John, we need to ensure our staff is on the cutting edge of tech issues that affect Black people.

Will you make a donation to ensure our team can attend AfroTech 2020?

Dear John,

I’m Jade, Interim Senior Campaign Director for the Media, Culture, and Economic Justice team, and I hosted the first ever Color Of Change, Black People’s Brunch: AfroTech Edition at the nation's largest Black tech conference. It was empowering to see Black people come together to talk about how those working in the tech field and those working in civil rights organizations must collaborate. Not only did we laugh, dance, and sing together but we also broke down the barriers between Black people working in tech and those working in civil rights organizations who will shape the tech industry.

I’m truly grateful for the experience to discuss social justice and the challenges and triumphs of the tech space, and how these things overlap. The daily fight for racial and social justice can be exhausting and seeing the impact of our work in real time was deeply empowering. But I know my teammates would also be inspired, engaged, and energized about continuing to fight for Black liberation in tech spaces. John, will you make a pledge of $10 to ensure my team can attend AfroTech 2020 and remain on the cutting edge of tech issues that directly affect Black people and Black communities?

Over the past year, we’ve accomplished major wins in tech accountability:

We pressured Facebook to commit to an independent civil rights audit examining all the ways Facebook has failed Black people.
We successfully advocated for legislation that prohibits secret surveillance and gives Bay Area residents the tools to block new surveillance programs.
We worked to pass legislation in San Francisco banning discriminatory facial recognition technology.
We helped pass net neutrality protections in California, ensuring millions of people have access to a free and open Internet.

In 2020, we plan to take on even more tech accountability work. We all know that Silicon Valley has a diversity issue and it’s reflected in the policies and algorithms that shape our online experiences.¹ As of today, Twitter continues to allow white nationalists to organize, harass members, and use its platform as a megaphone for hate speech.² Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg continues to give anti-Black forces the reach to promote their agenda by spreading racist ideologies.³ These are only three examples of why we must remain on the frontlines fighting for safe digital spaces for Black and Brown people to share, connect, inspire, and be free from hate speech and physical harm.

This is where you come in, John. We need your support to send our team to AfroTech 2020 with a pledge of $10.

If we raise $20,000 in the next 2 weeks of December, we can send our entire team to AfroTech 2020 and host another Black People's Brunch: AfroTech Edition. Here is how you may support this important work:

If 50 people give $50 then our costs to travel to Oakland would be covered.
If 100 people give $100, then our team’s lodging and meals would be guaranteed.

No worries if you are unable to give the amounts above. No donation is too small. We need your help to bring this vision to life. Chip in what you can to support sending the Media, Culture, and Economic Justice team to AfroTech 2020!

Since AfroTech started, it has been a revolutionary experience for Black tech entrepreneurs, engineers, executives, computer programmers, and media moguls who are often the only Black people in the room at their jobs. This year’s conference brought 10,000 Black folks in tech to Oakland. In 2020, we want to make sure justice for Black people is a central theme in tech conversations - by having Color Of Change on the ground to tell about it.

Help us make that happen. Chip in $10 to send the Media, Culture, and Economic Justice team to AfroTech 2020!

Until justice is real,

--Jade, Rashad, Arisha, Evan, Johnny, Future, Eesha, Samantha, Marcus, FolaSade, and the rest of the Color Of Change team

References:

Frank Holland, “Silicon Valley has a diversity problem, and the Afrotech Conference draws some of the biggest names in Tech to help fix it,” CNBC, November 7, 2019, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/223743?t=10&akid=40145%2E4731121%2EhJToXd.
Dell Cameron, “Twitter Under Fire Again for Failing to Ban White Supremacists as Charlottesville Anniversary Nears,” Gizmodo, August 2, 2019, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/165079?t=12&akid=40145%2E4731121%2EhJToXd.
Lauren Frias, “Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had an undisclosed dinner with Trump and Peter Thiel at the White House,” Business Insider, November 20, 2019, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/215616?t=14&akid=40145%2E4731121%2EhJToXd.

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