By Victoria Mejicanos
AFRO Staff Writer
vmejicanos@afro.com
This Black History Month, the AFRO spoke with three tech experts in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore area about where tech has been and where it’s going.
Khalif Cooper is a self-taught software engineer who spends his days coding and organizing events for a group he founded, called Black Tech Connect. The organization is made up of Black technology professionals who support each other and share resources and ideas. Cooper says he built the space after not having one as he came up in the sector.
He says his goal is to “build unicorns” (experts with unique qualities) who can continue to transform Baltimore into the tech hub he feels it can be. Cooper shared that there are already lots of biotech companies, but what’s missing is community.
“They need the grassroots communities to come support,” said Cooper. “If they have that, there will be another Silicon Valley.”
Jasmine Wooton is the founder of Sys2Win, an operations consultancy that works with tech consultants and coaches to help them streamline their creative processes. She echoed Cooper’s sentiments and believes that tech and its growth has to do entirely with resources.
“If you have access to the hardware and Wi-Fi, any place can be a tech hub,” said Wooton. “It doesn’t matter where it is– where there is creativity, there can be a tech hub, because you can use technology in so many different ways.”
Despite growing opportunities, excitement around technology is often met with hesitation in Black communities, especially as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more visible in everyday life and incidents of discrimination dominate headlines.
MarKeisha Snaith works in AI governance, which she says is the closest thing to having a seat at the table with AI. Those in AI governance decide things such as what data can be used and what risks can be tolerated. Snaith said that concerns of AI bias are valid, noting that AI has created “invisible infrastructure,” as it continues to be used for hiring, lending, healthcare and education.
“Power is protection,” Snaith said. “If Black people aren’t in the rooms where these systems are being designed and being audited and being governed, then we’re not shaping how those decisions get made. We’re just really living with the consequences that come after it.”
Snaith said in general, it would help Black people to be more technical, and that skillset, if practiced, can make them stand out in a tough job market. She shared that MIT and Google have provided free AI courses.
Wooton shared that disengagement is what can cause barriers and lead people to be left behind as technology continues to advance.
“I would say to the people who are hesitant about AI that it’s okay to be hesitant,” said Wooton. “It’s not okay to freeze.”