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Today in History: Inventor Alexander Ashbourne, Refiner of Coconut Oil

There is very little known about the inventor Alexander Ashbourne (c. 1820-1915). Aspects of his early life are unknown and undocumented. Ashbourne was born into slavery circa 1820 in Philadelphia, and lived to be 95 years old. He moved to Oakland, California, in the 1880s to run his own grocery store. However, his greatest invention still lives on today.

Ashbourne is best known for his patents that made coconut oil accessible for domestic use.

Today in history, Ashbourne received a patent for treating coconut on Aug. 21, 1877. He received patent number 194,287  for his process. The process for refining the oil includes: filtration, bleaching, heated to a very high temperature, and it is hydrogenated to ensure that no unsaturated fatty acids are left in the oil. The process was difficult at the time because there was a lack of technological advancement. Ashbourne was revolutionary. His process is still used today and has been built upon by food companies worldwide.

He also gained a patent for a process for preparing coconut oil on July 27, 1880. He started working on this refining process in 1875, and continued until 1880.

Thanks to his work, coconut oil is used in hair products, foods and scented products.

In addition to coconut refining, Ashbourne patented his biscuit cutter invention on May 11, 1875. Before the biscuit cutter, cooks had to shape biscuits by hand.

The spring-loaded cutter had a board to load biscuits and unload them easily. There was a metal plate with various shapes. The cook could push down on the plate to cut the dough into shapes.

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5 Cartoon Blerds of the ’80s Who Shaped the Blerds of Today

If you’re like me, then you were a Black nerd (“Blerd”) who came of age during the 1980s. You were probably a socially awkward kid who loved not-yet-cool stuff,  like comic books, science fiction, fantasy, computer games, and Dungeons and Dragons. It’s also likely that you had a physical appearance that could best be described as “in progress.” Making friends wasn’t your strong suit, and your parents didn’t know what to do with you since you weren’t involved in athletics, but stayed out of trouble. Finding people who understood you was difficult, but there was one outlet you could turn to for self-actualization: cartoons.

There were two features that made the cartoons of the 1980s better than previous decades. First, the art was better. The growing popularity of anime (“Japanimation”) provided a style that cartoon creators tried to import or emulate. Second, there was a focus on diversity. Quick, name a Black character in “The Flintstones?” How about in “The Jetsons?” If you’re struggling, that’s because most of those pre-1980s cartoons had all white casts. However, the ’80s provided a wealth of diverse casts with strong Black characters. And, somewhat surprisingly, many of them were Blerds.

Here’s a roundup of five cartoon Blerds from the 1980s and the lessons they provided for Blerds of today. The first four are examples of great Blerd role models, but the last one is a cautionary tale.

1. Walter “Doc” Hartford

Series: The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (1986 – 1989)

Description: Mixing Star Wars with the American Western genre, this series was set in the future when interstellar space travel became possible. The cartoon followed the story of four “rangers” who could unlock superhuman powers by touching their badges and unlocking their Series 5 implants. The four rangers were Zachary Foxx, Shane “Goose” Gooseman, Niko, and, of course, Walter “Doc” Hartford.

Blerd Bonafides: Doc was a master technologist who was responsible for most of the technology used by the team. His Series 5 implant augmented his already immense mastery of computers. Doc’s mobile computer also carried six pet programs (called “tweakers”) that looked like flying sparks of light and helped him understand and control almost any type of technology.

What Doc Taught Us: Being a master of computers doesn’t mean you can’t be cool. Always remaining calm and maintaining an impeccable set of manners can get you far in life. Also, a sense of humor makes you more attractive in both platonic and romantic relationships. However, being mannerly doesn’t make you a punk. Draw your weapons with the quickness when necessary. Finally, before fixing a technology problem, confidently saying out loud, “The doctor will now operate,” increases your chance of success to almost 100 percent.

2. J.D. ‘IQ’ Bennett

Series: Bionic Six (1987 – 1989)

Description: Set in the near future, this show followed a family of bionically enhanced superheroes. They included Bionic-1 (the father), Mother-1 (the mother), Sport-1 (their biological son), Rock-1 (their biological daughter), Karate-1 (their adopted Japanese son), and, the Blerd of the family, IQ (their adopted Black son).

Blerd Bonafides: While IQ is the strongest member of the team, his bionics provided him with super-human intelligence. He is often tasked with providing technological solutions to problems faced by the family or come up with smart solutions to difficult problems.

