Following Elon Musk’s announcement to buy Twitter in April 2022, many users, particularly Black users, opposed it. Some have found other platforms, such as Mastodon, Spill, and Bluesky. Bluesky, however, has recently raised some alarm bells after a moderation policy change following a death threat against a Black woman left many questioning the safety of the platform. What is Bluesky? Bluesky is a decentralized social app that started off as a project by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in 2019 when he was Twitter’s CEO. Dorsey chose Jay Graber to lead
HelloBeautiful and Madame Noire’s special cover, Women To Know: Tech Titans, is a celebration of Black women blazing trails in tech. Despite making up just 1.7% of the tech workforce, Black women are leading, innovating, and disrupting the industry. So, HelloBeautiful and Madame Noire brought eight Black women changemakers and visionaries together for a shoot by Black women-owned production company Oracle Media and photographer JD Barnes. HelloBeautiful and Madame Noire also hosted a roundtable discussion with four Tech Titans: Kelsey Davis, Michelle James, Bozoma Saint John, and Kimberly Bryant. Together, they celebrated each other’s strengths and successes, were candid
In an ideal world, the development of AI will come with no added biases. But, unfortunately, this is not the case. As many organizations look to find a solution to AI bias, reports suggest bringing more Black women into data science will help eliminate this issue – but is it true? Diversifying data science If the developers behind AI systems look, sound, and share the same life experiences, how can we expect to have a tool reflective of society? Novelist Chimamanda Adichie touched upon this when highlighting the dangers of “a single
Damilola Awofisayo is in a league of her own. The young hacker, who was born in America but spent part of her childhood in Nigeria, has learned to use technology to solve societal problems. Awofisayo fell in love with computer science at high school and was keen to help run hackathons. However, after several unsuccessful attempts to take part in hackathons, she decided to take things into her own hands. Now a Duke University freshman, Awofisayo is the founder of TecHacks. The all-female and non-binary student virtual hackathon aims to
Twitter has appointed Bukky Ojeifo as its new global head of culture and community following the departure of God-is Rivera, who previously held the position. In her new role, the Nigerian-American marketing expert will continue to carry the company’s mission of serving diverse voices who contribute to the public conversation on the platform. Before her new role, Ojeifo was the firm’s senior manager, global culture, and community. Her main role at the time? She guided how Twitter amplifies and engages with the underrepresented communities that use the service. Speaking to
Global Tech Advocates Black Women In Tech has launched their first ever Voices In The Shadows festival, which will take place in London, UK this October. The festival has been sponsored by industry giants including Google, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, Discovery+, and more. Inspired by The Voices in The Shadow books, which was first published last year, the program will showcase the journeys of 51 Black women in the UK who have impacted the tech industry. The event aims to provide all attendees with an intimate setting to help them connect
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
In honor of October being Black History Month in the UK, we highlight ten influential Black British women who code and break down barriers. For more Black British Tech stories, see our BHM feature on UK founders from 2017. Charlene Hunter – Lead Software Engineer at Made Tech, Founder Coding Black Females Charlene is the founder of Coding Black Females one of the largest platforms for Black female coders in the UK. Charlene wrote her first line of code at the age of 10 and went on to earn a
