe, FISMA, PrivacyShield, FedRamp) to maintain the highest level of security and guard against cyberattacks. In terms of the steps taken to secure access to the data, the account on the platform that allows access to the data is password protected with multi-factor authentication.
How do you define “living abroad”? We are interested in African Americans who are currently living abroad AND have lived abroad at least a year OR don’t plan returning to the United States to live in less than one year.
How do you define African American? Anyone who self-identifies as African American (and meets the criteria of living abroad above) is welcome to complete the survey.
Who has access to the data? The data will initially only be available to people who work on this project at the University of Michigan and with #WeGlobal: African Americans Living Abroad Research and Education Organization. The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan is a data archive with an over 50-year track record for preserving and making data available to researchers and the public. The data from this project will be deposited with the digital library of the ICPSR to ensure that researchers and the public have long-term access.
How will I learn the major findings of the study? A report on the major findings will be posted on the https://www.aalivingabroad.org/ website and disseminated via multiple social media strategies.
Is this just a research project? What are the long-term goals of this project? #WeGlobal is NOT just a research project; it is a comprehensive program of interrelated initiatives that we believe will benefit current and future generations. We envision a world where information about African Americans living abroad, and an appreciation for their contributions’, is common knowledge. We imagine a series of initiatives to reach that goal; the online study provides the foundation to create them. Not only will we share findings from the survey via traditional academic avenues (conferences, scholarly articles, courses, and books), but also with libraries and museums. We envision exhibits at museums incorporating interactive and virtual reality technologies to share the information you have given us. We can even imagine utilizing the findings and the African American networks abroad to create study abroad programs. In addition, we hope to work with School Districts and curriculum developers so that this information is included in the K-12 curriculum. Obviously, we want to also share this information with African Americans living abroad. Working with organizations on the ground, we hope to help fund regional conferences where the results from the study can be shared and discussed among other things that are relevant to those living abroad. Ultimately, we would like those regional conferences to lead to an international meeting of African Americans living abroad!! We believe African Americans living in the United States would also be interested in attending such a global gathering. For all these reasons and more, we need as many African Americans as possible – all around the world – to participate in this global effort. This study is part of your legacy to future generations of African Americans.
Is it anonymous? YES! We don’t ask for any identifying information and will not be able to connect you to your questionnaire. Even we – the University of Michigan and #WeGlobal – don’t know who you are.
Will you sell the data, give it to for-profit companies, or the U.S. Government? Absolutely NOT! We never share even anonymous data with any government agency or for-profit company, and of course we do not sell this data to companies or anyone. This research is public-use data on African Americans living abroad globally and will be available to you, scholars, and others once the data is archived at the University of Michigan. Even when archived, it is aggregated data; people will not have access to individual records.
How will the data be secured? There are two levels of data security: security of the server itself where the data are stored, and steps taken to secure access to the data. The #WeGlobal Survey and the data are stored on the Esri ArcGIS Online Platform. Esri is an international supplier of geographic information system (GIS) software and management applications. They have over 40% of the global GIS market share. Esri’s ArcGIS platform has been certified or accredited (TRUSTe, FISMA, PrivacyShield, FedRamp) to maintain the highest level of security and guard against cyberattacks. In terms of the steps taken to secure access to the data, the account on the platform that allows access to the data is password protected with multi-factor authentication.
How do you define “living abroad”? We are interested in African Americans who are currently living abroad AND have lived abroad at least a year OR don’t plan returning to the United States to live in less than one year.
How do you define African American? Anyone who self-identifies as African American (and meets the criteria of living abroad above) is welcome to complete the survey.
Who has access to the data? The data will initially only be available to people who work on this project at the University of Michigan and with #WeGlobal: African Americans Living Abroad Research and Education Organization. The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan is a data archive with an over 50-year track record for preserving and making data available to researchers and the public. The data from this project will be deposited with the digital library of the ICPSR to ensure that researchers and the public have long-term access.
How will I learn the major findings of the study? A report on the major findings will be posted on the https://www.aalivingabroad.org/ website and disseminated via multiple social media strategies.