What IQ Taught Us: You can have a quiet personality and still be an effective team member. While others (sometimes including family members) may try to claim the spotlight with their oversized egos, an introspective nature provides the ability to find innovative answers that they will overlook. Being consistently good is better than momentary flashes of greatness.

3. Baldwin P. ‘Bulletproof’ Vess

Series: COPS (1988 – 1989)

Description: This cartoon was set in the year 2020 and followed a special group of law enforcement agents called COPS (Central Organization of Police Specialists). Their members came from all over the United States and represented various types of law enforcement personnel including vice, K-9, motorcycle patrol, helicopter patrol, and others. They were led by Bulletproof who was given a cybernetic torso after being critically injured during a fight with the main antagonist of the show.

Blerd Bonafides: While rarely using technology, Bulletproof was living technology. His torso consisted of an android replacement that, in keeping with his nickname, made him impervious to gunfire. He also had a computer port in his bionic torso that he could use to attach a cable to machines and control them. His torso also had storage areas that held disks. He could attach these disks to machines that would short-circuit or destroy them.

What Bulletproof Taught Us: Your intimacy with technology can sometimes result in distance between you and others, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t be a great team leader. In fact, your ability to be objective is an invaluable asset when mediating conflicts between team members. Also, while you may not immediately share it with everyone, always have a plan.

4. Edward ‘Turbo’ Hayes

Series: Rambo: The Force of Freedom (1986)

Description: Capitalizing off the tremendous success of the Rambo movies of the early 1980s, this cartoon portrayed a toned- down Rambo, who is the leader of a special operations group called the Force of Freedom. His team included Katherine Ann Taylor (an Asian master of disguise), White Dragon (also Asian), T.D. Jones, Chief (Native American), and the Blerd of the team, Edward “Turbo” Hayes, a mechanical engineer, pilot, and race car driver.

Blerd Bonafides: Turbo provided the technology tools used by the team and usually handled their transportation needs, whether it was a plane or vehicle. He was always called upon to fix any electrical or mechanical problem.

What Turbo Taught Us: While most of the cartoons of the 1980s focused on the team concept, this one always reinforced Rambo’s superiority. This meant that Rambo often had to “save the day” when the actions of his team mates were portrayed as ineffective.

You may work in an environment with one or more Rambo-type, who excels at emphasizing their accomplishments and making it seem like your contribution is not as important. If that’s the case, you should stay calm, play your position and focus on flawless delivery of your own work. That’s the best way to position yourself for the next opportunity.

5. Black Vulcan

Series: Super Friends (1980 – 1985)

Description: If you were a kid in the 1980s, then you definitely remember the Super Friends cartoons. What you may not remember is that there were several incarnations of the show including The All-New Super Friends Hour and  Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show. The cartoon featured popular DC Comics heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, but the creators introduced three characters that did not exist in the comics at the time. They were Apache Chief (Native American), Samurai (Asian), and Black Vulcan (African-American).

Blerd Bonafides: Black Vulcan was a master of electricity with the ability to fire lightning bolts from his hands and fly by transforming his lower torso into electricity. He could also use his powers to fix circuit boards by soldering them, which hints at some level of expertise in electrical engineering.

What Black Vulcan Taught Us: Black Vulcan was an unfortunate example of how to not be a Blerd. He demonstrated that even being an electrical wizard is no replacement for an identity. Everyone else on the Super Friends had a real name, but Black Vulcan was always just Black Vulcan. He also had no back story that explained how he got his powers. You have to let people know that you’re a person with a history outside of work or you risk being treated as an inferior.

If Batman ever runs late for a meeting, then his team mates can say, “Hey, he’s billionaire Bruce Wayne so we’ll cut him some slack.” Or, if Superman ever drops the ball, then it’s understood that he’s reporter Clark Kent so he has to maintain his journalism gig. But, Black Vulcan? He has no excuse.

So, get your work done, but let everyone know you have a personality as well as a personal life. Otherwise, you risk being painted with stereotypes and discarded during times of stress (e.g., layoffs, recessions, etc.)

Anjuan Simmons has worked in the technology industry for over two decades. He is also the author of “Minority Tech: Journaling Through Blackness and Technology” (http://www.MinorityTech.com). You can find out more about him at http://www.AnjuanSimmons.com.

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Jason Young’s App, Thrive and Shine, Sheds Light on Finances For College Students

Jason Young is the co-founder of MindBlown Labs, an Oakland-based tech company that is responsible for creating an innovative and educational learning tool called Thrive and Shine. The main goal of the app is to increase financial literacy and capability for young Americans.

