Shirley responded to my previous blog post, over on LinkedIn. This is my response:

Our field doesn’t deserve people like Shirley. But man, am I glad she is with us. Her vision of the future of our field is a good one and I’m glad we’re going there.

I’m thankful that that blog I wrote (which was not generous) was taken so well, too. I woke up, regretting I had written it. But now I saw her response… despite my messy words, she has a great outlook.

Learning the same lessons (again)

I told myself a couple years ago that I’d work hard so that folks don’t feel so bad about learning. I had a colleague who I had wanted to work with tell me, “you just make me feel bad about accessibility.” God, that stung. We never collaborated.

And yeah, that colleague still doesn’t care about accessibility or people with disabilities. But part of me wonders if it was my fault. I can be intense. I am sometimes so driven towards whatever I think is right that I forget people everywhere (myself included) deserve a safe place to learn. I need more care to really help nuture new perspectives in people.

And I think I messed up with that blog to/about Shirley. I faltered on my mission. I don’t think the blog was mean or anything, but it definitely could have been kinder, more hopeful, more optimistic, and less concerned with my own fears and worries. I’m lucky this time. I’m immensely thankful it seems to have gone well.

From being afraid to insisting on something better

To Shirley and others: I am sorry. “Data experiences” doesn’t owe me anything or owe anyone else anything. Words and ideas change and evolve. They should.

But I’m always afraid of evolution leaving us behind. That blog post was just written from a place of sadness, fear, and frustration from past encounters and many, many lost battles.

And my big mistake was not seeing Shirley’s post as 2 things: a truly optimistic future, one where (perhaps) the plateau above data visualization somehow bends space and time so that it climbs out of itself using the cliffs that are above accessibility and disability. The path forward for visualization has never looked this hopeful before. Second, I should have taken more care to recognize that Shirley, and many other people who will read my blog like Shirley, simply need to be caught up.

If the truth really is that we have been kicking around ideas related to “viusalization and beyond” - then this is the time to connect, share, teach, and inspire folks. We’ve got tons of climbing gear ready to share and this cliff won’t scale itself.

I’m so thankful that Shirley had such a considerate response. I’m even more thankful that her example is resilient and graceful too. Steven Few and the old white guys of visualization’s past were downright hostile to the idea that visualization was just one modality among many that should be part of a real data experience.

But we don’t live in those times. These times are unprecedented. I need to be more thoughtful, more suggestive of paths forward, and more encouraging. Here’s looking forward then. I’m glad we’re not alone.