Introduction to
the Report
The Love We Code: Black Women, Digital Safe Havens, and Resistance captures the lived realities of over 2,000 Black women navigating digital spaces. Black women have long shaped the internet into places of kinship, advocacy, and care—creating digital sanctuary spaces despite systemic barriers. While these platforms offer opportunities for connection, they also expose Black women to algorithmic suppression, targeted harassment, and the exploitation of their cultural labor. This report examines the tension between visibility and erasure, highlighting how Black women build community and protect their voices online.
Through Fractured Visibility Theory, this report explores how Black women’s digital presence is constantly negotiated—caught between hypervisibility, digital policing, and content extraction. Drawing from extensive survey data, it documents the ways Black women push back against digital exclusion, cultivate spaces of belonging, and claim agency over their narratives.
More than a report, The Love We Code is a statement of presence—demanding accountability from digital platforms while honoring the creativity, ingenuity, and care Black women pour into online spaces. It offers a vision for digital ecosystems where Black women are not just present, but heard, respected, and able to shape the terms of their engagement.
Key Research Themes
Our report, The Love We Code: Black Women, Digital Safe Havens, and Resistance, examines how Black women navigate digital spaces as both sites of harm and sanctuary. It reveals the systemic challenges that shape their online experiences while highlighting the strategies they use to reclaim agency, build community, and create digital safe havens.This research is a testament to the power of Black women’s narratives and the urgent need to reimagine digital ecosystems that center their voices.
Here are a few critical findings:
Fractured Visibility & The Visibility Spectrum
Investigating how Black women experience simultaneous digital hypervisibility and erasure, leading to both exploitation and suppression.
"Every comment feels like a test: will this be the moment I’m attacked?" shared one respondent, describing how simply existing online invites harassment. Fractured Visibility Theory illustrates how Black women’s engagement is mediated by the tension between being seen as cultural assets and being erased when their presence challenges dominant narratives.
Key Insight: Misogynoir is not an isolated experience—it is structural. The same platforms that amplify Black women’s voices also create the conditions for their silencing.
Digital Sanctuary Spaces & Collective Care
Understanding how Black women transform hostile online environments into spaces of safety, healing, and empowerment.
"I mostly interact privately with others in digital spaces. It feels safer, and I can be myself without fear," one participant explained. This reflects the need for digital sanctuary spaces where Black women can exercise agency over their visibility, choosing when and how to engage without fear of harassment.
"The community reminds me that being heard and seen is a form of healing," another participant noted. This reinforces the dual role of these spaces as both visibility and refuge—where community-building fosters healing, solidarity, and collective resistance.
Key Insight: Fractured Visibility Theory explains why digital sanctuary spaces remain fragile—they are acts of resistance, not structural guarantees.
Algorithmic Bias & Platform Accountability
Examining how tech platforms reinforce misogynoir through algorithmic suppression and data extraction.
"I’ve seen how other Black women have reported and stood their ground—it inspires me to do the same," one respondent shared. Yet, the burden of fighting digital oppression falls disproportionately on Black women, with little meaningful platform support.
Another participant reflected, "Less likely to report on Elon’s Twitter," underscoring the widespread skepticism about platform accountability. Tech companies extract cultural capital from Black women while failing to address how their policies actively contribute to harm.
Key Insight: Platforms are not passive—they are active enablers of digital misogynoir. Fractured Visibility Theory exposes how algorithmic bias dictates who is seen, who is silenced, and who profits from Black women’s cultural labor.
Mutual Aid & Digital Redistribution
Examining the role of digital networks in sustaining Black-led economic and social justice efforts, such as The Okra Project and grassroots crowdfunding initiatives.
One respondent described her private group as a “digital village,” where members provided emotional, financial, and structural support to each other. This reinforces the reality that digital sanctuary spaces are not just symbolic—they serve as lifelines for material and emotional survival.
Another participant noted, "Mutual aid isn’t charity—it’s how we survive," connecting grassroots organizing to historical traditions of Black women’s community care.
