Where Are All The Black Techies?

by Sherri L. Smith
April 14, 201052 Comments and 36 Reactions
Sigh, the title of this article saddens and annoys like being forced to watch “Jersey Shore”, “For the Love of Ray-J”, and any show involving Tiffany “New York” Patterson in one sitting. Ugh! The answer is we’re right here. We’re busy at work making the next whoozit or whatzat that’s destined to turn the world on its collective ear. We’re out and about adopting the latest new tech trends and sending our thoughts via the latest social networking tool. Or if they’re like me, they’re working for a publication they believe in and are putting the spotlight on their fellow black techies.

So why does the question continue to be asked? Why do African-American tech-heads continue to be placed in the same category unicorns, leprechauns, and perpetual motion machines — the stuff of legends? Or better yet, why is the new school of black techies, slept on harder than a posturepedic mattress? What we’re good enough to buy all the smartphones, video games, servers, and routers but we’re not good enough to create them? With that said, let’s march in the usual sorry set of excuses.

There aren’t any influential people of color in tech. Really? What about John Pasmore, the CEO of Vonage.tv? How about Promise Phelon, CEO of UpMo? And check out Deanna Sutton, Founder and CEO of the Sutton Media Group. Speaking of founders, check out Oo Nwoye, Founder of interactive business card service One Page who just wrote an interesting blog post on OoTheNigerian asking “Are there renowned internet startups with black founders?” To which I answer with an emphatic yes.

Blacks aren’t that interested in tech. I know there aren’t that there aren’t that many of us in Silicon Valley, but does that mean we’re a bunch of Luddites? African Americans are some of the biggest consumers in the country spending billions and it stands to reason that some of that money is going towards gadgets and other forms of tech. As the government continues to work towards closing the digital divide, maybe more of us will catch the tech bug like Ashton and Ryan Clark, the entrepreneurial twins who started their first business at 13. With groups like 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley mentoring the next generation, mainstream stream media will have no choice but to recognize us instead of giving us the V.I.P. guestlist snub a la the Vanity Fair “Young Hollywood” issue.

Thankfully we don’t need the Mashables of the world to get black tech news. Thanks to Angela Benton and Markus Robinson we have Black Web 2.0, where we’re dedicated to giving black techies the props they deserve. Stay tuned as we continue to bring you the latest and greatest in African Americans in tech.