Over the last two weeks, Black people globally have had to revisit the emotions that erupt when we consider how we are treated in society. We are currently juggling collective trauma while navigating our way through what we hope is a lasting revolution. There is little that can describe the universal, unanimous outcry of pain and grief that we are experiencing together. No, what the Black community is experiencing this week is not new. The grief, the pain, the anger, the cry for a mindset and systemic change – none
From the day I realized I was destined to be a coder, I knew I was going to be an underrepresented group in more ways than one. It started to hit me in the few classes I took throughout grade school, but I didn’t realize how much of a minority I was until college. I’m lucky that for the most part, I have been able to fit in with my other software engineering peers. But there is still a lot that I have realized about being the only woman of
As I sit here today writing this piece, the country burns as thousands of Black Americans (and our allies) are expressing their pain and mourning the loss of countless citizens — most recently George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. While citizens of all backgrounds are marching in almost every major city, I can’t help but be reminded that 99 years ago today, the Tulsa race massacre (also known as the Black Wall Street massacre) began. By its end, nearly 300 Americans were killed as white residents attacked black residents and
Subscribe to the Techish Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, And Other Platforms. Episode Content: In this episode of this Techish, Abadesi and Michael discuss: ✊🏾 #BlackLivesMatter🤦🏾♂️ Deleting Trump off Twitter? [6:17]👍🏾 Profiting off Black Culture [11:12]🚀 Space X launch! [29:20]🤖 Microsoft automating journalism? [24:49] Extras: Techish on Patreon: Advertise with Techish: Please rate and review the Techish podcast
Subscribe to the Techish Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, And Other Platforms. Episode Content: In this episode of this Techish, Abadesi and Michael discuss: 🤦🏾♀️ When sharing your six-figure tech salary goes wrong? 😤 Scooter company Bird laying off 400 employees on one Zoom call? 😤 Thoughts on the Andreessen Horowitz “time to build’ memo 🤣 The Weeknd vs Usher Extras: Techish on Patreon: Advertise with Techish: Please rate and review the Techish podcast
In the decade I’ve worked in the tech industry I’ve come to learn how common lay-offs are. In 2012 when I was a manager at Groupon, I had to lay off teammates I had hired after the share price slumped post-IPO. When I was a manager at HotelTonight in 2015, I watched as some of my fave teammates were laid off to cut costs after the founders tried and failed to raise another round of funding. Just last week I joined the millions of professionals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
In college, I interned with a local health insurance company. When I was getting ready to complete my internship, a professional mentor of mine, who also happened to be another Woman of Color, offered me some advice on how to succeed in “corporate America.” She told me, “You need to get rid of your natural hair to survive.” It was the mid-2000’s, during a period of time when Black women were reconnecting to their roots and cutting off their chemically processed (and highly damaged) hair. It was a moment of
Last year, screenshots of internal Slack messages from the New York office at Away, the travel startup, made their way into the media, primarily reported by The Verge. The reports included testimony from former employees denouncing both the company’s workplace culture and the management style of then CEO Steph Korey as toxic. Steph apologised and after apparently stepping away from her CEO role (and the company altogether), now remains as Co-CEO alongside Stuart Haselden. Workplace culture is kind of my bag; professionally it’s among my areas of expertise and also something I geek
Junior software engineers from under-represented groups should feel ok focusing on their technical work. I recently got my first software engineering job. As someone from an under-represented group in tech, I’m constantly reminded of the inequalities in access to the web development industry. Of 80 developers in my department, I am one of few women, one of two mothers and I may be the only black woman (the department doesn’t track data on this yet). This balance feels wrong to me. It feels unjust. I don’t understand why this job,
Originally published by Wogrammer here. Ananya Cleetus has a day named after her in the city of Pittsburgh. She is the creator of an app called Anemone, a TEDx speaker, and a computer science student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She exudes a unique type of confidence while speaking intelligently and thoughtfully about the journey that led her here today. While Ananya has accomplished so much early in her career, her success hasn’t come without its share of personal adversity. Earlier in her collegiate career, while studying Computer Science
