Tech Entrepreneur Eric Hamilton on 'Challenges Facing Blacks in Technology'

Eric Hamilton is a technology entrepreneur and a member of our BDPA New York chapter.  Eric helped unleash Around The Way which is a mobile app company.   Around The Way's mobile app finds the closest Black-owned business to your location. He founded the Web Academy, a FREE online school that teaches web design. He wrote the book, 'Social Media Branding in the Age of Obama'.

Currently, Eric is crowdfunding for his newest innovation, 'TinyStic', a portable HDMI device that uses wireless Miracast technology to turn your phone into a PC.

Anyhow, Eric was interviewed by Declassified Agenda and he shared his thoughts on the challenges that face Blacks in Technology and how he sees African Americans succeeding in the information technology industry.



Eric laid out some fairly provocative opinions on the challenges that face Blacks in technology. Do you agree or disagree with his thoughts on the matter?

Blacks In Technology Podcast #47: 'How To Raise a Coder'

Blacks In Technology (BIT) is an organization whose focus is to increase visibility, increase participation and change the perceptions of African Americans in the technology field. They host regular podcasts to showcase technologists and engineers.

The 47th podcast in the series is geared towards parents of young people who are engaged in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. The title of BIT Tech Talk #47 is "How To Raise a Coder".



BDPA Education and Technology Foundation is proud to share this podcast with those in our cyber-sphere of influence!

Blacks In Technology Podcast #45: Joshua Hoskins (Appirio)

Joshua Hoskins

BDPA seeks to support all efforts to advance the careers of African Americans in the IT industry from the classroom to the boardroom. One way that we do so is be broadening awareness of the brothers and sisters who are silently becoming rock stars in the IT industry. Many of these unheralded rock stars are being interviewed by the folks over at Blacks In Technology.

In this podcast, Joshua Hoskins talks about his journey to becoming a salesforce.com consulting MVP. Joshua shares valuable tips on driving your career, taking risks, starting his own company, relationship management, life hacking, work-life balance and how to get a job offer while attending Dreamforce. He even gets in some nitty gritty details of data modeling on cloud platforms! Tune in because won’t want to miss this podcast!



Joshua has been using computers since he was four years-old. He began writing code in the 5th grade. He was 'Director of Information Technology' by the age of 22. While being extremely passionate about Customer Relationship Management & Application Development he lives to build reliable, robust and scalable solutions just about anything you can think of.

Tech Expresso Cafe: 'Greg Greenlee, Founder of Blacks In Technology' (November 19, 2013)

Greg Greenlee, Owner and Founder of Blacks In Technology (BIT), was the guest on the Tech Expresso Cafe podcast produced by BDPA members David Blackman and Jacqueline Sanders. The discussion focused on the vision that Mr. Greenlee has BIT, its role in the community, upcoming programs and activities and the information technology content generated by BIT subscribers.

We invite all BDPA stakeholders to enjoy the podcast!

More Technology Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Tech Expresso Cafe on BlogTalkRadio

The Best Twitter Accounts for BDPA Members

BDPA members who are not using Twitter to market their chapter or business are missing out on a great opportunity. Twitter can also be a huge resource for BDPA members in the day-to-day operation of their chapter or business. However, BDPA members must know the right accounts to follow in order to benefit from all that Twitter can offer.

Here are 10 Twitter accounts that every BDPA member should be sure to follow:

1. TED Talks (1,630,325 followers)- @tedtalks - TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. TED Talks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. These online presentations give everyone on-demand access to the world's most inspiring voices. TED Talks have been viewed more than one billion times.



