Don’t be fooled.
From app developers and content creators to programmers and engineers, black technophiles are on the scene– despite what you may or may not see and read on today’s highly-visited, go-to sites within the tech industry, representation on panels and on the showroom floor at trade events.
It’s this “lack of representation†that led CNN to chronicle the lives of eight African-American entrepreneurs, all participants of the inaugural NewMe Accelerator class, in Black in America: The New Promised Land — Silicon Valley back in 2011. And, a little over a year later, the debate continues with many saying, “they can’t find any of us,†which socio-economic digitalist Lauren DeLisa Coleman pointed out in a recent article on TheGrio.com.
“A huge part of the problem is the fact that many of the thought leaders in the tech community are not in contact with many African-Americans in tech,†said Sibyl Edwards, president of D.C. Web Women, to TheGrio. “Whether that is by choice or due to external factors is up for debate, but I have attended a number of tech events, and I will say that most of them have few people of color in attendance. This simply needs to change.â€
TheGrio highlights the top 10 Blacks in technology, so keep an eye out for these tech execs throughout the year:
Malik S. Ducard, Director of Content Partnerships at Google
The Bronx, NY-native is in charge of premium film, TV and new media partnerships for YouTube. Before joining YouTube, he served as senior vice president of digital distribution for the Americas at Paramount Pictures and oversaw the distribution of films to online, mobile and digital platforms including iTunes, XBox, Netflix, and a range of mobile, online and device technology partners.