Young said he “had an idea” and with right help and support, Thrive and Shine was born.  The Harvard  University graduate was just recently appointed to the Special Advisory Council on Financial  Capability for Young Americans by President Obama. This new responsibility has afforded him more access, resources and support to improve  financial capability for our youth.

Q. When you think about young people being financially capable/literate what does that mean to you?

So what that really means to me is that they have the knowledge, skills, mindset and trained behaviors necessary to make financial decisions that will impact their lives.

Q.The national retention rate for college is so low, how much of that do you think is directly attributed to students being financially illiterate?

There are a lot of factors which impact college retention, but I do think that financial literacy and financial capability are very important factors. Financial literacy is having the knowledge, and financial capability is broader. Financial literacy is actual a part of financial capability. A lot of students going to college are not financially capable. They don’t understand how to finance college. My second oldest brother dropped out of college because he didn’t understand the financial aid process and didn’t know where to look for money so he couldn’t pay tuition.

On the other hand, I think there’s another factor which is the understanding of the long-term ramifications of going to college and not finishing. Most students don’t think of college as a financial decision. They don’t understand that, so they don’t understand the decision they’re making when they choose to drop out or to continue.

I think if a lot more students understood that they will still be paying those student loans 10 years later, whether or not they finish, then they would understand the significant impact college could have on income. Knowing that would allow them to make very different choices.

Q. How do you see Thrive and Shine being used as way to help students think about college as a financial decision?

So the high-level answer is that Thrive and Shine does a good job of helping students do what they can’t do in real life, which is to see the consequences of their actions in real time. I think that’s very powerful. Specifically with regards to college, the next version coming out this fall actually will cover the impact of a college education on earning potential, as well as student loans. This will allow them the choice to actually go to college and see what happens if they don’t finish. They can see what happens when they take out loans and they can see what happens if they take out too many loans.

Q.Do they see what happens with private vs. federal loans?

It doesn’t get that detailed, but we’re building a curriculum around that and the curriculum will go into that detail.

Q.In thinking about the curriculum, how would you advise college access counselors to use Thrive and Shine as learning tool for students?

In terms of how it can be used, first and foremost we see it as a tool to get students excited just about the idea of money and some of the concepts related to money. So for most students who haven’t even had a job, how do you talk to them about student loans when they literally don’t understand how much a tank of gas costs?  If they haven’t had a job, they can’t make those kinds of cost relations. The idea is to help them create those connections and not just on individual topics but systematically, which allows them to see how the cost of college relates to their own life.

Now in terms of these particular topics, we’re building experiential curriculum and the idea is to have students play the game, have them become used to the concepts, get excited about those concepts and then the instructor, teacher, or counselor will talk to them about their experiences in the game.

From there, they can build upon those experiences to go more in-depth. Instead of talking about federal vs. private student loans or interests rates, they can talk about the student’s avatar, what happened when student loans were taken out, what happened when the avatar graduated. If the avatar doesn’t graduate, then students can discuss options like what it means to take out loans and not finish college, or what it means to finance college through scholarships or what it means to consider attending a more affordable college.

Essentially, the student and the instructor start to have that conversation and it’s based on at least some part of the student’s reality.

Q.You have an economics background from Harvard. Did your economics background make it challenging for you to create Thrive and Shine?

Well, I definitely had to build an entire to team to do this. There are eight people working on this full-time right now. A lot of the times when people hear you say you created an app they think “Oh wow, that’s easy.” The truth is it takes time and  a lot of energy.

The fact that it’s an educational app adds another layer of complexity. There was a definite learning curve for me when I started working on Thrive and Shine. I actually went to work for a startup before doing this. I worked there for several years learning about technology and working with developers and even then, coming out, there was still a huge learning curve.

I would say it was challenging, but I mean most things worthwhile are challenging. It takes a lot of time and effort. You have to learn and you also have to make sure you have good people around you. This is a team effort. I didn’t build this app. I had an idea. I recruited a team. It really requires a lot of really smart and passionate people and a lot of time. It was very iterative. We had the concepts, we designed it, and we built a little piece of it, and tested it. Overall we’ve tested with nearly 4,000 students and thankfully, before we consider the app to be truly complete, we’ll have tested with 10,000 or 20,000 students.

 

Q. Thrive and Shine is visually stimulating and engaging. What was the process around tackling the artistic aspects of the app?

Well, most financial literacy instruction just doesn’t work in part because it’s not engaging.

