The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has asked the US Justice Department (DOJ) to investigate the deployment of the ShotSpotter gunfire detection system in Black neighborhoods. The nonprofit raised concerns about the technology being used to justify the over-policing of Black communities. What Is ShotSpotter Gunfire Detection System? ShotSpotter, owned by SoundThinking, a public safety technology company, is a gunshot detection technology. It uses acoustic sensors to detect, locate, and alert law enforcement about illegal gunfire incidents. The digital alerts include a precise location on a map, with corresponding data
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against electric car maker Telsa for tolerating widespread and racial harassment of Black employees. Widespread Racism and Retaliation The lawsuit claims that Tesla violated federal law by tolerating widespread and ongoing racial harassment of its Black employees and subjecting some workers to retaliation for opposing the harassment. According to the suit, from at least 2015 to the present, Black employees at Telsa’s Fremont, California manufacturing facilities have routinely endured racial abuse, stereotyping, and hostility. They have also been subjected
Latine communities start more businesses per capita than any other racial group in the United States. Latine or Hispanic-owned businesses also contribute over $800 billion annually to the nation’s economy. However, they often face challenges accessing the capital, resources, and support needed for the businesses to thrive. For example, in 2022, Latine and Hispanic founders received just 1.5% of venture capital funding, a drop from 2.5% the previous year. So, this Hispanic Heritage Month, we have compiled a list of resources to empower Latine tech founders nationwide! Resources For Tech Founders SoftBank
A federal judge in Georgia ruled that Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund for women of color, can continue offering a grant program only to Black women entrepreneurs. On Tuesday, the judge refused to issue an injunction blocking the program after a lawsuit alleged it engaged in “explicit racial exclusion”. The Lawsuit Against Fearless Fund The American Alliance for Equal Rights, founded by Edward Blum, brought a lawsuit against Fearless Fund in August 2023. It targeted the fund’s Fearless Strives Grant Contest, which awards Black women who own small businesses
Movable Ink is hiring on pocitjobs.com Bradley Ciné is an Associate Director for Go-To-Market (GTM) Enablement at Movable Ink, where he works with different teams across the company to deliver training and enablement initiatives. Bradley spoke to POCIT about his journey to Movable Ink, owning his identity as a Black man in tech and defining what a tech space should be for him. Tell me about your journey to Movable Ink I’m a first-generation Haitian-American and grew up in Harlem, New York. Since I was in primary school, I knew
The Royal Society, an independent scientific academy in the UK, has launched a Career Development Fellowship for underrepresented groups in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The Career Development Fellowship The fellowship aims to provide early career scientists from underrepresented groups in STEM with research funding and high-quality training opportunities. The four-year postdoctoral research fellowship will initially run as a pilot with researchers of Black heritage. If successful, it will be broadened to researchers from other underrepresented groups. Reports from the Royal Society, which looked at trends across 11 years of
Randal Quran Reid spent almost a week in jail after Louisiana police wrongly identified him using facial recognition software. He has now filed a lawsuit against them. What Happened? Reid, 28, was driving to his mother’s house for Thanksgiving when local police pulled him over and arrested him. They had used facial recognition software, and the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office (JPSO) identified him as a suspect in a spate of thefts in Louisiana. Reid, however, had never set foot in Louisiana and was unaware of what Jefferson Parish was. There
Google and Howard University have announced a new partnership, Project Elevate Black Voices, to build a high-quality African-American English (AAE) speech dataset. The new partnership will allow Howard University to share the dataset with those looking to improve speech technology while establishing a framework for responsible data collection, ensuring the data benefits Black communities. Google has confirmed that the university will retain ownership of the dataset and licensing. Automatic Speech Recognition and Black People Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology allows humans to use their voices to speak with a computer
Two Black TikTok workers have formed a complaint to the US Government’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) about racism and discrimination they faced at work. Nnete Matima and Joel Carter have accused TikTok’s parent company of racism and retaliation, alleging ByteDance Ltd. terminated their contracts after they spoke up about the discrimination. Nnete Matima Matima told CNN she was attracted to work at TikTok because the social media platform was “built upon Black culture” and the work of Black creators. After seeing TikTok’s pledge of support for the Black community
The economic influence of Latine and Hispanic communities is on the rise. Nearly 5 million businesses in the US are Latine or Hispanic-owned, contributing over $800 billion annually to the nation’s economy. Latine and Hispanic communities are not just big contributors; they’re also big spenders. According to Nielson, their buying power surpasses the GDP of countries like Australia, Mexico, and Spain. So, this Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re spotlighting the online directories that help consumers connect with these Latine and Hispanic businesses nationwide. 1. Shop Latinx Shop Latinx, founded by Brittany