Craig Brown

2. Craig Brown (1,036,086 followers) - @craigbrownphd - Craig is the National BDPA vice president at the moment.  He is also the only nominee to become the National BDPA president for 2014-2015.  Craig has more Twitter followers than any other member in the history of BDPA.  Hopefully he will be able to translate his ability to attract support in Twitter with a similar ability to attract new members to BDPA in the coming weeks and months.  Craig is a remarkable IT thought leader and I encourage you to get to know him.
3. Roland Martin (218,100 followers) - @rolandsmartin - Martin is managing editor for TV One; senior analyst for the Tom Joyner Morning Show; syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate ... and most importantly to BDPA members is that he will be our keynote speaker at the 35th annual BDPA Technology Conference later this year in Washington DC. Martin is an unabashed champion for his fraternity and his favorite NFL team. Perhaps we can get him to be as much of a champion for BDPA programs, scholarships and services as well!
4. Change The Equation (8,637 followers) - @changeequation - A non-partisan, CEO-led initiative to connect and align efforts to improve STEM learning in the United States. These folks seek to mobilize the business community to change the way that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning takes place in America. Don't you agree that BDPA members should be engaged in this initiative?
5. BDPA Foundation (2,415 followers) - @bdpa - You didn't think that I was going to give a Top 10 list and not include my own Twitter account, did you? BDPA Foundation is one of the most active Twitter accounts focused on BDPA programs, scholarships and services. The tweets give updates on funding sources, grant proposals, BDPA accomplishments, college scholarships, corporate sponsors, career opportunities and much more. These tweets also prove to be very useful to others nonprofit professionals outside of the BDPA family as well.

6. Blacks In Technology (1,974 followers) - @blkintechnology - The premier online community for Black techies. Membership is free and the camaraderie is priceless. Their motto is 'Bringing Unity to the Black IT Community'. One of the most outstanding ideas to come forth from these folks is the BIT Tech Digest - an online resource of technology information written entirely by Black technology professionals.
7. Blerdology (761 followers)- @blerdology - 'Blerds' are Black Nerds. This twitter account is the Black tech social enterprise that fuels their ambitions, facilitates collaboration & makes blerd life more awesome. It is an outgrowth of the Blerdology website and I hope that we see more Blerds in BDPA over the coming weeks and months!
8. BDPA Conference (235 followers) - @bdpa_conference - The annual BDPA Technology Conference has taken place since 1979. It is the largest gathering of African American information technology professionals in the world. All BDPA members should make the trip to this BDPA mecca at least once during their collegiate or professional career. These tweets keep you updated on scheduled workshops, plenary sessions, keynote speakers, corporate sponsors and so much more.
9. BDPA Atlanta - @atlantabdpa (144 followers) - This chapter is fast-becoming a BDPA powerhouse.  They are the home of the defending national High School Computer Competition champions.  They put on some very powerful programs that serve as 'best practices' for the other 45 local chapters around the nation.  This chapter is focused and successful in a number of ways that should be admired by all BDPA members.  I strongly encourage all BDPA members to do themselves a favor ... follow this Twitter account right now!
10. BDPA New York (87) - @bdpanewyork - BDPA New York is the 2-time defending 'Chapter of the Year'.  They don't have many Twitter followers ... but, they are very active in terms of programs and services to the IT community.  The chapter president, Renetta English, is one of the hardest working leaders in BDPA-Nation.  Show them some Twitter love ... they've earned it!

Well, those are my Top 10 Twitter accounts that I think should be followed by all BDPA members. What do you think? Which Twitter accounts do you think are missing from this list? Which of these Twitter accounts do you co-sign as being truly worthy of our attention? I look forward to your comments!

Blacks In Technology Launches BIT Tech Digest

Blacks In Technology recently announced the launch of its new website -- BIT Tech Digest. BIT Tech Digest is the first online technology driven publication featuring articles written entirely by minority technology experts. The new site reflects Blacks In Technology’s continued effort and mission to increase the visibility of the Black technologist by establishing effective communication among Black people in the field to help drive individual growth, development and long-term success in the technology industry.

Greg Greenlee

The BIT Tech Digest features content focused on a variety of technology topics including networking, virtualization, software design and development and professional advancement. The BIT Tech Digest will also highlight technology news and information about today’s minority tech entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations.

Greg Greenlee, founder of the Blacks In Technology community site and the BIT Tech Digest, believes the site will change the perception of how today’s engineers and technologists are visualized by providing an outlet for Blacks and other minority technology professionals and enthusiasts to share their expertise and experience.

BIT Tech Digest was launched as a live Google+ hangout. You can view the recorded event here: BIT Tech Digest Live Launch Event.



You can follow BIT Tech Digest on Twitter: @BITTechDigest

If you’d like more information about the BIT Tech Digest or are interested in sharing your knowledge with the community please contact Greg at info@bitdigest.net.