Our No. 1 mandate was to make sure this game was engaging. We wanted to make sure we were creating something students could relate to.  In terms of the avatar, that was also a major focus. What we found at the rudimentary level was that students really engage with the avatar. We had students who played it for 40 or more hours in their free time and they expressed that they wanted their avatar to be successful, so they sent her to college but now they want to help her pay off the loans.

Some expressed that when they stopped playing the game their avatar was sad, so they went back and played some more.  The feedback from the students let us know that the avatar played a key role in the application which was something we didn’t learn from creating it. As a result of the feedback, we invested a lot of resources to rebuild the avatar system from scratch.

Q.This year you were appointed to the Special Advisory Council on Financial  Capability for Young Americans.  What are some of the things you and the other council members are already discussing as far as new initiatives and policies to improve financial capability for young people?

I can only say so much about we’re doing at this point. What I will say is that the council is different from previous councils because it places a large emphasis on public-private partnerships, as well as on partnerships between the members of the council.

We are also more focused on young people and that is huge. We are looking at how we as members can do things and have an impact. One of the things we are focusing on is how we can get high-quality financial capability instruction more widespread so that students, particularly from lower-income backgrounds, can have more access.

Q.Does that mean that you might be going into the schools asking questions?

It’s very likely that we would. Another piece of that is that a lot of the organizations represented in the council work with young people.

 Q.What factors do you think play into the African-American community as a whole as financially illiterate?

I think that as with many things, African-Americans are not doing as well with financial literacy but everyone is doing horrible. Part of it is socio-economic. Ninety-five percent of students graduate financially illiterate. Even up through the middle class, which means our youth don’t know anything about money.

It’s more pronounced in the African-American community because there is a higher level of poverty and a lot more single-parent households and so those issues get exacerbated. However, on a broader spectrum most people are financially illiterate. Most parents feel uncomfortable talking to their kids about money. So as nation, no one is teaching financial literacy and what it means to be financially capable to our youth.

I think in the African-American community, that gets exacerbated because there are all these other negative cultural influences that promote the exact opposite of financial literacy. But once again, that is a microcosm of what has happened in American culture in general.

We have rap, we have hip-hop which promotes some very negative values these days, at least the mainstream version of it. At the same time, you have The Bachelor and the Real Housewives which essentially promote the same negative values. Financial illiteracy is  not an issue unique to the African-American community.

Financial literacy is a necessity for the nation as whole.

 

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Do You Know the Difference Between Options and Opportunities?

As the summer vacation season quickly draws to a close, I am reminded of the scores of African-American students, young and old,  who will descend onto various places of higher learning to either begin or continue their journey toward that mythical destination known as  “a profession,” in the hopes of finding the elusive career vs. an ordinary job.

Yet before any one of them can realize a true profession — let alone a career — they must learn a critical lesson that is unfortunately often not taught to these students, yet is what often determines who among them will achieve success (whatever that success might look like) and who will know the soul-numbing, joy-stealing ache of failure.

What is this critical lesson that is often withheld from our best and brightest?

It is understanding the dynamic yet subtle relationship between opportunities ( for example, university vs. trade school) and options (for example, UCLA or USC vs. UTI or ITT), while having the courage to consciously make choices instead of simply going along with what you’re handed — that is, letting someone else choose for you.

In this piece we’ll examine the former — opportunities vs. options. The latter — conscious decision-making — we’ll leave for another time.

Opportunities are best defined as “a set of circumstances that make it possible to do something,” while options are best defined as “a thing that is or may be chosen.”

So based upon the definitions, we see that while opportunities contain options, options don’t necessarily contain opportunities. It is very important that young African-Americans who are pursing professions understand this subtle yet important difference. You want to make sure everything you are doing drives the creation of opportunities rather than options. Success is more often than not the result of given set of circumstances (opportunities) that allows you  “to go from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm,” as Winston Churchill once said.

It is opportunity (not options) that explains why Michael Vick was able to resume his professional football career, while Allen Iverson basically has been exiled from professional basketball.

Options only give you the chance to choose between what “you will have;” Google Iverson and see what he had and lost as $200 million buys a lot of stuff.

Opportunities give you the chance to create more opportunities. As Sun Tzu noted, “Opportunities multiply as they are seized,” thus they enable you to choose what “you will be;” Google Michael Vicks’ 60 Minutes interview and hear him describe what he has become due to opportunities from his incarceration and a second chance in the NFL.

When Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, “To be or not to be, that is the question,” he was referencing the power of opportunity, as it’s only through opportunity do you get the ability to make the kind of choices that impact the person you are or will become.

