I don’t have to tell you life is intense these days. Not only are we undergoing a global pandemic, but now more people are expressing outrage (rightly so) at the treatment of black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC). Outrage has simmered in the background for many years but we’ve reached a boiling over point with regard to racism.
Why are we posting about this on a business blog devoted to website design? Can Web Symphonies as a Charlotte web designer help support Black Lives Matter and other social justice organizations? Yes and no. We can and do support anyone who needs help creating a website in Charlotte, N.C. and beyond, but Black Lives Matter specifically already has a website. That’s not an avenue for us to support antiracism directly. The ways we are demonstrating our solidarity with BIPOC are by protesting, by signing petitions, by donating to organizations, and by educating ourselves – to name a few.
As a business, Web Symphonies is not an app developer – we don’t create apps that can help dismantle racism, but what we can do is not only build websites for anyone and everyone, we can also discuss a little more broadly how technology can support antiracist efforts.
First off, did you know black and latinx people earn nearly 20% of computer science Bachelor’s Degrees but they make up only around 5% of the technical workforce at top tech companies? Furthermore, only 2% to 5.3% of tech executives are black and only 3.1% to 5.3% are latinx. That’s not right. Something is amiss and it is clear minorities are being shut out of jobs and shut out of power positions. What can be done about that? One organization that’s on a mission to change racial disparity in tech is Code2040. They work with early career technologists on professional development, overcoming workplace obstacles like imposter syndrome, and connecting them to peers and industry leaders.
Code2040 is a nonprofit that helps professionals out in the field, but what about reaching BIPOC before they’re professionals? One such organization is Black Girls Code. This nonprofit seeks to increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color ages 7 to 17 to become innovators in STEM fields.
Not everyone has access to learn coding skills and Black Girls Code recognizes that and helps to address the problem. Speaking of coding, the product marketing leader of MobileIron Christopher Campbell told The New Stack about some tech projects that are in great demand, which I have to admit are a little beyond the abilities of this N.C. web design company! Campbell said the following would help tremendously in combatting racism:
- A database to monitor suspicious police interactions with the populace
- A place for citizens to centralize their interactions with police with the ability to upload photos and videos
- A centralized system that identifies politicians who support policies aimed at achieving better policing
Twitter user @Gerrit_Sevilla said a simple one-button mobile app that when pressed immediately starts streaming a camera and microphone to a specific website would be great.
I also want to mention there are already apps in existence that seek to combat racism. We haven’t verified these ourselves but wanted to at least let you know they exist. The ones we know of are the following:
- Everyday Racism
- Islamophobia Watch
- Kick it Out
- CopWatch
- Citoyens Effaçons le racisme
- Appli Contre l’Islamophobie (Collective Against Islamophobia)
- Stop and Frisk
Do you know of any others you’d like to add? We’re happy to grow this list.
Web Symphonies is just a small Charlotte web design company, but we still want to do our part to make the world a better, more just place. For us as a company, that means talking about racism in the world of tech, but also supporting any minority-owned businesses with their web and database development. If you need help with your website, let’s chat.
