Black History: Balancing The Past, Present, and Future
When we speak of Black History Month, there are many different directions we can take on the topic. No matter the sentiment, this is a topic I enjoy discussing because it is who I am and these discussions were a part of my upbringing. As a child, I spent my Sundays learning about Black Historical experiences that spanned the globe. Like many black children of my generation, my education on the topic of Black History spanned more than a month and gave me unique perspectives that impacted how I navigated the world.
When it comes to history some people in the world forget the value of context. The context impacts everyone. It can show us how far we as humanity have come and also where things may have remained stagnant. The context helps us navigate the future. Balance is the key.
Career Day - The Black History Incubator
Almost 10 years ago, I attended my daughter’s Career Day when we lived in Atlanta. The neighborhood has since gentrified, but even at the time, the neighborhood had a diverse mix of people from an economic perspective, although the majority of the students at the school qualified for free or reduced lunch. This school was close to the GA Dome and was sponsored by a major corporation so the students didn’t lack anything regarding technology and other STEM tools. Like most 4th and 5th graders, they had a high tolerance for popular culture, video games, and the flash of reality TV. This was Atlanta so; a great deal of popular culture was also within arm’s reach.
During this time I was working at a Fortune 100 company, running my own business, and spending time at a tech incubator in Midtown Atlanta called Hypepotamus. Tech startups were under one roof collaborating, sharing ideas, wins, and connections while looking for the best ways to take their visions to the next level. Every color of humanity was there in harmony creating the technology we are using today. For context, while visiting the location with a friend, I was invited to an impromptu party to celebrate one of the founders within the Hypepotamus incubator program and their recent multi-million dollar deal with Google.
Experiencing the tech environment of Hypepotamus made me think of how much opportunity these children had, just a few miles from their school, but I wondered if they knew it was there. Inspiring a generation requires influence and influence requires a repetitive presence. Their favorite rappers and reality TV stars were a part of the city’s culture. They had a hypnotic influence over the way they behaved in the classroom and amongst their peers, but did they know about the people behind the tech they used then or would eventually use it in the future? Did they know they could be a part of it too? Were they aware of the Black History that was being made just miles from them in all facets of business, all around the city?
I created a way of catching the attention of the children, and getting them to think beyond just making it through the day's assignments. I offered Google Play gift cards to the students who could answer the following questions best:
Marketing - “What could you do to get more children to purchase this gift card?”
Business - “If you could start a business today, what would it be and why?”
The activity was fun. Their answers were interesting. My child and everyone in her science club were fully engaged. The other children looked to each other for answers. They were very connected to their peer groups and “being cool.” As a mom, I’d never want the entertainment of children to be focused on one thing or another, I just ask for balance. If we speak of Black history in its beauty, progress, and pain, we also bring forth the same for the present - that way people don’t feel so distant from their possibilities. If children are being fed celebrity culture, I want them to also receive information on tech and art culture as well. The programming they receive is very beneficial to them in learning how to live a life of destructive drama and to fulfill activities that are degenerative to themselves and their communities, but at the same time the news of STEM, business, and art advancements get a pin drops value of influence compared to what reality tv and celebrity culture receive. As a society, the most recent advancement in balance is TikTok’s STEM feed.
I came up with an interactive after-school program that would give the children an opportunity to express themselves creatively and also understand the different facets of business from a design concept to launching a fully functional e-commerce website. The principal of the school was all over it and offered me the opportunity to run the program after school and even in the summer. Unfortunately, I did not have the time to execute this mission. I still had my job, my business and my family to manage. To this day, I would still love to implement this program and include an appearance from a local tech influencer. This program would benefit children around the country and provide them with a balance that makes different opportunities tangible. As a society we are beyond the idea of children feeling like athletics and entertainment are the only ways to change their trajectory in life. The influence of people near them who are making progressive advancements for them, and humanity needs to be turned up a few notches.