So for those of you who are starting your collegiate careers, think carefully about your choice of major. Psychology or sociology, often a favorite, might be interesting or even considered “easy” but as Ann Landers said, “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work so people don’t recognize them.”  If I were you I’d be leery of anything “easy” as few (if any) opportunities await within.

To those who are already well down the path of a given major, look for ways to maximize your opportunities upon graduation. While often not easy nor convenient, changing institutions is often a way to increase your opportunities;  a psychology degree from University of Southern California (USC) carries with it more opportunities than one from Long Beach State (CSU-LB).

So I leave you with the words of Theodore Roosevelt, “It is not often that a man can make opportunities for himself. But he can put himself in such shape that when or if the opportunities come he is ready.”

So what will you be? For that, my friends, is the only question.

 Tre Green is a 25yr veteran of the IT industry who specializes in solving “mission impossible” for Fortune 500 organizations. When not adding to his frequent flier miles and preferred guest status Tre can be often be found at home relaxing with his motely crew of pets.

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Georgia Teens Respond to Events in Ferguson by Creating App to Rate Police

Three teen siblings from Decatur, Georgia, are using technology to make a difference in the fight for justice against police brutality, racial profiling and other issues that have created a divide between police and the communities they serve.

As the world watches Ferguson, Missouri, closely, many people have reprimanded the police forces for the way they have handled the Mike Brown shooting case and events that followed. Unarmed Brown, 18, was shot and killed Aug. 9 by a police officer. In reaction to the teen’s death, protests were held.

President Barack Obama also expressed his disappointment in the force, saying that there is “no excuse” for Ferguson police to use excessive force against peaceful protesters.

While it seems a large number of people are upset with the police’s behavior and military-like tactics, one teen acknowledged that not all police forces are duplicates of the one in Ferguson.

Good cops still exist.

So 14-year-old Caleb Christian of Parkview High School teamed up with his older sisters, Parkview High School senior Ima Christian, 16, and Gwinnett School of Music and Technology sophomore Asha Christian, 15, to create an app that puts more power into the hands of those the police are supposed to serve.

Caleb called the app “Five-O,” which he said was inspired by the television show, according to Forbes.

The Pinetart website Caleb made to market his app explained that the young teen was “concerned about the number of incidents of police abuse in the news” but also knew that “there were many good police officers in various communities.”

The issue, the website explained, was that people “had no way of figuring out which communities were highly rated and which were not.”

That’s where Five-O comes in.

The app uses a Yelp-like rating system and allows citizens to upload reviews and add ratings of the police in their area.

App users can fill out full incident reports and hand out grades to police officers and police departments in their area.

The app is also more than just a space for reviews.

Other features allow users to locate their local police stations, look up their rights, check other citizen reviews and even organize their community in the event they want to come together for the sake of a peaceful demonstration or other community effort.

The Google Play page for the app also reveals that this is a Beta version of the app so users should expect to hit a few kinks and bugs. In the event they do, the app also features a handy feedback button that will help Caleb use consumer reports to fine-tune and improve the app.

As with most apps that use a Yelp-like rating system, however, it is important for app users to take the ratings and feedback with a grain of salt.

There is no system in place to confirm the accuracy of reports, and many people feel more inclined to report bad experiences than good ones when it comes to writing out a review online.

The app was created Monday and has already garnered somewhere between 100 and 500 installs.

The Google Play page says the app is compatible with all devices.

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10 Young Black Tech Innovators You Should Know

Kimberly Bryant

Bryant founded San Francisco-based Black Girls Code in 2011 to help close the digital divide for girls of color. So far the nonprofit organization has trained more than 1,500 girls to work in technology fields such as robotics, video game design, mobile phone application development and computer programming.

This past July, Bryant, a biotechnology and engineering professional, was one of 11 people to receive the White House Champions of Change for Tech Inclusion award. The award is given to celebrate people in the U.S. “who are doing extraordinary things to expand technology opportunities for young learners—especially minorities, women and girls, and others from communities historically under-served or under-represented in tech fields,” according to whitehouse.gov.

Dr. Paul Judge

Dr. Paul Q. Judge is a serial entrepreneur and noted scholar with a doctorate in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. The Atlanta-based entrepreneur has founded several companies that expanded and resulted in successful acquisitions. In 2000, Judge joined the founding team of CipherTrust, an anti-spam email software company, which became one of the fastest growing firms in North America with 300 employees and over 3,000 customers, including half of the Fortune 500 companies, in more than 50 countries. CipherTrust was acquired by Secure Computing for $273 million in 2006.

