Anderson@Large

Personal Democracy Forum 2012

The annual Personal Democracy Forum is “the world’s leading conference exploring and analyzing technology's impact on politics and government.” PDF brings together thought leaders, influencers, technologists, activists, academics and good-government types.

In 2009, I attended PDF as a Google Fellow. Yesterday, I received notice that was awarded a Tumblr Fellowship to attend PDF 2012.

I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it.

Faces Behind the Jobs Report

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate “changed little” in April. The jobless rate fell from 8.2 percent to 8.1 percent.

The black unemployment rate was 13 percent in April, down from 14 percent in March.

There was a slight dip in black teen unemployment.

The jobs report don't tell the whole story. While private sector added 130,000 jobs in April, state and local governments shed 15,000 employees. A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute found that African Americans and women are hit hardest by downsizing in the public sector:

The disproportionate share of women and African Americans working in state and local government has translated into higher rates of job loss for both groups in these sectors. Between 2007 (before the recession) and 2011, state and local governments shed about 765,000 jobs. Women and African Americans comprised about 70 percent and 20 percent, respectively, of those losses. Conversely, Hispanic employment in state and local public-sector jobs increased during this period (although most of that increase likely occurred in the lowest-paid jobs).

Job losses in the state and local public sectors stand in contrast to the jobs recovery in the private sector. From February 2010 (the month the labor market “bottomed out”) to January 2012, the United States experienced a net increase in total nonfarm employment of more than 3.2 million jobs, while state and local government employment fell by 438,000. Over this period, every major sector of the economy experienced net growth in jobs except the public sector.

Read more: Women and African Americans hit hardest by job losses in state and local governments

Tracking Change

As they say, everything must change. So in the coming months, I will embrace change and pivot.

Stay tuned.

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Race and Silicon Valley

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Freedom isn’t Free

The Cost of Freedom Voter ID App campaign on Start Some Good is live. If you are concerned about voter suppression by photo ID, please make a pledge today.

I would like to share the video of my presentation of the Cost of Freedom Project at the Hack/Hackers Meetup at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A pledge in support of the Cost of Freedom App is not about accommodating voter suppression. It’s about accommodating reality. The reality is in five states, including Wisconsin, a swing state, voters must show goverment-issued photo ID in order to vote. As of this writing, Virginia and Pennsylvania, battleground states, are poised to pass voter ID laws.

We must challenge voter ID laws but with Election Day less than eight months away, we have to help voters without an official photo ID cut through the confusion.

So please make a pledge today and share the link with your friends and family. If you don’t help voters get ready, who will?

The struggle continues.

Happy Valentine's Day

If you love democracy, please view the livestream of a panel discussion on social media and voter ID TODAY from 3pm to 5pm EST. I will demo the Cost of Freedom App. You can join the conversation via Twitter using the hashtag #CAPVoterID.

For info about the Cost of Freedom Project, visit us at Facebook.com/CostofFreedom.