A Georgia man spent almost a week in jail after Louisiana police wrongly identified him as a fugitive using facial recognition software. Randal Reid, 28, was driving to his mother’s home for Thanksgiving celebrations when local police pulled him over and arrested him, according to local news. Using facial recognition software, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO) had identified Reid as a suspect in a spate of thefts. $10,000 worth of Chanel and Louis Vuitton purses had been stolen. The problem? Reid had never set foot in Louisiana. “They told me
Black and Latine startup employees own less equity than their counterparts – here’s why it matters and what we can do about it. December 8 marked Latina Equal Pay Day: Full-time and part-time Latinas only earn 54 cents for every $1 earned by white, non-Hispanic men. Similarly, the following equal pay days remind us of the wage gaps faced by women of color compared to white men. AANHPI Women: 75 cents (May 3) Black Women: 64 cents (September 21) Native and Indigenous Women: 51 cents (November 30) But should we
Despite Big Tech’s promises in the summer of 2020, Black and Brown tech employees are finding themselves hard hit by short-sighted cuts to diversity efforts and layoffs. The Great Reset “The great reset” is what San Jose State University’s Professor Ahmed Banafa calls the current climate of tech layoffs, restructuring, and downsizing. While much of the global economy took a massive hit during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tech industry thrived. Tech companies made huge profits and hired tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of new staff. Yet, fast forward
Remember the summer of 2020? Tech companies were posting Black squares on Instagram and mass hiring diversity consultants. Fast forward two years, and tech leaders are publicly delighting in the waning of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). We know it is easy to feel discouraged, but that’s where POCIT comes in! On our recruitment platform, you can find a whole gamut of roles for people of color in tech. Whether you’re a developer or business analyst, marketing genius or design boss, here are some of the many companies that want to
We recently did a roundup of some of the hottest tech internships currently accepting applications, but we know some of you are also looking for something a little more permanent. On the POCIT jobs board, we’ve got loads of entry-level and junior roles for software engineers in the early stages of their careers. And for those studying at college, taking online courses, or attending a boot camp, tech internships provide a great way to get some much-needed industry experience. So, if you’re intellectually curious, passionate about tech, and eager to
Morehouse College has become the first college to offer classes in the metaverse. By donning a headset, students at the Atlanta-based liberal arts HBCU can immerse themselves in past, present, and future worlds. Dr Muhsinah Morris PhD spearheaded Morehouse College’s metaversity campus in partnership with VictoryXR, with funding from Meta, Southern Company, Unity, T-Mobile For Business, National Science Foundation (NSF), and Qualcomm. Immersive learning Morris taught an advanced inorganic chemistry lab virtually to a dozen students as part of a pilot last spring. She believes the metaverse’s experiential and active learning environment will
It’s the classic Catch-22, you need experience to get a job, but you need a job to get experience. And let’s be honest, the current volatile climate of layoffs, hiring freezes and restructures, hasn’t made it easy to get either of the two. But tech internships remain a great way to gain experience, build networks, and get your foot through the door. Most tech internships are open to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as those taking online courses or attending boot camps. On the POCIT jobs board, we have
With constant news of layoffs, hiring freezes, and restructures, we know it’s a hard time for many in the tech industry – especially people of color. When underperforming, companies retreat to what they know and who they know. They default to what is familiar, and, all too often, this means older, white men. We saw this at the peak of the pandemic, and it seems we are seeing it now. POCIT was launched to platform the stories of people of color in tech but also to create new ones. Our recruitment platform has
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is on its way to our theaters, and as part of the movie’s promotion, Marvel has partnered with Xbox to inspire the next generation of gaming and tech leaders. According to an HBCU Connect survey, 95% of HBCU students and alumni are interested in a career in the gaming industry. Yet, only 2% of video gaming industry professionals are Black. The Marvel and Xbox partnership aims to narrow the gap between these two figures. Code your own Marvel game Fans around the world are being invited to
Women of color are skilled, ambitious, and talented yet they continue to be underrepresented in senior positions in the workplace. In a recent study involving more than 300 companies and 40,000 employees, LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company have shed light on some of the experiences of women in the ‘post’-pandemic workplace. Here’s what we learned about the experiences of women of color in the workplace; the challenges they face and how they are taking their careers into their own hands. The Pipeline Problem Women of color are still hugely underrepresented in
