Blerds

September 23, 2014September 23, 2014

Jesse Jackson Reveals Next Steps to Increase Diversity, Inclusion in Silicon Valley

Now that major tech companies like Facebook and Google have released their diversity statistics to the public, the Rev. Jesse Jackson is ready to launch the next phase of his plan to increase diversity in Silicon Valley.

Jackson announced the next phase of his plan on The Guardian over the weekend and bashed Silicon Valley for its “shameful” record on equality.

Through his social justice organization Rainbow Push, Jackson urged the hi-tech giants to release statistics about the demographics of their workforce.

With many tech giants having African-Americans making up less than 2 percent of their workforce and almost none in executive positions, Jackson stated that these companies “must put a real plan in place.”

“Treat inclusion and diversity just as you would any serious business line of a company and measure them,” Jackson wrote.

Representatives from the companies have already publicly criticized the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley, but some believe that the companies have not followed up with an efficient response to the problem at hand.

Jackson stated that the “face of technology” needs to change, and he believes Rainbow Push has the plan to do it.

According to the civil rights activist, the organization will be working hard over the next few months to “review the performance and causes that have perpetuated the lack of diversity and inclusion in technology,” get corporate leaders involved in implementing the necessary changes, and “identify strategies and solutions” that could actually help “change the face of technology companies to mirror the consumer and demographic base of the community.”

According to Jackson, African-Americans “consume more technology” than the average American although they are vastly “underrepresented in the boardrooms.”

The blueprint for Rainbow Push’s next plan of action also lists several other objectives for the coming months.

The organization will aim to create an annual diversity report that will keep track of diversity and inclusion in Silicon Valley.

Other goals for the plan include launching a pledge commitment and 2020 digital inclusion and diversity vision and creating an advisory committee that will be dedicated solely to coming up with the best practices to help nurture diversity in the tech space.

Jackson went on to say that the next phase in Rainbow Push’s plan will continue the fight for equality for minorities.

“In our journey from freedom to equality, we’ve used all of the tools and resources: we vote; we legislate; we litigate; we advocate; we leverage,” he wrote. “And with a mission stepped in our faith to seek justice, fairness and equality, we will fight and win.”

September 23, 2014September 23, 2014

Blerd Bookstore Struggle: Science Fiction vs. African-American Literature

Visiting a bookstore can sometimes be a struggle for a Black nerd, simply because of the way books are categorized. Whenever I step inside of a bookstore, my first stop is always the science fiction section. Routinely, I’ll do a scan for my favorite Black science fiction authors, and nine times out of 10, Octavia Butler, Tananarive Due, Samuel Delany and other popular Black science fiction authors have been placed on the African-American literature shelves. This seems to send a very clear message to readers: Black authors who write science fiction are somehow “other.” These stories are not considered traditional science fiction or aren’t really science fiction at all; it belongs, instead in the special interest, ethnic, or diversity categories of the bookstore. The categories that usually take up the least amount of space in the room, as if we have fewer stories to tell.

On the one hand, it makes sense to put Black science fiction beside other Black literature because it is Black literature and it caters to people who identify themselves culturally or racially as Black. It can also function as a powerful message to others who may not be aware that yes, we, Black people, do in fact write science fiction. For a person of color who might otherwise not bother to stroll over to the sci-fi section, thinking that there would be nothing relevant to him or her, a sci-fi novel shelved with other Black novels could easily dispel that notion.

On the other hand, this sort of categorization and marketing scheme allows for devaluation of Blackness as “otherness,” and in its otherness, less than, in both value and quality, the normal pool of science-fiction novels. For that nerdy Black kid who may be browsing the sci-fi shelves, not seeing a Black face on any of the covers of the novels feeds the belief that we do not belong in future worlds. That lack of reflection on the shelves does a disservice to their imaginative potentials, and it somehow diminishes the infinite possibilities that have been bestowed upon them as a birthright.

I have a vision that when I walk into a bookstore in future times, I am no longer going through the Black nerd struggle. In these future bookstores, no one is forced to make a choice between illusory duality of Blackness and science fiction, because there is no conflict between the two. Ideally in this future world, perhaps Black sci-fi is shelved with other sci-fi, or perhaps there is a section exclusively for Black sci-fi. The genre will have evolved in such a way that all of the artists and authors currently creating sci-fi will have found a place in the global market and on mainstream commercial bookshelves.

Then again, with the current surge in the popularity of e-books, bookshelves themselves may become obsolete. In that future world, then, a search term for a sci-fi novel will turn up Black authors with the same frequency as any other author of sci-fi, without even having to enter the term Black. But if you in this future world choose to search the e-book database specifically for Black sci-fi for an experience you can identify with, you can do so, just as easily. Until that future vision manifests, below are 10 anthologies of Black speculative fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and Afrofuturism.