Blacks In Technology Podcast #32: Ronnie Hash (Ubisoft)

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Soulclap to Greg Greenlee (Blacks In Technology) for continuing his tradition of creating podcasts that help each of us advance our careers within the IT industry. On the following audio podcast, Greg sits down with Ubisoft development operations engineer Ronnie Hash to talk about the Cloud, CouchDB, MongoDB, Puppet configuration manager, DevOps, upcoming technology-related conferences and the mysterious happenings of the PidginIM client.

Blacks In Technology Podcast: Chuks Onwuneme (Personify)

I've been a member of BDPA for many years. I stay connected with this organization because I believe that it is doing important work for the Black community. BDPA seeks to 'win the future' by advancing the careers of African Americans in the information technology (IT) industry from the classroom to the boardroom. As such, I am very pleased to see the continued evolution of the Blacks In Technology (BIT) movement co-founded by BDPA Cincinnati chapter member Greg Greenlee. It is a growing community of nubians from all over the nation who have agreed to network and support each other.

One of the great features available to the BIT crew is a regular podcast featuring a prominent person of African descent in the IT industry. In this episode of the Blacks In Technology podcast Greg chats with Software Engineer and entrepreneur, Chuks Onwuneme. Chuks is the founder of the Personify website. Chuks describes Personify as an app whose purpose is to discover the social good around you. Chuks is a native of Nigeria who made his way to America to study computer science at the University of Texas in Arlington. After graduating with honors Chuks went on to work for Nokia. Chuks helped to develop the Symbian OS for the Nokia line of smart phones during his nine years at the company. Chuks has since left Nokia and embarked on making the world a better place for humanity through Personify.

Listen now:

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I encourage you to follow Chuks on Twitter: @ChuksOnwuneme ... and you can click here to listen to other podcasts from the Blacks In Technology crew!

Blacks In Technology Podcast #22: Sian Morson (Kollective Mobile)

We are very grateful to Greg Greenlee for his consistent efforts to provide us with greater insights into the technological genius of our time ... especially those of African descent. Greg does this with regular pod-casts that are published on the Blacks In Technology (BIT) website. A recent BIT podcast featured Sian Morson (CEO/Founder, Kollective Mobile)

Blacks In Technology Podcast #22 - Sian Morson

Sian Morson is a digital veteran and mobile evangelist who has been working in the interactive and digital fields since 1999. A project manager by trade, Sian moved through the ranks at some of the top advertising agencies in the world including Tribal DDB, Draft/FCB and McCann Erickson. She has managed the development of web properties and bleeding edge campaigns for international brands such as Philips, Coca-Cola and Aviva. She made the transition to mobile in early 2006 and hasn’t looked back. Sian formed Kollective Mobile, a mobile development agency, in 2010 and is a strong advocate for the early adoption of mobile across all platforms.

Sian has lectured, and written about mobile and its influence on such disparate sectors as art, small business, and the African American community. She is a regular contributor to Politic365 where she covers mobile and technology.

An internationally exhibited video-artist, Sian’s work centers on the topics of sex, race, and of course, technology. She holds a BFA in Film & Television from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MA in Electronic Arts from Middlesex University in London.

Most recently, Sian has hosted a panel on Art & Technology at the Festival of New Black Imagination’s inaugural event. Sian is consults regularly with start-ups on their mobile strategy and is available for speaking engagements.

Are African Americans Surging in Computer Science?

Soulclap to Booker Rising for pointing us to this Science Careers article --From MySciNet.

"A report released last week by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) found that first-time enrollment in science graduate programs increased last fall even as graduate enrollment across all disciplines -- including nonscientific ones -- dropped slightly. But the study's most intriguing number was hidden beneath the headlines: 33.6%. That's the reported percent increase, between the fall semesters of 2009 and 2010, in the number of Black and African American students entering math and computer science graduate programs.

More about Blacks and computer science: "Despite the substantial uptick, the number remained small: just 981. 'We're looking at fewer than 1000 students total,' says Nathan Bell, director of research and analysis for CGS. 'It doesn't take a lot of gain numerically to result in a large percentage increase.' Still, that's an extraordinary increase, he says. 'It is a big jump among a small number of students.' Such a large percentage change, he says, is unlikely to be random."

This is a great sign for BDPA stakeholders. We have to redouble our efforts to get K-12 students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses. Then we have to triple our efforts to get those same students college scholarships so that they can study computer science after they graduate from high-school. Then we have to quadruple our efforts to encourage college students to participate in regional and national BDPA IT Showcase events so that they can be empowered and encouraged to get Ph.D. in computer science or other hard sciences.


