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To folks in Silicon Valley waking up to the role tech plays in upholding white supremacy: hello, welcome. I respectfully request that you start engaging by doing the following:
1. Improve your social media feeds by following people who do this work. It’s a whole thing that’s been happening in tech for decades. Prioritize listening to Black voices
2. Resist the urge to “tech” yourself out of the problem. No, there is no mobile app that will dismantle white supremacy. You gotta do the messy human work on this
3. Read two books. There are a ton out there, but your primers are
So You Want to Talk about Race by @IjeomaOluo and
Algorithms of Oppression by @safiyanoble
So You Want to Talk about Race by @IjeomaOluo and
Algorithms of Oppression by @safiyanoble
4. Take a critical look at your own company, and at the ones you admire. Can you see where Black and brown people are harmed by its actions? No? Look harder.
5. Assess your position inside the sector. Assess where you have privilege. Friends with a VC? Buds with the COO of that high-growth start-up? Let them know about the journey YOU are on. Tell them what YOU are learning. Send them tweets and articles they need to read
6. With your understanding of Silicon Valley, look at how wealth has been created and systematically kept away from Black and brown folks who have been in the Bay for generations
7. When you’ve figured out where your points of privilege/leverage are in the sector, find the Black and brown folks who have been trying to hold that particular space down. In some cases, for decades. Ask what is needed. Come through with your promises
8. Move money, move money, move money
9. Remember it’s ok to be scared. It’s not ok to do nothing.
10. Start again at #4. Repeat. Yes, you can do this. /fin
