Among the names of 150 Black tech leaders imploring technology companies and startups to take a stand against systemic racism — through a newly launched effort called Black Tech for Black Lives — a couple of names immediately stood out. That’s because they were Portland founders Stephen Green, founder of PitchBlack, and Lindsey Murphy, founder of The Fab Lab.
We are a collective of Black tech entrepreneurs, investors, creatives, changemakers, and workers, united to use our social, political, and economic capital for the advancement of our communities. We commit to acting in solidarity with those leaders working to create a more just world.
Tech is complicit. We as Black people in tech have a unique position and opportunity to respond to violence against Black people’s bodies. While we’re proximate to the pain, we largely avoid its most brutal physical outcomes. But we, too, feel the blows. We carry the scars on our psyches and hearts as our voices go largely unheard in the workplace and beyond.
As Portland writer Taylor Hatmaker highlights in TechCrunch:
The effort, called “Black Tech for Black Lives,” pulls together a set of specific, actionable commitments intended to “support frontline leaders working to create a more just world.” The pledge is designed to elevate Bay Area community leaders working in tech’s epicenter on specific policy goals regarding issues like policing reform, local elections and by hiring and supporting more Black talent in tech.
To read more or to join as a cosigner or an ally, visit Black Tech for Black Lives.