BDPA can make a difference if we each do our parts. Don't you agree?

Blacks In Technology Podcast #19: Kellep Charles (SecurityOrb.com)

This blog seeks to support the efforts of the Blacks In Technology folks as they interview remarkable IT professionals of color.

In this podcast Greg Greenlee along with guest co-host Ronnie Hash, speak with IT Security consultant and guru Kellep Charles. Kellep operates and is also an IT Security consultant for SecurityOrb, an information security knowledge based website for security members. The flows into information security, latest data security threats and an interesting review of the log management tool Splunk.

BIT Podcast #19 (Kellep Charles)

Kellep is a Doctoral student in Information Assurance. He also holds a Master of Science in Telecommunication Management from the University of Maryland University College and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from North Carolina A&T State University. Kellep works as a government contractor in the Washington DC area as a Network Security Analyst and is an Adjunct Professor at Capitol College in Laurel (MD) where he teaches in the Computer Science department.  He holds a CISSP certification.

Follow Kellep on Twitter @kellepc

Why Technology Networks Are Important to African Americans

by Kai Dupé

The lack of support networks has been identified as a critical aspect to involving more African Americans in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  While I agree that this is very important, I do not agree that African Americans lack technology support groups.  I assert that the problem is that the African American community at large is not aware of the networks that do exist.

There are three that I have worked with over the years. I am sure there are others and I am even more certain that most of our people, particularly our young people are not aware of these groups.  I know this because I do quite a bit of public speaking around the country.  When I ask students if they are familiar with The Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), BiTWiSE, or Blacks In Technology the answer is invariably no.

In all fairness, BiTWiSE and Blacks in Technology are recent developments.  But BDPA has been around since 1975.  I have been a professional software developer since 1986 and I only recently became aware of BDPA.  We must do a better job of making our folks aware of these organizations.

This is not an indictment against BDPA as I personally know that they make every effort to ensure that our people know about their good work.  The charge is ours.  Any time I speak to a young person who has demonstrated an interest in technology, the first question I ask is ‘where do you live’ and if BDPA has a chapter in that city, I direct him or her to contact the chapter in their area.

The abundance of knowledge, experiences and social capital that exists within BDPA must be leveraged if our community is to become a player in the global technology game.  As a speaker and blogger I am constantly receiving questions related to technology and how to get involved in the technology arena.

I am happy to answer these questions but how much better would it be for the learner to not only pose the question to a larger group but possibly someone who has experienced the same circumstance.  This is a common occurrence on the web community, Blacks In Technology (BIT).  BIT is a wonderful online community of Black technologists who are ready to share their stories, knowledge, wisdom and encouragement not only to those who are looking for others like themselves who are already involved in technology careers but also technology aspirants.

Without these kinds of support groups, African Americans in technology may began to deal with feelings of isolation.  I can attest to this circumstance personally.  Since I graduated from college with my undergraduate degree in computer science in 1986 I have rarely had the pleasure of working in an IT department with another African American.

This issue of isolation occurs in high school, the workplace as well as on college campuses.  It is also one of the main reasons that African Americans do not persist in STEM careers.

Many scholars studying this issue from S. Craig Watkins in his book The Young and the Digital as well as Jane Margolis in the book Stuck in the Shallow End have reported on the importance of support groups or networks to combat the issue of isolation.

I would have loved being a part of either of these groups when I first became a software engineer.  Why? Because it is great to be able to speak with someone who can relate to your circumstance.  Someone who can understand what you may be going through.

I can remember having to explain to members of my family and friends what exactly it was that I did as a computer programmer.  The people in my community simply did not understand that I was CREATING software, not using it!  I also never had anyone to talk shop with for the early years of my career.

This is why I am so excited about this third group, BiTWiSE, which is a networking group dedicated to the African American software engineer and is sponsored by Microsoft.  You can find BiTWiSE on LinkedIn under LinkedIn Groups.  You can simply search Groups and enter ‘BiTWiSE’.

Technology support groups do indeed exist in the African American community.  However they become less effective if they are unknown to the people who can benefit from them the most.  We must do a better job of promoting the efforts of these groups in order to remove yet another obstacle to the inclusion of African Americans participation in the digital society.