Judge has received many awards and was recognized by the MIT Technology Review Magazine as one of the top 100 young innovators in the world in 2003. He was also featured in Black Enterprise magazine’s list of “50 Most Powerful Players Under 40.”‘

Ory Okolloh

Harvard-educated Ory Okolloh of Kenya has created both the watchdog site Mzalendo and the crime reporting site Ushahidi, and now serves as Google’s policy manager in Africa. Recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Influential Women in Technology last year, she is set to become the new face of entrepreneurship on the continent.

Shaun Evans

Shaun Evans is the chief executive officer of OMBO Apps, which is becoming one of Atlanta’s hottest tech companies to take on the mobile industry. His startup company develops cutting-edge mobile applications targeting the African-American market. Evans is a game-changer with one hit already under his belt, Urban Gossip FREE, the No. 1 black celebrity news app for iPhone and Android mobile devices.

Anthony Frasier

Anthony Frasier is a native of Newark, N.J., former co-founder of mobile startup Playd, and the award- winning gaming site TheKoalition.com. Anthony was also profiled in the online hit documentary Black in America: The New Promised Land – Silicon Valley, which has received over 1 million viewers.

In 2012 CNN Money profiled an elite group of eight minorities diversifying the tech industry and Frasier made the list. He was also listed in NBC The Grio’s “100: Making History Today” for his acclaimed work. Currently he’s working on building up the Newark tech scene and a new tech startup.

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Power to the Tweeple

When crisis hits, the most natural and human reaction is to want to help those who are suffering. After a hurricane, we send clothes and rebuild houses. After a terrorist attack, we mourn together and reaffirm our devotion to our nation. But after social injustice hits us, we don’t know what to do.

How can we help? What can a person in Seattle, Dallas or any town in America do to ease the pain of a mother grieving for her son, or fight a system built on a tradition of racism and injustice?

In this, as in most things, technology provides us with an answer and an opportunity.

The phrase “hashtag advocacy” has been derided, debunked and devalued. Countless bloggers, critics and media personalities have poked fun at people who tweet as a response to a crisis somewhere in the world. They say that 140 characters can’t change anything, that if you speak against injustice without immediately giving away all of your worldly possessions and devoting your life to a cause, that it doesn’t make a difference. That if you’re tweeting #IamTrayvon one day and #BringBackOurGirls the next, you’re flighty and just following a trend.

Fortunately, that’s not the case. We don’t tweet for justice for Trayvon Martin, the return of the stolen girls in Nigeria, and the crises in Ferguson, Mo., and the Gaza Strip because we’re being trendy. Social tweets are not an equivalent to a day trip to Forever 21.

We tweet because there is so much injustice, so much anger and pain and so many, many causes that need our help, that sometimes the best we can do is call attention by screaming out loud in the one way that is sure to be heard. We use hashtags to prove that we are not alone in our feelings, but that there are hundreds, thousands, millions of voices who believe what we believe, who are angered and appalled at the world around us. We use hashtags to prove that we cannot be ignored.

Hashtag advocacy leads to media stories, leads to organized protests, leads to attention, leads to change. Just ask the tweeters of the Arab Spring.

Hashtags pressured the cops to arrest George Zimmerman.

Hashtags forced the government to act in Nigeria.

Hashtags got celebrity chef Paula Deen fired.

Hashtags allowed the people of #Ferguson to tell their story even when the police tried to push the media out.

Is hashtag advocacy a solution? Of course not. It’s a tool, a way to bring together a chorus of voices to aid, assist and force action. It’s vocal protest, in 140 characters or less. Like all protest, it requires action. We can’t all fight for everything, but we can lend our voices to each other’s causes, to help each other in the fight.

Hashtags organize protests, on-the-ground movements that prove that people aren’t just willing to type, they’re willing to stand for what they believe in. Hundreds of thousands of people have shown solidarity for Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown in organized protests around the country. And because of those movements, because of hashtag advocacy, Zimmerman was arrested and tried (no comment on the result, jurors aren’t allowed to read Twitter), Congress is investigating the militarization of local police, and people with no voice are being heard.

Don’t believe that protests work? I think you and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  need to have a conversation. You can meet him in Selma.

Tech is the great equalizer in more ways than one. It allows everyday people to bring attention to issues that may be ignored, speak truth to power, and record the history that others may not want us to see. King wasn’t marching for his health. He marched because he knew that the sight of thousands of Americans marching on Selma, the National Mall, and countless other places, demanding equal rights, was the first step in making serious, systemic change. He learned that from Ghandi.

