This article was first published by Shannon Bentley on Medium. I started to learn how to code back in January 2022. It was the moment that I declared myself ready to transition from my interpersonal career of always caring for others’ needs from a healthcare and educational perspective. January was a significant change for the fact that I was taking on learning a skill that was entirely new to me. However, months later — I will be known to take a self-proclaimed sabbatical leave away from learning this skill. How
Alexis Williams is an engineering student using her coding skills to design a platform that makes it easier for the Black community to incorporate social justice into their everyday routines. Alexis Williams founded PB-Resources in 2020 during the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. Despite not knowing exactly what to do at the time, Williams decided to put her coding skills to use by building a platform in honor of George Floyd. “I was itching to get involved but didn’t know how I could do anything impactful from my living
Black-owned telecommunications provider, Safaricom, has announced its partnership with the online learning platform, Kodris Africa, to promote coding study classes. The classes, which will be available for all to purchase through tokens on the M-PESA app, will provide children with a year’s worth of online coding classes, which users can activate on their tablets, laptop, or desktop computers. The program, which the Kenyan government first approved in April 2022, will introduce a new syllabus in primary and secondary schools aimed at teaching children one of the most sought-after skills in
Tech giant Apple has celebrated the inauguration of the first class to graduate from their US Developer Academy program. The program was launched as part of Apple’s $100 million Racial Equity and Justice scheme and is the first of its kind to take place in North America. The scheme has provided students with the necessary skills and knowledge to land some of the most prestigious jobs in the tech industry. The Detroit-based academy offers members of the community a free program to teach them the fundamentals of coding, design, marketing, and
Code Black Tech is committed to helping the Black community become equipped, empowered, and connected in order to enter the tech sector and thrive. Hun They hope to ensure all participants of its program are equipped for their professional role, empowered to become thought leaders and become connected to us and other supportive communities. The Code Black Tech course is delivered through joint instruction from Code Black community members and Metropolitan Community College Department of Information Technology faculty members. Students enrolled in this course will build their confidence in a
Software engineer Amina has created a digital resource booklet to help parents and their children learn to code. The document, which can easily be found online, consists of a whole bunch of information, including the seven coding tips parents need to know and why guardians must educate their kids on the importance of tech and coding. Amina has said: “Coding was a huge learning curve for me, and there’s so much information out there. I recently put together a beginner-friendly document with a breakdown of what my job looks like, what software
Singer-songwriter Mariah Carey has teamed up with cryptocurrency platform Gemini to inspire more women to get into investing. The app founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss helps people buy, sell, and store their bitcoin and cryptocurrency. The star will be gifting fans $20 in the form of bitcoin when users sign up with the code “MARIAH.” A portion of the trades will be allocated toward Black Girls CODE, a nonprofit on a mission to train one million Black girls on coding to increase their involvement in the digital arena by 2040. “It’s
Black women in tech are rallying together on social media to support a new campaign launched by OlaySkin and Joy Buolamwini to get more Black girls into coding camps. To combat hidden bias in beauty algorithms, Olay launched the scheme on Monday to coincide with National Coding Week. It has an ambitious but achievable mission to help send at least 1,000 young women of color to code camp next summer through a partnership with Black Girls CODE. As part of its #DecodetheBias campaign, which includes national TV spots and print
A Black Tiktok coder is going viral today after creating a code to oppose a Texas law banning women from having an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The law, which has already received backlash from dozens of people in the state, relies on private citizens to sue anyone who helps a woman get an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected. While some have protested or turned to social media to share their frustrations – Sean Black, known as “black_madness21” on the popular social media app, wrote a computer
As of 2019, according to a report by the Nation Center of Women in Technology and Information Technology, Black women make up 3% of the computing jobs in the United States. While there are many aspects that come in to play, such as having the access and resources to learn or having a psychologically safe work environment to thrive in, a big factor can also be attributed to not having enough resources to feel that they can be successful as a Software Developer. Today we’ve put together a list of