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 Kai Dupé is a doctoral student at Pepperdine University where he is conducting research on Why African American Males Are Underrepresented in Computing. Kai can be reached by email at kai.dupe@kaidupe.com or by visiting his website at www.WhereAreBlacksInTechnology.com or follow him on twitter @KaiDupe

Congressional Black Caucus: 'African Americans Joining the Leading Edge of the High Tech Boom'

Soulclap to the folks at Black Web 2.0 for letting us know that the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation will dedicate some time in their annual conference to talk about a topic that is increasingly popular by the day, technology. Technology entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, along with members of the African American tech community will take part in the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

During the Annual Legislative Conference, held on September 23^rd from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) will host an issue forum, entitled 'African Americans Joining the Leading Edge of the High Tech Boom'.

The panelists who will speaking on the growth in technology are:

• Scott Case (CEO, Startup America Partnership and Co-founder, Priceline.com)
• Ben Horowitz (General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz)
• Rep. Jared Polis (Co-founder, ProFlowers.com and Techstars Incubator)
• Charles Hudson (Partner, SoftTech VC)
• Tristan Walker (Business Development, Foursquare)
• Pauline Malcolm-John (Executive Vice President, WeeWorld)
• Regina Wallace-Jones (Senior Director, Yahoo)
• Amos Winbush III (CEO, CyberSynchs)

The forum is open to the public and there will be opportunities for attendees to ask the panelists questions after.

This will be a great opportunity for the BDPA members to dialogue with political and technology leaders about issues that impact on the Black community.

For more information on the conference go to cbcfinc.org

How Many Mobile Apps are Produced by African-Americans?

Kai Dupé

Article by Kai Dupé, Cross-posted from Atlanta Post

There are over 425,000 mobile apps available on Apple’s App Store for the iPhone. The Android Marketplace now has well over 30,000 apps for their devices. According to the website TechCrunch, there has been more than 1 Billion downloads from the App Store as of April 2009. Here is a question? How many of these apps are produced by African Americans?

I would venture to guess we are producing very little. Mobile phones are the most ubiquitous way people communicate and interact with information. With more than 5 billions users communicating and interacting on these devices, the lack of African Americans producing mobile apps has to change.

Further, suppose you want to support Black-owned mobile businesses? How would you go about doing that? We need more African Americans creating products in the mobile space, but in order for that to happen we must support those who are doing just that. How do we find them? I am happy to report things are changing.

In the August issue of Black Enterprise, there is a feature about African Americans who are shaking things up in Silicon Valley called Rule Breakers, Risk Takers: The New Faces of Silicon Valley. This is a very inspiring read and I highly recommend the article. Also, not only is there now an online market for applications for the undiscovered and undeveloped, Inky-Apps, but brothers and sisters are also fully engaged in developing applications for the mobile platform.

Inky-Apps is one of Americas first web stores dedicated to the promotion, advertisement, and development of mobile applications for the undeveloped and undiscovered mobile markets. The site was founded by Richard Fields. Fields is a long time Silicon Valley veteran with over 20 years of information technology experience in computer networking for the enterprise. He has worked for such companies as Xerox, MCI, LSI Logic, MFS DataNet, Tandem Computers, Compaq Computers and Hewlett Packard.

I have also learned of several apps that have been developed for mobile devices that were developed by African Americans. The first to come to my attention is an application called Multiple Madness, which is a math game that tests how well you know math multiples.

The application was developed by Veda Rogers. When I spoke with Veda a few months ago, she revealed that she made the decision early in the development process to keep the app simple. It only took her 3 months to develop the application working part-time in the evenings and on weekends.

Then there is Celly. Celly can be used on any cell phone. I am currently evaluating it on my iPhone 3Gs (I am awaiting the release of the iPhone 5). Celly creates mini social networks called cells that connect you with people and topics that matter most to you. A cell can contain anybody with a cell phone, people from your existing social networks, or any web feed.

The app lets you define filters based on hashtags, location, time, and user identity so you can eliminate noise and get alerted only when relevant messages occur. The potential for this application is huge for schools. The beauty of Celly is that you do not need a Smartphone. Any phone that allows text messaging will work fine.

