B R I D G I N G T H E D I G I T A L G A P
Technology is rooted in the development of products and services that help humanity to function more efficiently and increase their quality of life. It is said that time is money. Those who have a lot of time on their hands, have likely received a lot of money in it as well, affording them a wealth of technology that further frees up their time by way of convenience, which in-turn provides luxury use of the top-tier tech that they’ve bought.
But those people do not represent the whole of humanity. So what about the others? More specifically, how many Black folx have access to some of the very best technology services and products, and how many don’t? Why don’t they and why do they? What can we do to bridge the gap between the two, creating more access and resources, so that more Black folx can function more efficiently and live a higher quality of life?
And not just for efficiency, but sustainability. We need Black folx to live longer and fuller lives. Closing the digital gap can help. We need Black folx who work in the Tech industry to know that they are seen, supported, and listened to as the brilliant leaders that they are. Closing the digital gap can do that. There’s a lack of Black folx that have STEM educational opportunities that they can prioritise and afford. Closing the digital gap will help. Where are the Black folx that will revolutionise the Tech industry for us in the ways that only they can, coming from shared—and unique—cultural experiences?
Closing the digital gap will bring them.
“I was chaperoning some kids for the United Negro College Fund and we went through a Bay Area tour of tech companies for them. So that was my first time hearing people being in the tech industry. I had an idea for a VR company but I don’t have a tech background, I don’t know what VR is, I’ve been a history teacher — I don’t know any of these things. So, I’m just thinking like, Wouldn’t that be cool if... and of course everybody thinks I’m crazy because it’s DC and it’s not a regular tech company, it’s a futuristic — like high-tech — tech company and I’m just like, Wouldn’t that be cool if... and they’re looking at me like, Girl, you’re crazy.
So, I went to The Bay chaperoning these kids and it was my first time I heard everybody talking about solutions and not problems. And it was just like groundbreaking for me. I was like, You guys wanna talk about ideas?! It was like my whole brain woke up and I was so excited. And when I told somebody [there] about me wanting to start a company and what I wanted to do, the first thing they said in response was that I wasn’t thinking big enough, while everyone in DC was telling me I was crazy. And I was telling myself, ‘You’re not crazy, you’re not crazy.’ And then I got to The Bay and they’re like, Bigger. I felt like my brain opened, I couldn’t close it.”
Kai Fraizer on Tech Wrap Queen — Wrap Session 1: From History Teacher to Making History