Susan B. Anthony and Gloria Steinem marched for women’s rights, and you better believe they would have tweeted too. Because the leaders of the great movements of our time didn’t just march. They wrote letters, songs, articles, plays and poems. They ran races in defiance of Hitler and pumped Black power fists on the Olympic medal stand. They danced and painted and played one hell of a game of tennis. They used every voice, every talent and every avenue to fight for their rights. To fight for change.

Every great community organizer has marshaled the power of popular opinion in the most current and relevant form. Right now, that’s Twitter. It’s working. Who are we to argue?

Power to the Tweeple.

Kat Calvin is a social entrepreneur, writer and advocate for the empowerment of women, entrepreneurs and the black community. She is the founder of Michelle in Training, a mentoring and educational organization. You can follow her at @KatCalvinDC.

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Black Women in Tech Fields Face ‘Double Minority’ Struggle

It’s a known fact that the technology industry can use more diversification. I’ve been in the information security field for about seven years, and in most of my roles, I’ve been one of two women in a sea of men. In my current position, I am the only woman.

Frankly, I don’t blame this lack of diversity on companies. Companies hire people who are right for the job, fit the culture of the environment, and can grow the organization. Undoubtedly, there are adjustments companies can make to help increase the level of diversity and to make Black and brown workers in these fields feel more comfortable.

But why focus on increasing diversity? Diversity is important as we all have different experiences in life and bring our distinct perspectives to the forefront. Culture, lifestyle, environment, etc., all shape our mindset,  giving each person  a unique offering that differs from their peers, with disparate ideas and approaches to a problem.

Why is it important to for companies to help women and minorities in tech roles feel more comfortable? Oftentimes when you are a Black or brown employee, you tend to feel like an outcast, and even if you don’t, you still want to feel a sense of inclusion. If you don’t feel included, you are bound to seek it elsewhere. Personally, I don’t mind working with mostly men. But “mostly” is the operative word. I find it gratifying to just have a chat with a female colleague. Not only did having another woman on my team make my environment more pleasing from a personal perspective, but men and women often tend to think differently, handle situations differently, and propose completely different strategies.

This is why tailored networking groups serve a good purpose.

There are several questions that surface on this topic:

Why aren’t there more women and African-Americans in technology?

What can companies do to attract more women and minority workers?

Why do women leave technical roles?

I’m not going to venture into answering those questions, as they are so complex.  However, what about the candidates? Are we, women and minorities doing our part to become creators of technology and not just consumers? Are companies and media outlets doing their part to highlight women and minorities with great technology accomplishments that will inspire our youth?

With that being said, there are experiences had by women and minorities in tech that touch opposite ends of the spectrum. Personally, my experience has been rewarding. I’ve encountered a few situations that were not ideal, but could not be completely attributed to the fact that I am a double minority. On the other hand, I’ve heard of horrific experiences had by women and minorities that were clearly related to their gender or ethnicity.

But before we start placing blame, let’s take some accountability. Before we start complaining about how other races are not creating things with us in mind, let’s bunker down and become creators. Before we start asking what others are teaching our youth, let’s plant meaningful seeds within the minds of our future generations.

No one can tell our stories better than us. No one can understand our struggles better than us. No one can, in a sense, become chameleons like we can. So who better than us than to take charge and be the creators of our own destinies? We don’t always have to be double minorities.

Quiessence is an Information Security Professional with over seven years of experience. She is also the Curriculum Development Lead for Black Girls CODE NY, creator of the Girltechie Campaign, and a workshop called “Securing Your Web”. Find her on the web @ www.itsquiessence.com

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5 Interesting Topics You Have To Be a Blerd To Appreciate

1. The Author of  ‘The Three Musketeers’ Was a Black Man
During the mid- to late 1800s, Alexandre Dumas rose to literary fame as one of France’s most prolific writers. He wrote alluring and adventurous tales. His novels were filled with descriptions of picturesque French landscapes and deadly sword fights. His most notable novel The Three Musketeers has boasted over 100 film adaptations. His other well-known novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, is loosely based on his father General Alex Dumas, who had a reported rivalry with Napoleon Bonaparte.

2.Why Lonnie Johnson is One of the Coolest Inventors

Lonnie Johnson, African-American engineer and entrepreneur, is a dynamic inventor who has made significant contributions to NASA space travel, but Blerds can’t ignore the impact one of his inventions has had on children worldwide. ABC news reported that in 1982, Johnson was  working on building a heat pump when he attached a nozzle to the end of the pump, which he connected to his bathroom sink.