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September 19, 2014September 19, 2014

Black Speculative Tech – Uses of Technology in Black Science Fiction, Part 1

I’ve always considered the term “science fiction,” as applied to writing, film and other speculative media involving scientific concerns, to be somewhat inadequate. It has always seemed to me that the worlds created within the pages or upon the screen are literally written into existence, brought to life, fully functioning and self-sustaining in the imaginations and minds of the viewers and readers, whereas the term “fiction” would seem to deny the world its possibility of being.

Science fiction also denotes a false sense of cause and effect, as though the writing or film is influenced by the field of science in a unilateral direction, instead of both science and speculative works being mutually influenced by each other. Science and technology have benefitted from the imaginations of science fiction writers as much as the reverse, and many sci-fi writers are, in fact, scientists, or are consulted by scientists when their work predicts the future or thinks up new possibilities and uses for technology. Many of the words and terms that we believe to have been fashioned in a laboratory, such as “zero gravity,” “ion drive,” and “robotics” were first used in science-fiction stories, and subsequently integrated into science jargon. And any sci-fi writer will tell you that extensive research into the scientific area that your story is focused on is crucial and perpetual. Likely, the same is true for other artists and performers whose works are speculative or science fictional in nature.

In this ongoing examination, we will look at the use of technology in the writings and art of popular and contemporary Black speculative writers and artists, what the technology comments on or correspond to in reality, how that technology anticipates some later development in science, or how the work expands or redefines the meaning of technology.

Black No More: Being an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free, AD 1933-1940 written in 1931 by George Schuyler, tells the story of a technology invented by a Black scientist named Dr. Crookman that changes a Black person into a white person. The transforming technology seems to anticipate the skin-bleaching phenomenon that would later grip societies all around the world. Although many sources trace skin-lightening techniques back to ancient times, skin-lightening cream did not come into mass production until the 1960s. In 1940, it was discovered that the chemical compound hydroquinone would depigment skin in people of color wearing rubber gloves made of the compound. In 1978, the Food and Drug Administration would issue proposed rules for over-the-counter drugs containing hydroquinone, which included skin-bleaching products. The chemical has since been banned in several countries, but remains available over the counter in the United States if it contains the chemical below a certain percentage. In Schuyler’s time, just as in 2014, lighter skin means a higher rung on the social hierarchy, along with better social and economic opportunities. Crookman’s machine, described as “a cross between a dentist’s chair and an electric chair,” also anticipates the use of cosmetic surgery to alter appearance. The technology in the novel changes not only the Black person’s skin pigmentation, but hair texture and color, nose and lips.

In her short story Like Daughter (appearing in the Dark Matter anthology), speculative author Tananarive Due paints an eerie picture of “designer babies” taken to its most extreme conclusion. Synthesizing the concepts of genetics, epigenetics, trauma and memory, Due’s story, released in 2001, seems to anticipate the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis to pre-select preferred qualities of a child, such as its eye color and gender, and advances in assisted reproductive technology that could eventually allow parents to genetically engineer a child.

Amiri Baraka has two works in particular which are a speculative re-imagining of the function and use of technology. Rhythm Travel, also found in the Dark Matter anthology, envisions a way of traversing space-time that allows the traveler to “be the music,” disappearing and reappearing wherever and whenever the music is played. This 1996 story is an interesting parallel to Baraka’s earlier 1969 essay Technology and Ethos, where he calls for us to dramatically redefine and create new technologies that push beyond the boundaries established by the politics of the white scientific institution. The Molecular Anyscape used in Rhythm Travel appears to be one of the machines produced by the spirit that Baraka refers to in Technology and Ethos.

What are some other uses of or comments on technology in the speculative works of Black writers, artists and performers?

Rasheedah Phillips is a Philadelphia public interest attorney, speculative fiction writer, the creator of The AfroFuturist Affair, and a founding member of Metropolarity.net. She recently independently published her first speculative fiction collection, “Recurrence Plot (and Other Time Travel Tales).”

September 19, 2014September 23, 2014

Four Black ‘Geniuses’ Included in MacArthur Fellowship Class of 2014

The 2014 recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship were announced Wednesday morning, and the new class included four African-American visionaries whose works have had major impacts on today’s society.

The MacArthur Grant is commonly referred to as the “genius” grant and gives each of its recipients $625,000, which is paid out in equal quarterly installments over the course of five years.

One of the major perks of the fellowship money is that there are no restrictions on how its recipients are allowed to use it.

The MacArthur Foundation deemed 21 individuals worthy of the “genius” grant, including four African-Americans.

Steve Coleman, a 57-year-old jazz composer and saxophonist from Allentown, Pennsylvania, was one of those recipients.