Black History Making Tech Founders and Influencers That Your Children Should Know About
Many parents and people who work with children aren’t in the tech world. They work hard and like me, they have multiple plates spinning at once. The best way to keep the information flowing toward the children is to share it with more than LinkedIn. I am going to start sharing the articles and advancements I see on LinkedIn to Facebook and other social platforms where my friends who are connected to children and aren’t in the business/tech space spend more time. My congratulatory reactions and comments on LinkedIn are preaching to the choir. If I don’t have time to run my nationwide business program for the children of the USA, the least I can do is share information and contribute to the awareness of career and tech advancements.
I put together a list of a few people I have met over the years - some who I know on a personal level and others who I admire from afar, who children should be aware of in the tech/business space. Feel free to add more people in the comments. It is more than okay to add their LinkedIn and website links.
Influencers and Founders
One of the companies I met at Hypepotomus in 2013 was Myavana. Led by Candace Mitchell Harris since 2012, the concept of Myavana was amazing then and her recent partnerships with Ulta Beauty and Brain Trust Fund are well deserved. | LinkedIn |
Michael Berhane is the CEO behind People of Color in Tech (POCIT). POCIT, an award-winning career and media platform, based in London, provides extensive global news on tech companies and their founders, careers in tech as well as advancements and legal updates. POCIT is also a great place to find tech-based jobs. | LinkedIn |
Melodee Henderson is the tech, media, and entertainment attorney to know. She is sought after for her legendary work within the tech, media, and entertainment industries. When people are looking for a corporate attorney, I always recommend Melodee and send them her LinkedIn, but I never forget to note that she worked at Zoom before and through the eye of the storm that is COVID.
Even though Melodee is a corporate giant, she is passionate about entrepreneurship. I met her through an entrepreneurship women’s group in Atlanta almost 15 years ago. Although she works with Fortune 500 companies, she keeps a pulse on the happenings of the tech industry and works with tech companies of all sizes. | Linkedin |
If he is available, James Harris is the mentor to have if you are in tech. He has not only founded tech companies, but he has a track record of supporting tech companies along their journeys. He has founded at least two tech incubators and started Camp Freedom, a camp for inner-city children that will specialize in teaching environmentalism, mathematics, and technology in the foothills of Tennessee. I caught up with James and he gave me a few amazing updates. He said he is, “working to get the young people to connect entrepreneurship and nature.“
James is a board member of the Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture (TLW). TLW is an educational program that is creating a foundation for generations to carry the torch of maintaining a naturally grown fresh food supply within the Atlanta urban epicenter. James introduced me to Candace Mitchell Harris and Mayavana, so I was not surprised about this next update. James was blessed to purchase an 8.5-acre plot of land in Tuskeegee, Alabama, and plans on using that land to build a flower and botanical farm for natural beauty makers. This is incredible!! | LinkedIn |
Unleashing Potential, Mastering Technology for The Future
Rayshoun Chambers has been a force in the world of payment technology since 1997. I’ve always known her to have a very passionate and knowledgeable presence. Bumping into her in the hallway at work could easily turn into an educational experience. I was a Marketing Manager with a passion for simplifying the sales process from the marketing side and she was the AVP of Business Development - of course, we had lots to talk about. We haven’t worked together in over a decade, but we’ve remained connected and kept each other abreast of our projects.
When putting this article together, I wanted to make sure payment technology, also known as FinTech, was a part of the conversation and you can’t discuss payment technology without bringing up Rayshoun Chambers. We connected to discuss her impact on the industry of payment technology and I was in for a HUGE surprise, as her work with Blockchain technology and its impact on Fintech, led her directly to the young learners in technology.
By looking at her LinkedIn I could see that she started working within the K-12 space, but learning about her approach to the K-12 space is what had my jaw hitting the floor. When we met, I was intrigued because I was used to seeing her wearing suits and walking amongst the backdrop of cubicles and offices. On this day, she was wearing all black with a cool t-shirt at a desk that sat in the middle of a large room that looked like a STEM lover’s dream.
