THE BLACK COMMUNITY’S GUIDE TO USING A.I.: THE ART OF ASKING A GOOD QUESTION
eBook By Joel A. Mackall
This guide was born from a basic truth: our capacity as Black Folks to ask a good question is unmatched in ancient memory — the first questioners, the first problem-solvers. Especially when our work stays rooted in Black places and who we serve (context).
AI is changing everything — but we are not new to transformation. From African learning traditions to code-switching in the diaspora; from freedom quilts and hair braid messages to hashtags remixed with intention; from Nile Valley lyres to Delta blues; from ancient strings to upright pianos flipped on their side and made to sing new songs — our genius has always remixed tools for deeper purpose.
This eBook walks us through that journey: from the basics of prompting (AI101), to building with today’s tools (AI201), to imagining tomorrow’s possibilities (AI301).
It’s not just about learning AI — it’s about how it can serve our communities, organizations, businesses, and our visions.
It’s about designing Black thought. And yes — it is about AI. Learning the craft, but never without Black context.
OurStory didn’t begin with slavery, and it won’t end with Tech-Bro-Automation.
PURCHASE HERE
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Black Generative Learning Systems - WORKSHOPS
BLACK GEN PROGRAMS / DESIGN
If you or your team are working up a new business idea, a social media product, or a creative project, we offer So Dayi (clear vision) that fully taps into your unique in-born creativity, to design and build what the right prompt and tight use-case.
Our Workshops include:
AI101 “Ask a Good Question: Black Context and the Shape and Craft of AI in Black Community Work”
This introductory session grounds participants in the history, language, and uses of AI through a Black lens. We'll explore the basics — what AI is, how it works, and why it matters — with attention to our traditions of inquiry, adaptation, improvisation, and context. Participants will learn how to craft their first prompts, practice using them for real-world needs, and understand how tools like LLMs and image generators are shaping today’s tech landscape. We’ll focus on staying rooted in Black thought, Black context, and the art of asking a good question.
AI201 “Leading with AI: Smarter Tools for Black Work and Vision”
This session is for those ready to move beyond the basics and start building with AI. We'll explore tools like Google NotebookLM, Google AI Studio, and GPT automations to help creatives, educators, organizers, and entrepreneurs streamline their work. From bots to workflows, no-code to light-code builds, you’ll practice prompt design at a higher level while connecting AI to your mission, message, and systems. This workshop is where vision meets technique.
AI301 “Long AI and the Black Community: Futures and Frameworks"
This culminating session looks forward — and inward. What kind of futures are we shaping with AI? What Black traditions/frameworks do we carry that help us design something better? Rooted in Afro-Futurity, intergenerational knowledge, and Black cognitive and physical labor, this think-build-based workshop invites deep reflection on how AI intersects with our memory, power, imagination, and survival. You’ll leave with AfroImaginaria: frameworks for technological, economic, and creative possibility that call on African and African Diasporan people to shape what comes next.
Other Workshops
ONS (Our Next Skills) - Young Adulting Decolonized
Ankobia6 - African-American Genealogy 101
400 Years of Hidden History of Black Boston
Design for Black Owned-Black Operated (d.BOBO)
About Black Gen Staff
Bro. Joel Mackall is an award-winning Educator & Project Developer with the ReIdren Business Group based in Roxbury MA. He was the co-founder of the SOS Living Museum, the Hidden History of Black Boston Tours, the Nubian Writer's Group and is a self-published author. He has also served as secretary of the Cameroonians of Lowell Association, as an officer on the Warren Gardens Housing Cooperative board, on the advisory council of the Network of Immigrant and African American Solidarity and as a technology chairperson with the Black Community Information Center.