Finally, there is the Sankofa Solar app, which is more informational in nature. The ability to access information on the go, particularly information that is relevant to the African American community is certainly important and at the present time very unique.

Sankofa Solar provides solar technology innovations from the Black community and the solar industry. This is a free app and you can learn more about it and install the application by visiting the Android MarketPlace and searching on “Sankofa Solar”.

There is simply too much opportunity here and we as African Americans need to make sure that we get our share of this mobile app pie. I received my blessing from Apple this week to provision my creations to the App Store. I intend to do just that. I have two ideas that I will submit before the end of the year. What are you going to do?

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Kai Dupé is a doctoral student at Pepperdine University where he is conducting research on Why African American Males Are Underrepresented in Computing. Kai can be reached by email at kai.dupe@kaidupe.com or by visiting his website at www.WhereAreBlacksInTechnology.com or follow him on twitter @KaiDupe

Blacks In Technology Podcast #18: Thaddeus Howze (Have Flash Drive, Will Travel)

This blog seeks to support the efforts of the Blacks In Technology folks as they interview remarkable IT professionals of color.

In this podcast Greg Greenlee along with guest co-host Ronnie Hash, speak with Thaddeus Howze. Thaddeus has over 25 years of experience in the information technology (IT) field. He is an expert in Business IT development, digital design and educational technology. He's worked as a network administrator, an IT instructor, an IT manager, and chief information officer for JFK University.  Thaddeus is now working as a small business technology consultant. Thaddeus is also an author. He writes science fiction and also for several blogs including A Matter of Scale ,and The Examiner. He is also a host on several Blog Talk Radio shows: WaveFront , and Afterthoughts.  The podcast discussion flows from Cloud computing to science fiction writing to comics and beyond.

BIT Podcast #18 - Thaddeus Howze

Follow Thaddeus on Twitter @ebonstorm

Blacks In Technology Podcast #2: Kai Dupe' (Where Are The Blacks in Technology?)

This blog seeks to support the efforts of the Blacks In Technology folks as they interview remarkable IT professionals of color.

In this podcast Greg Greenlee spoke with Kai Dupe' back in November 2010.  Kai is a technical trainer and software development consultant with over 25 years of experience. He is also a educational technology doctoral student at Pepperdine University researching the lack of African American males in the information technology field. Kai is focused on technology integration in urban schools as well as societal digital equity issues and the educational failures of African American males. He utilizes his life lessons as well as his educational experiences expertise and skills to develop software for businesses large and small as well as promote technology integration in American schools, and encourage African Americans to participate in the digital society via workshops, seminars and speaking engagements.

Click the green arrow below to listen to the podcast interview.

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Kai is frequently featured on this blog and he has his own blog under the title, “Where Are the Blacks in Technology?” You can follow Kai on Twitter - @KaiDupe

Blacks In Technology Podcas #1: Anthony Hall (Rose of Education)

BDPA seeks to 'win the future' by advancing the careers of African Americans in the information technology (IT) industry from the classroom to the boardroom. Another organization that has a similiar mission is Blacks In Technology (BIT) co-founded by BDPA Cincinnati chapter member Greg Greenlee and Ron Hash. It is a growing community of nubians from all over the nation who have agreed to network and support each other.

BIT provides a regular podcast featuring a prominent person of African descent in the IT industry. In this episode of the Blacks In Technology podcast Greg and Ronnie chat with Anthony Hall - founder of The Rose of Education. The Rose of Education is investigating the use of language to develop new technologies for communications, education, energy, security, defense, propulsion, automotive and robotics.

Listen now to an interview originally posted on November 23, 2010:

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Have You Checked Out 'Blacks In Technology' Website or Newsletter?

Advancing the careers of African Americans in the information technology industry from the classroom to the boardroom is something that we need to work 24/7/365.   BDPA has been delivering in this area for over 35 years, however, there are other players in the field.   I invite BETF-Blog readers to check out the newsletter:

Blacks In Technology (BIT) Newsletter, Issue #1

View more documents from Wayne Hicks.

This new group wants to accomplish three specific things:

1. Deliver the most relevant and beneficial information and network for African American’s in the technology field or pursuing a career in technology.
2. Focus on creating a community in which African American’s are comfortable, motivated and inspired to pursue careers in technology.
3. Establish effective communicaton between African American’s in order to help drive individual growth, development and long-term success.

