Combating Racism as a Public Health Crisis

The Problem

In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, over 35 local governments in California issued declarations recognizing racism as a public health crisis (RPHC). While these declarations signaled a commitment to change, there was a significant risk that these promises would fade from memory or be lost entirely due to “link rot” and the ephemeral nature of digital government records. Without a permanent, verifiable record of these pledges—which varied from simple acknowledgments to specific funding commitments—activists and communities would lack the evidence needed to track progress and hold officials accountable for the structural reforms they promised.

The Solution

Starling Lab partnered with Black Voice News and Esri Mapping to launch the Combating Racism as a Public Health Crisis data dashboard. This initiative utilized decentralized archiving technology to capture and cryptographically authenticate roughly 350 web pages related to these government declarations. By storing these records on IPFS and Filecoin, the team ensured the documents are immutable and permanently accessible. This allows the public to verify the original pledges against current actions, providing a long-term tool for accountability that rates jurisdictions on their progress toward health equity and structural reform.