This is the week of
"Launch," a tech event designed to introduce new startups. And another tech event that looks like it's going to be almost devoid of blacks.
If anyone black in tech wants to get a fair hearing about their company, they're going to have to do what the Indian Tech Community is doing: forming organizations and associations that, because of the involvement of Indians, provide a better place for an Indian startup to go to be evaluated.
The reason for this is events like Launch, the latest one of its kind focused on startups, just don't provide the environment for this. And looking at the players behind it, starting with Jason Calacanis, that's not going to happen. The problem with the Tech Community as a whole is that it's racially divided, yet uses a pseudo-intellectual rationale to convince itself otherwise. That is,
"Well, we take anyone who has a good idea."
A comment I've heard again and again. That's a load of bull; a good idea is in the eye of the beholder. And the organization which makes that claim is just placing itself in the role of judge when I don't recall anyone taking a formal vote to give it such a role.
To me, it's shameful to give Jason Calacanis power - as Kalimah Priforce
did in a resent blog post and Twitter challenge - by asking the founder of Engadget to have more black judges at Launch. If Jason wants to satisfy himself with forming yet another Tech event where blacks are servants, janitors, and security guards, go right ahead.
This tweet by Jason
was just terrible, but honest:
Jason Jason Calacanis
by kapriforce@
seriously @kapriforce, send me names of 5 qualified black judges + i will invite! i'm all about love+diversity! i lived on the b-train
10 Feb
I have no idea what the b-train is and I'm black. It's not enough to love diversity; if Jason did, he'd know who was out there that was black and in Tech.
Hell, Jason's seen me at Tech events. He's talked to me at TechCrunch Disrupt 2010 and as part of a video-interview request that did not happen, and I even tried to reach out to him for some advice regarding my company Sports Business Simulations.
With all that, Jason
never got back to me. Did not give me an interview when I was working press. And then in an email basically implied that I wasn't working press. To heck with Jason and loving diversity, because from my experience his words add up to a load of crap.
I can say I love diversity just constantly being one of the few blacks at these events. But I digress.
Kalimah Priforce is right when he blogs that "
Startup America needs to look more like America." But it's sad that blacks have to say that, and not whites like Jason or for that matter Rachel Sklar, who blogs and talks about the lack of women in tech, but doesn't make noise when it comes to blacks. (And as Rachel's a friend, I'm getting after her to get into gear here. No excuses.)
In one of his Twitter tweets, Priforce calls to "Silicon Valley" and asks "where's the diversity:"
kapriforce Kalimah Priforce
Hey Silicon Valley! Where's the diversity? http://bit.ly/fuqcBB @GuyKawasaki @Jason @Scobleizer @mashable @TechCrunch
10 Feb Favorite Retweet Reply
And one of the people he calls to is Robert Scoble, the "Scobleizer." Well, Robert's a good guy (and I mean that. He's a
Mench) but I issued a challenge to him, he's yet to follow up on. I asked him to help me go out and recruit blacks to tech from places in Oakland. This was a message exchange he and I had on the Yahoo! Videobloggers Network something like seven years ago. And although we've connected a lot through the years, he turned a blind eye toward my idea.
The point is, I've been down the road that Kalimah's taking. I'm tired. I'm tired of going to events where I'm one of the few blacks in the room, yet reading and hearing about all of these blacks in tech like Kalimah. I'm tired of the attitudes, as well as the idea, held by
some people, that they're just "smarter" at all things, because they were lucky enough to have their start up funded.
I'm also tired of blacks writing about how not enough of us have a degree, and so on. Look, we know that. But I've got news: a lot of us do have degrees, are whipper smart, start companies, and know programming languages. But with all of this, we're raising black and kids of color who think someone who has a tech company and is white or Asian must be smarter than themselves. We've got to stop that.
The problem is this: a lot of blacks don't talk or team up. I've blogged about this matter of racial exclusion from tech events, and long before Kalimah has, and yet we both live in Oakland.
You reading that?
That's the problem.
I get the impression blacks are too concerned about what someone white will think if blacks team up. I don't think such concerns are productive and they help to maintain the overall problem. Plus, there are whites who care about this, too. We just have to find them. This also doesn't mean I'm suggesting the formation of "Black Nation," where if you're involved interracially, that's an issue. As anyone who knows me can tell you, that's not at all my concern.
This is not personal; it's business.
I'm saying that blacks in Tech must team up and this has to be a World-wide effort. There are too many blacks all of us know - and whites and others of color know too - who are in the industry, but not being reached out to. As a buddy of mine, a brilliant "Double-E", (that's electrical engineer) who's worked for places like Bell Labs, has said "Many blacks in Tech in the South talk to each other, but not to a wider audience." So we have to go and get them.
I don't care how small the event is, we need a Black Tech Expo. But I think we'll find that, once we pull together, the event itself will grow to be rather large. Then,
Jason Calacanis will be knocking on our door.
Wisconsin Power Play
