Seven years ago, I launched my blog. Today, marks a new beginning as I focus on the development of the Cost of Freedom App, a location-based web app that will provide voters with concise information on how to apply for a voter ID.
Marketing guru Seth Goldin recently observed that if you don't adapt to the post-industrial economy, “never mind the race to the top, you'll be racing to the bottom.” Goldin added:
Instead of waiting around for someone to tell you that you matter, take your career into your own hands. In other words, don't wait for someone else to pick you and pick yourself! If you have a book, you don't need a publisher to approve you, you can publish it yourself. It's no longer about waiting for some big corporation to choose you. We've arrived at an age where you choose yourself.
Sadly, today also marks the death of the “Matriarch of the Blues,” Etta James, whose truth-telling helped me get through many nights.
I will miss Ms. Etta's motherly advice. May she, at last, rest in peace.
I attended the kickoff reception for the Fall 2011 class of DreamIt Ventures on Friday at University City Science Center.
The 15-member class includes five minority-led startups selected under the Comcast Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program. Two of the Comcast MEAP startups are led by black founders. Jonathan Gosier, co-founder of metaLayer, and John Njoku, CEO of Kwelia. BTW, John is a fellow Stanford Law grad.
Kerry Rupp, Managing Partner of DreamIt, said in a statement:
We’re excited to run our second program this year, coming hot off the heels of a very successful Demo Day in New York City in August. The caliber of this class is equally impressive. Additionally, we’re excited about the diversity of this group. In addition to the Comcast Minority Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program, this batch includes an Olympic medalist, an Iraq and Afghanistan combat veteran and a TED Senior Fellow, as well as several people from Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
While all founders have a tough row to hoe to get to the next level, black founders must face a “harsh reality.”
The harsh reality for black entrepreneurs in the web/tech space. Your chances of raising startup capital are slim to none. If you’re an entrepreneur, good luck and prove me wrong. If you’re an accelerator or incubator, open your doors and prove me wrong. If you’re a venture capitalist please prove me wrong!
The U.S Commerce Department Economics and Statistics Administration’s report, “STEM: Good Jobs Now and for the Future,” found that growth in STEM jobs has been three times greater than that of non-STEM jobs over the past 10 years. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
Some key findings:
In 2010, 7.6 million people or 5.5 percent of the labor force worked in STEM occupations.
In the coming decade, STEM occupations are projected to grow by 17 percent, compared to 9.8 percent growth for other occupations.
STEM workers earn 26 percent more than non-STEM workers.
STEM workers are less likely to experience joblessness.
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke wrote that STEM jobs will help the U.S. win the future:
Expanding the participation of students in the STEM fields – including girls, minorities and students with disabilities – is not just the right thing to do; it’s the smart thing to do.
Investments in basic research and the people who can make great discoveries with new ideas will help drive our technological innovation and global competitiveness. STEM jobs are the jobs of the future, and they are essential to growth in America.
And if you’re still not convinced that STEM matters, check out this piece in TechCrunch:
In a similar vein, many of the companies in Silicon Valley are succeeding precisely because they’re disrupting existing players in their industries. Amazon is doing really well right now (almost $10 billion in revenue in the last quarter alone). Borders…not so much. Go iTunes and Spotify. RIP Tower Records. Creative destruction is alive and well but how many people in Silicon Valley are thinking about what happens to that displaced worker at the record store or bookstore?
As I was helping myself to breakfast yesterday, a handout on AT&T’s information table caught my eye. You can imagine my delight and surprise when I saw it was a photo of Jonecia Keels and Jazmine Miller, the developers of the mobile app HBCU Buddy.
At a time when our nation is committed to reclaiming its place as the world leader in higher education, we can no longer afford to ignore the plight of our young men of color. As long as educational opportunities are limited for some, we all suffer. We rise as one nation and we fall as one nation.
I’ll leave the endless talk of the challenges of black students who pitch a fit in the classroom to the “distinguished scholars, leading educators, policymakers and experts in the field.”
Instead, I want to introduce Ben Brown, an 11-year-old entrepreneur who pitched his mobile app at the recent Triangle Startup Weekend.
Instead, I took the ferry to Governors Island to explore the wonders of science with the next generation of inventors and innovators. As I walked around Governors Island, it was a pleasure to see the delight on their faces.
The World Science Festival is “designed to make the esoteric understandable and the familiar fascinating.” It is undeniable that African American children are fascinated with the esoteric. But that fascination fades by middle school. So educators, policymakers and advocates must reimagine STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to restore its cool factor.
The Internet Generation is familiar with GoDaddy.com from its ubiquitous Super Bowl ads. It would be cool if students knew Go Daddy’s daddy is a black man, Emmit McHenry, the founder of Network Solutions, the go-to website for domain name registration in the 1990s.
Time magazine recently asked: The Future of Innovation: Can America Keep Pace?
We need innovation urgently. But if we are to get the U.S. back to work, we need perhaps even more urgently to rebuild American education, reform our training system, revive high-end manufacturing, focus on new growth industries and rebuild our infrastructure. In fact, finding new ways to do these old tasks might be the greatest and most important innovation of all.
Indeed, throwing money at the problem is not the solution. Education spending has doubled in the last decade. Meanwhile, the United States has fallen to 17th in science literacy and 25th in math literacy.
Studies show there is a link between performance on math and science assessment tests and economic growth. Given the changing demographics, it is an economic imperative that we encourage interest in STEM education among underrepresented students.
In a speech to the National Academy of Sciences in 2009, President Obama said “the progress and prosperity of future generations will depend on what we do now to educate the next generation.” He called on the National Academies to reimagine science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education:
I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering, whether it’s science festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage young people to create and build and invent -- to be makers of things, not just consumers of things.
Innovations and creativity in science, engineering, technology and math will be the drivers of tomorrow’s economy…And if you are not a participant at the frontier, you will trail behind it and possibly get left behind entirely.
Tyson observed that “math needs better marketing.”
Indeed, we must reimagine STEM education in order to stem the tide of joblessness in the African American community.
The Washington Post reports black joblessness is at a 40-year high:
The percentage of black men with jobs last month dropped to its lowest point in 40 years. The situation is worse for teens, worse again in the South and worst of all in late May as graduates swell the job market.
The result for black men ages 16 to 19 is a fate that now resembles a coin toss. Of those seeking work, 54.6 percent find jobs. More than 45 percent do not.
Consider: The academic achievement gap is well-documented. For background information, check out the report, “The Black-White Achievement Gap,” prepared by the Institute for Advanced Journalism Studies under the leadership of DeWayne Wickham.
Now consider this: The Pew Internet & American Life Project found there is no racial gap in the ownership of portable and console gaming devices. But few black students Americans know a black man, Jerry Lawson, developed the first video game console system. Or know that one of the top video game artists is a beautiful black woman, Lisette Titre.
To change the equation, education innovators should adopt culturally relevant web-based tools that will motivate black students and foster relationships with role models who can connect STEM literacy with their day-to-day lives and career opportunities.
Tyson told O’Brien:
The connection between STEM fields and the financial stability of the nation is what needs to be established. That connection somehow is broken and people don’t see it…You should value science, engineering, technology and math. If you do so, you get to innovate and invent new industries, new economies. If you invent new economies, everybody has jobs tomorrow.