According to the MacArthur Foundation website, Coleman’s musical talents are “expanding the expressive and formal possibilities of spontaneous composition.”

His improvised performances are truly unique as they update “iconic musical idioms in the creative traditions of luminaries like John Coltrane and Charlie Parker by infusing them with melodic, rhythmic and structural components inspired by music of the larger African Diaspora, as well as from the continents of Africa, Eurasia and the Americas.”

In addition to his incredible musical abilities, the MacArthur Foundation also celebrated Coleman’s generosity.

Throughout his career, Coleman has been adamant about giving back to the community and mentoring those who need him.

Terrance Hayes, a 42-year-old poet from Pittsburgh, was also included in the 2014 class of MacArthur Fellows.

The writing professor at the University of Pittsburgh crafts incredible poems that dive deep into issues of race and gender.

His poems have also taken a closer look at family structures in America and provided rhythmic commentary on current events.

One of his notable works, according to the MacArthur Foundation website, is Arbor for Butch.

The poem “plays off of pecha kucha, a Japanese business presentation format in which twenty images connected to a single theme are narrated for twenty seconds each.”

The websites goes on to explain that Hayes used this form along with sculptures of Martin Puryear to do something truly innovative with his poetry.

“Hayes links the visual with the sonic and the lyrical in an affecting consideration of what it means to be a father and a son,” the website added.

Then there is artist Rick Lowe of Houston.

The unconventional 53-year-old artist’s latest project is transforming an entire neighborhood.

A long-neglected neighborhood in Houston serves as his canvas for what has become an inspiring public art project.

Lowe teamed up with other artists to restore a block and a half of “derelict properties – twenty-two shotgun houses from the 1930s. – in Houston’s predominantly African American Third Ward and turned them into Project Row Houses.”

The Project Row Houses now don a community support center and several art venues.

The project brought new life to the neighborhood and led Lowe to launch similar projects in other cities across the U.S.

Those cities include Los Angeles, New Orleans and North Dallas.

Lastly, the 2014 class of MacArthur Fellows welcomed Jennifer L. Eberhardt.

Eberhardt’s passions are not rooted in the arts.

Eberhardt is a 49-year-old social psychologist from Stanford, California, and an associate professor at Stanford University.

Eberhardt has been “investigating the subtle, complex, largely unconscious yet deeply imagined ways that individuals racially code and categorize people.”

Her work focuses mainly on connections to race and crime.

Eberhardt has been able to give the world concrete proof that stereotypic associates between race and crime have had a major impact on the way minorities are treated by police and sentenced for crimes.

She is now working closely with law enforcement agencies to “design interventions to improve policing and to help them build and maintain trust with the communities they serve.”

September 19, 2014September 19, 2014

10 Important Things You Should Know About Intellectual Property to Protect Your Ideas

What is intellectual property?

The term “intellectual property rights” refers generally to the ownership rights over a creative work such as musical, literary and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols and designs. Common types of intellectual property rights include copyright, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights, trade dress, and, in some jurisdictions, trade secrets.

Copyright vs. Patent vs. Trademark

The most common types of intellectual property are trademarks, patents and copyrights.

Owning the copyright means you control how your creative, intellectual, or artistic works are copied and distributed. Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they are expressed, and usually for a limited time.

A patent grants an inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell and importing an invention (product or a process) for a limited period of time, in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention. A patent may be applied for only in the name of the inventor or group of inventors.

A trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression that distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from the similar products or services of other traders. Trademarks last in perpetuity and can help to establish a company’s perceived value.

How can intellectual property help your business?

Businesses can use copyright laws to protect creative works or use patent law to protect inventions or ornamental product designs. Many businesses can use the law of trade secrets to protect confidential information. Every business can use trademark law to create and protect its brand.

When is a copyright created and how long does it last?

There are two basic requirements to create a copyright. First, the work must be original. Originality only requires that you, the author, contributed something more than a trivial variation. Second, the work must be tangible so that it can be perceived, reproduced or communicated.

The copyright begins when the work is created (not published) and lasts 70 years after the death of the creator. If the creator is a corporation, then the copyright lasts 120 years from the time created or 95 years from its publication, whichever is shorter.

Who owns a copyright, and what rights does the copyright owner have?

The person or entity who creates the creative, intellectual or artistic work is usually the copyright owner.

An employer automatically owns the copyright to any works created by an employee as part of employment. This is known as the “Work Made for Hire” doctrine and is an exception to the general rule that the creator owns the copyright. A written agreement between the parties is not needed for the employer to own the copyright under this doctrine. However, if the material was created by a consultant, a written agreement is usually necessary.

The copyright owner has the exclusive right to use and give others permission to use the work. The copyright owner can also assign or transfer the rights of ownership in the copyright to a third party.

