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I really hate these faux-grassroots programs. I've never seen these people host any events near me, and I live in a fairly large inner city area. If individual

I really hate these faux-grassroots programs. I've never seen these people host any events near me, and I live in a fairly large inner city area. If individual nerds can consistently have meetups every month there isn't any excuse especially with how much money they seem to be getting. The past events page is also...depressingly barren. But they're getting that sweet sweet investor $$$ from Nike and AT&T!

tryonenow 5y ago
The real issue is constantly swept under the rug. The only real barrier to POC in STEM in 2021 is POC culture. It's hard to host events for inner city denizens when the vast majority are simply uninterested in such pursuits, or worse, shun each other for having such interests. Lack of representation will not be solved so long as we continue to ignore this inconvenient truth. And it's similar for lack of female representation. Edit: in anticipation of controversy, it is not my attempt to troll or start any flamewars with this comment. It's a perspective that is sorely lacking in discussions addressing diversity in tech, and dangerously so, because if we refuse to question the role of the choices of those who are underrepresented, then the only alternative is to blame people and systems who are not responsible for the issues, which makes the interventions ineffective at best, counterproductive and destabilizing at worst.
- usbline 5y ago
  I'm a little sad this comment was dead and I couldn't respond earlier... ANYWAY: >the vast majority are simply uninterested in such pursuits I really think this is an "image" problem. I'd say the majority of people are uninterested in technology, so the numbers are already low. But it also has a huge connotation of the people who DO like it being white/asian nerds, or affluent people who can afford to go to college for computer science. People want to fit in, no one wants to be alone. And if you're just some black kid, you're going to feel really out of place. Even if no one is being racist to you, you're still going to FEEL alone (even if you're not). And that's not fun. This isn't just a tech problem. Think about welders or metalworkers. I think about bearded, husky white guys. But I'm sure there's plenty of girls who think swords kick ass but don't want to feel like an outsider. It's understandable for people to feel this way. It's like the complete opposite of the Utopian Hacker idea where just your contributions matter, nothing else. About how good or enthusiastic you are, not about WHO you are. I don't think any single group or initiative can get rid of stereotypes with careers or subcultures. I'm not even sure if it CAN be done.
- deleted 5y ago
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- deleted 5y ago
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- type0 5y ago
  For those who are not anglophones: POC "means person of color" or "people of color". It probably means non-white. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/POC https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/POC https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poc https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poc
- whimsicalism 5y ago
  These are takes by people who didn't grow up in proximity to Black communities. It's just not true. I attended a STEM program when I was in elementary school and I was the only white person in a cohort of like 50 black kids. More often than not, the programs just aren't set up in Black communities, they aren't advertised, there is no outreach to parents.
tehwebguy 5y ago
> I really hate these faux-grassroots programs. I'm not sure your hate for this group is based on facts. From a Google search I learned that their EventBrite lists 615 past events in 70 cities in 18 states (plus DC). Since the beginning of 2020 there were 120 events, 88 were last year and 32 this year so far, most of which being online. I don't know if they've had any others that didn't make the EventBrite list and no clue what city you live in, obviously they haven't reached every "fairly large inner city" in person. With no knowledge of how they spend their money (other than the scholarships they mention) I assume it goes to staffing the part of the org that plans and puts on these events, and said scholarships for the paid events. Looks like 279 of them were free (including all 2021 events), 30 in-person events had paid and free tickets available. It seems 53 events were summer camp options for between $70 and $699 (most common being $299) from 2016 to 2020. Of the rest, 6 were $20 or less and the remaining 270 events were $35. I'm aware of $1M grants from Nike & AT&T, CrunchBase lists another $409k from an individual and GM, plus individuals have donated small amounts. From my personal experience putting on individual live shows, tours, learning events and full blown conventions I doubt that even double this total would be enough to cover all of the live events they did pre-pandemic even with a skeleton crew staff of 3-4 and plenty of volunteers.

tryonenow 5y ago

The real issue is constantly swept under the rug. The only real barrier to POC in STEM in 2021 is POC culture. It's hard to host events for inner city denizens when the vast majority are simply uninterested in such pursuits, or worse, shun each other for having such interests. Lack of representation will not be solved so long as we continue to ignore this inconvenient truth. And it's similar for lack of female representation. Edit: in anticipation of controversy, it is not my attempt to troll or start any flamewars with this comment. It's a perspective that is sorely lacking in discussions addressing diversity in tech, and dangerously so, because if we refuse to question the role of the choices of those who are underrepresented, then the only alternative is to blame people and systems who are not responsible for the issues, which makes the interventions ineffective at best, counterproductive and destabilizing at worst.

usbline 5y ago
I'm a little sad this comment was dead and I couldn't respond earlier... ANYWAY: >the vast majority are simply uninterested in such pursuits I really think this is an "image" problem. I'd say the majority of people are uninterested in technology, so the numbers are already low. But it also has a huge connotation of the people who DO like it being white/asian nerds, or affluent people who can afford to go to college for computer science. People want to fit in, no one wants to be alone. And if you're just some black kid, you're going to feel really out of place. Even if no one is being racist to you, you're still going to FEEL alone (even if you're not). And that's not fun. This isn't just a tech problem. Think about welders or metalworkers. I think about bearded, husky white guys. But I'm sure there's plenty of girls who think swords kick ass but don't want to feel like an outsider. It's understandable for people to feel this way. It's like the complete opposite of the Utopian Hacker idea where just your contributions matter, nothing else. About how good or enthusiastic you are, not about WHO you are. I don't think any single group or initiative can get rid of stereotypes with careers or subcultures. I'm not even sure if it CAN be done.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
type0 5y ago
For those who are not anglophones: POC "means person of color" or "people of color". It probably means non-white. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/POC https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/POC https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poc https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poc
whimsicalism 5y ago
These are takes by people who didn't grow up in proximity to Black communities. It's just not true. I attended a STEM program when I was in elementary school and I was the only white person in a cohort of like 50 black kids. More often than not, the programs just aren't set up in Black communities, they aren't advertised, there is no outreach to parents.

tehwebguy 5y ago

> I really hate these faux-grassroots programs. I'm not sure your hate for this group is based on facts. From a Google search I learned that their EventBrite lists 615 past events in 70 cities in 18 states (plus DC). Since the beginning of 2020 there were 120 events, 88 were last year and 32 this year so far, most of which being online. I don't know if they've had any others that didn't make the EventBrite list and no clue what city you live in, obviously they haven't reached every "fairly large inner city" in person. With no knowledge of how they spend their money (other than the scholarships they mention) I assume it goes to staffing the part of the org that plans and puts on these events, and said scholarships for the paid events. Looks like 279 of them were free (including all 2021 events), 30 in-person events had paid and free tickets available. It seems 53 events were summer camp options for between $70 and $699 (most common being $299) from 2016 to 2020. Of the rest, 6 were $20 or less and the remaining 270 events were $35. I'm aware of $1M grants from Nike & AT&T, CrunchBase lists another $409k from an individual and GM, plus individuals have donated small amounts. From my personal experience putting on individual live shows, tours, learning events and full blown conventions I doubt that even double this total would be enough to cover all of the live events they did pre-pandemic even with a skeleton crew staff of 3-4 and plenty of volunteers.