Rayshoun is the Director of Technology Learning and Development for Peacemakers of Rocky Mount. Peacemakers is a nonprofit faith-based organization. Rayshoun was tasked with creating a program that connected with middle and high school students. She came up with Digital Futures Academy. Each day scholars from around the city of Rocky Mount come to Digital Futures Academy for an experience of a lifetime.
Rayshoun works with the Unreal Engine team at Epic Games to use Fortnite Creative to help middle and high school students learn game design. She is on a task force with Epic Games to create a certification program for Unreal Engine that will be implemented in high schools by the end of this year. This micro-credential partnership seemed very interesting so I had to dig deeper.
“So we're very serious about micro-credentials because that's really where it is” said Rayshoun “When we discuss the direction of technology and how people will qualify for these 21st-century jobs, we’re seeing that big pharma and big corporate recognized that they no longer have the time to say ‘I need a master's degree candidate’ because technology changes too quickly for anyone to wait for them to get it over the course of four more years. So they're looking for people who have micro-credentials that certify that they've gone to some intensive coursework, garnered this knowledge, and had an opportunity to display and execute it.”
Rayshoun went on to discuss her reasons for being so vested in this task force, “That's one of my very deep-seated interests with being part of this task force with Epic Games, with other educators, gamers, and designers. Each of us has our own piece of the pie to structure out and have ready so that these young people have something tangible to present to various companies for their career paths. It's mission-critical for us to be able to afford them the opportunities to do that. And so I'm excited about being part of that process.”
I mentioned that I’ve always known Rayshoun to be passionate and apparently the passion I remember is an understatement. She’s much more passionate today than the woman I knew ten years ago. She recently spoke at the North Carolina Business Committee for Education with Governor Cooper on the importance of allowing scholars to be exposed to and allowed the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in learning complex data skills in a fun, exciting, and engaging environment.
The students are going much deeper than learning technology. They are learning the necessary soft skills for maintaining a position. “I have other companies here locally and nationally that provide me with information that is useful to these scholars. So I'm not so much interested in what are you hiring for. My conversations with my scholars are centered around skills they can use in the real world. We have realistic conversations about terminations. I receive a monthly list from various companies that let me know the number of terminations they had as well as the reasons for the terminations. We have to really help these young people who are so separated in person but connected online to remember how to execute soft skills. What does it mean to listen? How do you interact with people? How are you doing that above board, you know? So being able to unpack that live and in person and create these modules for them to do that is near and dear to my heart.”
At the moment she’s thrilled about the girls in the program becoming a part of the Dell Technologies Girls Who Game Spring Cohort.
Rayshoun is a force no matter the industry or cause. While she was downloading all of this wonderful history-making information to me I was glowing with amazement. I told Rayshoun, “They’ve got the right one in place.” What I meant by that is: Imagine your most groundbreaking colleague. There is a big project or a big emergency and you know this person is going to have the answer to solve the problem, lead the mission to get it resolved, or just get it done by any means necessary, and then out of nowhere, you pick this person up and they put all their momentum behind our future, the children.
Just when I think I know a great deal about Black History, I soon find more information. Technology has made it easier to learn. I was the kid who asked to be taken to the library before I could drive. With the help of technology, I’m learning more about progress and attempts at progress within global history. I hope people keep speaking about their progress and what they are doing because their intentions may not be to “make history,” but by focusing on healing and progress, they are naturally making history. There are so many voices that would make many people believe there is no hope or progress and having lived in Atlanta for 20 years, that in itself blows my mind. While living in Atlanta I witnessed so much progress for so long, but the more I live in other parts of the United States, I realize not everyone had the same experiences from my perspective. Progress is happening nationwide and across the globe. Sometimes we need someone to point it out to us and other times, we need to know the right words to put into the search bars. Cheers to balancing the past, present, and future.