In honor of this year’s Black History Month theme, “African Americans and the Arts,” we are exploring the intersection of the Black arts and tech. We have curated a listicle of films that showcase how Black innovators have merged their artistic vision with technological processes. From the untold stories of African-American mathematicians in NASA to the futuristic visions of Afrofuturism, these films span a broad spectrum, reflecting the diversity and richness of Black contributions to technology. Hidden Figures This film tells the true story of three African American women working at
Kobie Fuller, a general partner at Upfront Ventures, has a new initiative to highlight the contributions of Black inventors through the power of artificial intelligence (AI). Meet Kobie Fuller Fuller’s latest project, an AI chatbot, is a tribute to the often-underappreciated achievements of Black innovators whose work has significantly shaped modern society. Fuller’s motivation extends beyond simply creating an educational tool. His vision is to use AI as a means of communication and knowledge sharing, particularly in celebrating Black history. This approach reflects his commitment to amplifying Black voices and empowering
World War II nurse and inventor Bessie Blount is best known for creating a device for disabled veterans to feed themselves. Not only did Blount give away her invention, but her work spearheaded the development of assistive devices for people with disabilities for years to come. Who is Bessie Blount? Bessie Blount Griffin was born in Hickory, Virginia, in 1914. She attended Diggs Chapel Elementary School, established at the end of the Civil War, to educate the children of free Black people, formerly enslaved people, and Native Americans. Blount’s early
Long before Apple implemented color emojis, Katrina Parrott had devised the idea to create a diverse range of emojis for all skin tones. In 2013, Parrott had a lightbulb moment after her daughter complained she couldn’t send emojis that looked like her to her friends. Despite not knowing much about what emojis were – Parrott decided to invest her money into designing a diverse range of emojis. According to a report by BuzzFeed News, Parrott used all her savings to hire a software engineer, illustrator, and copyright specialist to launch
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson is a phenomenal woman with an amazing track record. She graduated with excellent grades in high school, then entered the popular Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as one of 20 African-American students there. Jackson arrived at MIT in the fall of 1964 as one of just a handful of Black students. Later – in 1976, Dr. Jackson joined the Theoretical Physics Research Department at AT&T Bell Laboratories. At Bell, Dr. Jackson conducted a number of successful theoretical physics experiments and made breakthrough scientific research that enabled others to