I would love to hear from any of the brothers or sisters that are working behind the scenes on this newsletter and the organization. I would also be interested to see how BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) could support this effort.

All of us can learn more from their website.





At the end of the day I'm in favor of anyone who has a passion for people of African descent that seek to advance themselves in the information technology industry.  What are your thoughts about this new organization -- Blacks In Technology?

Reflections of a Black Analyst in the Age of Obama

By Daryl Plummer

On the day that Martin’s birth is celebrated and the day before the swearing in of America’s first Black president, I am facing the dichotomies of two complimentary worlds.

One world is the world of a Black man working in an industry predominantly peopled by non-Black professionals. The other is the world of any man living in a society where change has opened doors that many thought would remain closed forever.

And the doors open to allow change at the highest levels to emerge. The doors open so that people like me can face beautiful new vistas of opportunity - vistas revealing goals that can be achieved by anyone with the strength of will, or the faith of ideals, to reach for them.

Now, everyone can rejoice in the hopes of today and the dreams of the future.
And yet, no one should forget the experiences of today and the memories of the past.

For though there are many subjective worlds, we all live in one real world. The real world is a place where opportunity must be matched by effort - and effort must be matched by desire. And in my world – the Information Technology (IT) world – the question must be asked if opportunity has given rise to true effort. For when I look around me, all I see is unfulfilled desire.

When I look around me I see Black Americans rising only so far in IT. Many hold the ranks of secretary or technician, but few lead as CIOs or senior VPs.

Think to yourself - how many Black Americans can you name in senior management, as industry analysts, as CEOs, or as billionaires, who lead the way in the IT industry. You may be surprised at how few you come up with. Beyond Chuck Phillips at Oracle, the list goes shallow in short order. How can this be in the age of a Black president?

In 2004 a study about Blacks in IT highlighted the efforts to make the profession more open to minorities - yet, here we remain. In 2006, a report including quotes from the venerable Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) organization reiterated how much Black Americans found IT a fascinating career choice – and yet, here we remain. Now, a January, 2009, Computerworld blog addresses the issue of why there is HOPE for African Americans in IT. And yet, here .. we .. still .. remain. Blacks in IT only tend to rise so high before that glass ceiling taps them gently on the head.

And despite all the efforts of BDPA, despite the efforts of universities to cultivate more Black computer industry graduates, despite my own efforts to educate, to provide an example, to encourage, and to cajole – here we remain. I remain one of only 7 Black analysts I can name in the IT industry. For over 5 years, I was the only one. I remain one of the highest ranking Black associates who can have an impact beyond their own company. I remain frustrated but hopeful that Blacks in IT will become something more than just a continuing dream.

So forgive me, Mister Obama, while I cheer the greatness of your accomplishment and I mourn the mediocrity of my own.

I mourn for the Black child that cannot even recognize the opportunities she might grow into because she has no exposure to this world.

I mourn the HR practices in IT that seldom follow through on seeking out Black candidates for executive level positions.

I mourn the fact that when I look out from stage at an audience of over 5000 people, I can count the number of Black “IT-faces” in a matter of seconds.

But I stay true to hope. I stay true to the ideals embodied in a quote by Ronald Reagan. He said, “…there are no limits on the human capacity for intelligence, imagination and wonder.” I could add – no matter what color they may be. But before Reagan and since, there are those who echo cries of hope. Lincoln referred to “a new birth of freedom”, challenging the country to elevate all men to equality. And now, Barack Obama says “Yes we Can!”

Yes. We can.

And we can because he can. We can because the youth of today now see with their own eyes that Black and white people all have access to the American dream. We can because those same youth will see that the way to success is not only through sports greatness or entertainment fame. We can because now we have more help than ever before. Whether it is Black or white, Chinese or Hispanic, Indian, Muslim, Jewish or all the colors, sexes and creeds of the world – people are banding together to hold the doors of opportunity open.

But what we can do should never eliminate the memory of what we strive to overcome. So hold the memory. Hold the memory close to your heart and just behind your eyes.

Hold the memory of my great grandmother who lived in a time when Black people could be persecuted for wanting to rise up to a better life in Georgia.

Hold the memory of my grandmother who walked with her children 450 miles from Georgia to South Florida to begin a new life. She could go anywhere as long as it wasn’t labeled “no Blacks allowed”.