Immediately water blasted across the room and the Super Soaker was born. In 1990, the Super Soaker hit the market and garnered much success. Since the invention of the Super Soaker, water fights have never been the same.

3.Why Raze From ‘Underworld ‘ is Our Favorite Werewolf

If you’re a fan of the Underworld film series then you are probably a huge fan of Raze, the big, booming and ferocious Lycan. Raze played by Kevin Grevioux, not only had a significant role in the successful franchise, but Grevioux also wrote the original screenplay for the first film. His creativity and love for science fiction did not stop there.

According to Shadow and Act the Howard University graduate, who majored in microbiology, wrote and executive produced the sci-fi film, I, Frankenstein, released earlier this year.

4.Why ‘Sharknado 2’ is Worth Watching

Blerds everywhere know that Sharknado 2: The Second One is far from cinematic excellence, with its questionable blue screen graphics and its equally subpar script. However, you know you were one of the 3.87 million viewers glued to your flat screens on July 30 to watch the Syfy channel original movie. Do you regret watching the sequel? No. In fact there were some memorable moments that made you feel better about watching the film. Two moments in particular were cameos by two rap legends.

You may have cringed, bust out in laughter or both when you saw Pepa, from the ’90s rap duo Salt-N- Pepa attempt to escape impending danger from flying sharks while riding a bicycle. You definitely rooted for Biz Markie when he went from an ordinary cook to a knife-wielding shark killer. Either way after those two appeared you felt a little better about tuning in.

5. Neil deGrasse Tyson is the Ultimate Blerd
If you are true Blerd then you consider Neil deGrasse Tyson Blerd royalty. The Bronx, N.Y.-bred astrophysicist removed Pluto as the ninth planet.

In true blerd fashion, Tyson argued that the “dwarf planet” doesn’t share the proper criteria to be given  “planet” status. To add to his awesomeness,  he currently hosts the 12-time Emmy-nominated series, Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey.

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Technology Diversity Is Not The Next Civil Rights Step

“Tech Diversity is the next civil rights step,” Rev. Jesse Jackson reportedly announced last month. As an African- American woman with 20-plus years in the field of technology, I respectfully disagree with Jackson’s opinion. As a matter of fact, I believe this type of rhetoric serves as a smokescreen and is not conducive to bridging the racial and gender technology gap. It simply takes our eyes off the prize.

Jackson’s lobbying of tech companies and asking them to disclose their hiring data is to be commended. However, now that the numbers have been exposed, this is an opportune time to shift the conversation. This issue is about an empowerment movement in our African-American community. A movement involving empowering us to proactively engage in the field of technology. A movement to transform technology consumers into coders.

There are science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs for young people in every state. Coding and technology classes for adults are plentiful (although some are one-hit wonders with no employment opportunities tied to them, but that’s another conversation). The aforementioned being true now raises questions and shifts the conversation to how we can collectively:

1) Improve community awareness and encourage active participation in technology training programs and career opportunities.

2) Empower minorities to believe they can succeed in the technology field.

3) Engage work opportunities in the right roles, given the many aspects of technology jobs, not merely “coding.”

4) Engage committed technology employers in a conversation, which will lead to hiring entry-level, nontraditionally educated technology professionals.

Shifting the conversation must also involve a discussion about a full-cycle program of helping successful non-tech workers re-career into the field of technology. We are missing an entire population of adults who are unemployed, underemployed or simply looking for a change.

In our Detroit-based organization, Sisters Code, we call it “Awakening the Mature Geek,” and I’m living proof that it will work. After college, I was an aspiring mortician and middle school teacher. At the age of 25, I participated in a corporate training program where I learned to code in seven different languages in 13 weeks.

My life was instantly transformed and I emerged as a mainframe programmer. I went on to become a global technology corporate executive, deputy CIO, and technology CEO. If I did not have my personal technology “awakening,” my life would not be what it is today.

Although my perspective is different from Rev. Jackson’s, it does not mean I don’t recognize the need for deeper engagement across our ecosystem. There must be opportunity awareness in the community, identification of individuals who are interested in exploring careers in technology, training and workforce development programs with a direct link to jobs, and corporations who are committed to hiring nontraditionally educated employees.

Speaking from the experience of often being the only woman and person of color at many technology tables, the workforce technology diversity numbers aren’t shocking, but I’m 100 percent sure we can do better. If we are really serious about bridging the racial and gender technology gap, there must be accountability and engagement among all concerned parties.

Count me in.