Key Insight: Digital mutual aid is a direct response to structural failures. While mainstream platforms extract wealth from Black communities, Black women use these same tools to redistribute resources.
Narrative Shaping & Digital Futures
Exploring how Black women use storytelling to reclaim power in digital spaces, challenging dominant narratives while building alternative platforms.
"I don’t engage at all with incidents of misogynoir—I don’t feel like I’ll be supported," one respondent admitted, illustrating the cost of digital participation. This demonstrates how Black women must negotiate their presence in digital spaces, often choosing between self-protection and advocacy.
Another participant described digital storytelling as a "way to document our joy and our grief without outsiders defining what that means for us." This highlights why reclaiming narrative control is an act of resistance—ensuring Black women’s experiences are defined by them, not those who seek to exploit them.
Key Insight: Digital storytelling is a survival strategy. Fractured Visibility Theory explains why Black women’s stories are systematically erased—and why reclaiming them is a radical act of visibility and self-determination.
These findings emphasize the duality of digital spaces and the urgent need for systemic change to ensure they serve as sanctuaries rather than sites of harm.
Case Studies
Explore our in-depth case studies on how Black women are shaping and sustaining digital sanctuary spaces through storytelling, advocacy, and collective care. These real-world examples illustrate the strategies Black women use to navigate systemic challenges, reclaim visibility, and build networks of support and resistance.
.jpg)
These case studies highlight the resilience and creativity of Black women, demonstrating their ability to reimagine digital spaces as tools for advocacy and transformation.
Recommendations
for Action
The Love We Code report outlines key actions for building safer, more equitable digital spaces that center Black women’s experiences. While these are just a few of the critical steps needed, the full report provides a deeper analysis and additional recommendations.
These include:
Platform Accountability: Enforce algorithm audits, transparency measures, and equity-driven policies to address digital bias, data extraction, and discriminatory practices that disproportionately impact Black women.
Inclusive Policies: Advocate for platform policies and regulatory measures that protect Black women’s safety, visibility, and ability to engage in online spaces without systemic barriers.
Centering Black Women’s Narratives: Use storytelling as an advocacy tool to challenge erasure, combat digital misogynoir, and amplify the voices of Black women across digital platforms.
These recommendations offer a starting point, but there’s more work to be done. Read the full report to explore the complete set of insights and strategies.
Shoutouts
The Love We Code draws inspiration from movements and initiatives that create spaces for Black women’s voices to be heard, valued, and protected. Here are some we'd like to shout out.
These organizations and collectives have been instrumental in fostering community, advocacy, and healing.
The Okra Project:
Providing nourishment and care to Black trans communities through home-cooked meals and community-driven wellness programs. By addressing food insecurity and providing mental health resources, The Okra Project uplifts some of the most marginalized members of the Black community.
#SayHerName:
A movement created by the African American Policy Forum to uplift and seek justice for Black women, girls, and femmes lost to police violence. Through advocacy, education, and community action, #SayHerName ensures that their names, stories, and lives are not erased from the national conversation on racial injustice.
The Nap Ministry:
Revolutionizing the way we think about rest, The Nap Ministry frames rest as a radical tool for resistance, healing, and liberation for Black people, especially Black women. Their work reminds us that prioritizing rest is an act of reclaiming our humanity in a system that demands overproduction.
Black Twitter:
A cultural force where Black voices drive global conversations, create movements, and hold institutions accountable. From viral social justice campaigns to everyday humor, Black Twitter is a testament to the power of digital community-building and resistance.
The Loveland Foundation:
Founded by Rachel Cargle, The Loveland Foundation provides Black women and girls with access to therapy and mental health resources, recognizing that healing is essential for liberation. Through their Therapy Fund, they remove financial barriers to ensure more Black women receive the support they deserve.
The Audre Lorde Project:
A community organizing center for LGBTQIA+ people of color, The Audre Lorde Project builds leadership, advocates for policy change, and fosters intersectional movements for social justice. Their work honors Audre Lorde’s legacy by centering the needs and voices of marginalized communities in the fight for liberation.