Bro. Joel presented "Excellence AND Culture: Operating Your Cooperative Better, Simpler and Truer" at the National Association of Housing Cooperatives Annual Conference in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands and "Why Do We Black Folks Hate On Each Other?" at the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilizations' Ancient Egyptian Studies Conference in Newark, NJ. He has led/facilitated numerous professional workshops in Greater Boston on topics including genealogy, African & world history, business design and technology at the Freedom House, Mother Caroline Academy, Warren Gardens, Roxbury Multi-Service Center, Roxbury Community College, Emerson College, Lesley College, South Bay House of Correction, almost all of the BPL neighborhood branches and Walden Square Technology Center (north Cambridge), in both English and Spanish. To learn more/contact Joel at SNLREIDREN or drop a message.
Projects & Awards
•Creative Community Fellow - National Art Strategies (2022)
•Fairmount Cultural Corridor Artist Commission Grant – for “Radical Welcoming: Docu-Poetry Workshop for Greater Upham’s Corner” (2021)
•Tufts Medical Center Community COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Program Grant – for Startup Design for Businesses & Non-profits (2021-2)
•Malcolm X Afrikan Achievers Award for outstanding community service, from the Black Community Information Center Inc. (2021)
•Small Business Startup/Design Program grant, from Berkshire Bank Foundation Community Building (2020)
•Fellowes Athenaeum Trust Fund grants for Technology Instruction at the Dudley Branch Boston Public Library (2014), Smartphone for Seniors (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), Tracing our Roots / Facing Slavery – Family Genealogy (2006, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022), Business Startup for Entrepreneurs (2020), African-American History Series (2021-2)
•Photography Exhibition: “African America in the Nile River Valley”, for the National Museum of Afro-American Artists (2019)
•Poetry/History Exhibition: “Hauntologies of David Walker City”, for the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture Grant, Codman Square Library Branch (2019)
•Creative Entrepreneur Fellowship - Business for Artists, for the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston (2018)
•Hands-On Black History Learning Retreat, for the City of Boston Arts and Culture Opportunity Fund Grant (2017)
•Grove Hall Trust Fund Grant for African-American Genealogy programming (2016)
•Keeper of the Gardens Award for community service from Warren Gardens Housing Cooperative (2009, 2014)
•The Archie Williams Jr. Technology Award from the Freedom House Inc. (April 2010)
“Mr. Joel Mackall has been helping our company Butu International (African hair services and African home base products) for more than 12 years in the Brockton area. He has an excellent track record and is well known for his sense of initiative and persistence. A good example of these is the a fact that most of our new services and products come from his ideas. I am sure that he will help other businesses grow even more and do a great job in any training program. I greatly appreciate his time.”
“The ReIdren Business Group, has been inspirational to my organization, Parents Management, Incorporated. As a project manager for us, Joel is a very knowledgeable and determined young man. His directives has helped us create a business plan to strengthen our approach and to put our vision to work for the community we serve effectively. Our Organizational skills are getting better and
we are able to feel more confident completing each workshop. Thank you, Joel Mackall, Peace & Blessings!”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1: I don’t know about AI or machine learning, but i do have a phone and want more computer help. ..is that ok?
We encourage you to come in your full creative self. This is an mbongi: community space for sistren and bredren to grow and build together using modern tools/machines IN COMBINATION with our inborn creativity. We are going to start at the beginning and cover a lot of ground in the time allotted, be prepared TO THINK and THINK ON THE THOUGHT (smile).
Q2: Are there any resources that we can exploit before the workshop?
Yes (smile). Click on these links:
Q3: Do I need a computer to participate in this workshop?
Absolutely. You can follow along theoretically on a laptop or tablet, (phone is HIGHLY discouraged), but a computer with a monitor (large as possible) is ENCOURAGED. The work, your life building work, is high resolution and far too important for 3inch screens.
KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING
What lies in our Black creative pre-rememberance? What will happen over the next 3 years as new machine learning accelerates? How does one ‘ask a good question’? We’ll talk about & illustrate these questions and more. Join the wider discussion, this ‘vigilance during change in slaveship weather’, at future presentations and our forum at:
