Tell a Story Instead of Just Showing the Data

Be a storyteller, not a number cruncher.

Take a look at the following graph of the number of homicides and homicide rate per year in Baltimore, Maryland:

What story do you see? (Data via the FBI Uniform Crime Report.)

If you are not from Baltimore, you might wonder what is going on and why the number and rate of homicides jumps in 2015. You might not know of the daily shootings and almost daily homicides that happen in Baltimore. And you might not know that crime in Baltimore is concentrated in the most disadvantaged and marginalized locations and populations of Baltimore.

To understand all that, I would need to tell you a story. The story would talk about Baltimore as a city from its foundation to modern day. It would tell you about the segregation seen in the city since well before the end of slavery and well into the 21st century. I would tell you about “red lining” and how it predetermined where wealth would be concentrated in Baltimore and who would be left out.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I would then tell you of the historical excesses of Baltimore’s police force against some of the citizens they serve, and how most of those on the receiving end of those excesses are Black young…