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September 18, 2014September 23, 2014

High Achievers: 6 Black Celebrities Who Finished At The Top of Their Class

Michelle Obama

Class of 1981

Where: Whitney Young High School

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to many people, but the first lady definitely doesn’t play second fiddle to her husband. Michelle Obama has excelled as a lawyer, in college (Princeton and Harvard Law) and at Whitney Young High School in Chicago, where she was the cream of the crop.

Alicia Keys

Class of 1997

Where: Professional Performing Arts School

Singer Alicia Keys has always seemed destined to be a star. At the tender age of just 16, Keys rose to the top of her class and was named the 1997 valedictorian at the Professional Performing Arts School in New York City.

John Legend

Class of 1994

Where: North High School

John Legend has always been exceptional. People may think he’s just an entertainer, but the All of Me singer was somewhat of a child prodigy. He enrolled at North High School in Springfield, Ohio, early — at the age of 12. Four years later, not only did he graduate as salutatorian of his class, but he also got accepted to Harvard University and was offered scholarships to Morehouse College and Georgetown University. He ultimately ended up going to an Ivy League school: the University of Pennsylvania.

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September 18, 2014September 19, 2014

A Look Back in History: Alain Locke — Educator, Father of the Harlem Renaissance

The Father of the Harlem Renaissance

Alain LeRoy Locke was born in Philadelphia on Sept. 13, 1886. He attended Central High School and the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy in 1902. Locke graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1907. He became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He earned degrees in English and philosophy.

Locke faced significant barriers as an African-American despite being accomplished in academia. Even though Locke was the first African-American Rhodes scholar, he was denied admission to several colleges at the University of Oxford because of his race. Then in 1907, he gained entry into Hertford College, where he studied for four years.

Locke was a distinguished scholar and educator. During his lifetime, he developed the notion of “ethnic race.” Locke believed that race was just a social and cultural category rather than a biological one.

Locke was dubbed the “Father of the Harlem Renaissance” because he emphasized the need for Black artists to explore African culture. Through his efforts, the Harlem Renaissance movement gained national attention and historical significance. He wrote on the Harlem Riots of 1935 and worked tirelessly to understand the social realities of Harlem with figures. Locke published his work in The Survey Graphic Harlem Number published March, 1925.

Locke edited the Bronze Booklet that showcases the works of African-Americans. For two decades, he reviewed literature by and about blacks in Opportunity and Phylon. He regularly wrote about Blacks for Britannica’s Book of the Year. His works include Four Negro Poets (1927), Frederick Douglass, a Biography of Anti-Slavery (1935), Negro Art — Past and Present (1936), and The Negro and His Music (1936).

In December 1925, Locke published The New Negro: An Interpretation. Locke coined this phrase, “The New Negro,” in 1925. He believed that there was a potential for Black equality. No longer would Blacks allow themselves to adjust or comply with the unreasonable requests of a white-majority society.

Today, the Alain Locke Charter Academy in Chicago is one of the country’s most successful charter schools. The school was founded in September 1999.

September 17, 2014September 19, 2014

8 Books of Critical Analysis and Essays on Black Speculative, Science Fiction, Superheroes and Horror

Books of critical analysis and essays on Black speculative, science fiction, superheroes and horror:

1. Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation edited by Sheena C. Howard and Ronald L. Jackson II (2013) is an analytic history of the diverse contributions of Black artists to the medium of comics. Covering comic books, superhero comics, graphic novels and cartoon strips from the early 20th century to the present, the book explores the ways in which Black comic artists have grappled with such themes as the Black experience, gender identity, politics and social media.

2. Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film by Adilifu Nama (2008) is the first book-length study of African-American representation in science fiction film. Black Space demonstrates that science fiction cinema has become an important field of racial analysis, a site where definitions of race can be contested and post-civil rights race relations (re)imagined.

3. Race in American Science Fiction by Isiah Lavender III (2011) offers a systematic classification of ways that race appears and how it is silenced in science fiction, while developing a critical vocabulary designed to focus attention on often-overlooked racial implications. These focused readings of science fiction contextualize race within the genre’s better-known master narratives and agendas.

4. Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror Films from 1890s to Present by Robin Means Coleman (2011) presents a unique social history of blacks in America through changing images in horror films. Throughout the text, the reader is encouraged to unpack the genre’s racialized imagery, as well as the narratives that make up popular culture’s commentary on race. Offering a comprehensive chronological survey of the genre, this book addresses a full range of black horror films, including mainstream Hollywood fare, as well as art-house films, Blaxploitation films, direct-to-DVD films, and the emerging U.S./hip-hop culture-inspired Nigerian “Nollywood” Black horror films.

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