Hold the memory of my mother who raised eyebrows when she decided that a single Black mother of four could become a nurse by studying alone at night and working two jobs during the day.

Hold the memory of my brother who knocked down doors to become a treasurer and CFO for fortune 500 companies.

And hold my memory too. Because as I stand in a place where I have stood for over 20 years I see myself as a lightning rod of opportunity and seek to help those who would surpass my every achievement – imagined or real.

Thank you, Mister Obama. Thank you for the next step in the dream. Thank you for remembering what Martin said back in a time when few could see that you might ever become real. And thank you for “yes, we can”.

To the IT industry, I say that the opportunities are real and the desire must flow from those who wish to hire Black IT professionals to those who wish to be hired. We will continue to educate, and to seek out people who can be prepped to become the next generation of greatness.

So, yes, we can. But, in the world of IT, I beg you in faith to remember that so far – we have not.

2008 African American Information Technology Experience

by: Guest Blogger Julius Clark

I pulled these statistics from different sources to make a compelling point regarding the state of the African American Information Technology Professional in 2008. Barack Obama used the Internet to help him win the presidency like no other and has re-written the book on political campaigning.

African Americans receive 20% of all undergraduate Business degrees awarded in this country. Very impressive statistic, but we receive only 3% of all Computer Science undergraduate degrees, when technology professionals are in such a despite demand in this country; despite the color of an individual, and despite the slowing economy.

We have a lot of work to do in influencing our children to pursue careers in technology. It can be difficult when on one end of the spectrum, Science and Technology competes with little punch against the images of athletics and entertainment, which are so dominant in the African American culture for just a small few of individuals to successfully get into.

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Here is what I found in my research:

1. Community - African American children have made strives and the digital divide is narrowing in our community, but we need to stop boring our brightest children to death with continued basic computer literacy. They need to be taught how to solve problems with computers and the Internet.
2. Academia/ College
• African Americans represent 13-14% of the American Population, but only represent 3% of BS degrees awarded in Computer Science. This could change if we emphasize early to kids to use computers to solve problems.
• Only 1% of PhD degrees are earned by African Americans this year and each year in the near future. People with the PhDs get money to research problems. The problem here is that our community has lots of problems, yet only 1% of African Americans with PhDs are qualified as researchers at universities to seek the funding to research solutions for our communities problems. This is not an efficient problem solving method.
3. IT Professional
• Only 3% of Information Technology jobs are held by African Americans. Hmmm... this number is the same as BS degrees awarded to African Americans.
• African American IT professionals are making 85.9 cents to every dollar of our white computer Professionals. Last year we made 86.4 percent; we lost some ground.
• One identified gap for the salary lag: "intangibles" -- subjective factors that determine where in the compensation range an individual falls. The building of trusted relationships that enables people to reach the higher end of the subjective range apparently hasn't strengthened in the past year and is disappointing.

• Whites saw a 3.4% compensation increase from last year, compared with 2.7% for African Americans, the lowest increase for any ethnicity
4. 2008 Computerworld Salary Survey - Click here to the survey
5. Heartening Discoveries -
• African American children are addicted to computers and the Internet and want to be challenged more. Let's not bore or ignore them.
• When asked how satisfied they were with their decision to pursue an IT career, 89.3% of African Americans said they were satisfied or very satisfied. That's the highest percentage of support for the career path voiced by any ethnicity, including whites, at 84.5%. Hey, we love what we do!!
6. eCommerce - In 2008 African Americans made up 11.8% of all Internet purchases. Very high numbers here and they are rising. We need to get more African American students interested in Computer Science and get some of this eCommerce money.

My Final Thoughts - An Information Technology career is the best return on investment for your money and time. The satisfaction rate of African Americans in IT demonstrate our perseverance as a people in the wake of continuing disparities. I welcome the future with hopeful feelings. Let's keep it with the "Change We Need" and "From the Classroom to the Boardroom" mantras. Go BDPA Information Technology Thought Leaders!!!

Championing the cause,
Julius Clark, President-Elect
BDPA Charlotte Chapter

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We are very pleased to post this op-ed piece from Julius. Please use the COMMENTS below to share your thoughts with Julius on his research and commentary. Julius is an example of the IT Thought Leaders that are in BDPA. Are you active with BDPA in your city?