Episode 1 : Black Girls Code

The speaker is excited to host a podcast highlighting black women in tech and discussing how to make the industry more diverse. She shares her own background and how she became interested in technology. She emphasizes the importance of building a strong computer background, seeking extracurricular activities in tech, and finding mentors. She acknowledges the underrepresentation of black women in tech and the challenges they face, including lack of funding and resources. She mentions non-profit organizations like Black Girls Code that aim to empower young black girls in tech. The speaker is part of Black Girls With Code and encourages others to get involved. She concludes by thanking the audience for tuning in and announces a future episode with a special guest. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Yeah, I'm super excited to have you here. I'm super excited to have guests on this podcast where we can highlight Black women working in tech and just talk about more of what we as a community can do for Black women in tech and make it more diverse and stuff like that. This is more of a safe space for Black women and girls who want to try and be in tech and who want to have a mentor and stuff like that or just be able to get our voice out there and be heard and connect with other Black women in technology. I'm going to give you some background information on myself. My name is Kendra Jamoa. I said that like three times. I'm your host. I'm currently a student at Rutgers University studying Information Technology and Informatics with a minor in Digital Communication Information Media. I really, really enjoy everything about tech, honestly, like in high school. I always said I was going to be in business. I was in FBLA, Future Business Leaders of America. My dad was in finance. My sister was in marketing. I was like, you know what? I'm going to go into business. I have to go into business. That's what my life is telling me I need to do. I need to be in business. Then my senior year of high school, finally applying to colleges and stuff like that. I don't even know where I want to go. Peak time for job applications. What am I saying? College applications and stuff like that. I remember my senior year of high school taking Computer Science. Then I took Advanced Proficient AP Computer Science, the second half of the year. My teacher, Ms. Connery, shout-out to her if she's listening today. You're honestly the reason why I am where I am today because you are an amazing teacher. My teacher, Ms. Connery, put me aside one day and was telling me like, hey, you're coding in two languages right now. You're 17, almost about to be 18. You should really think about going into technology and working into tech because black women are very underrepresented in tech. It's just nice to have and refreshing to have other black women in tech. That's the moment when I kind of took a look around my classroom and realized how many people in that class just weren't me, if that made sense. In my class, it was 30 people. It was honestly like 27 guys, three girls. I remember it was me, Yesera, and Claribel. Shout-out to you girls too to this day. I know they're also being tech because of Ms. Connery. I just looked around my classroom and realized this whole class is full of men. This whole class is filled with predominantly white men, Asian men, and there's just not only just very little women but just very little women of color. I definitely felt like I knew what Ms. Connery was saying. I knew that she meant it with a sense of like a protection. I knew that she knew what she was talking about and that she wouldn't steer me in the wrong direction. When I went to Rutgers, when I came to Rutgers, I had looked into it, and I was like, okay, I took an IT course, comp sci course, and I really want to look into it and see how I can get into this and do it. When I came to Rutgers, I took a couple of computer classes, and I honestly fell in love with it. My friends were calling me weird, like, you're sitting in your room coding. What are you doing? Honestly, I felt really liberating that I was able to do something that a lot of people weren't able to do, so that was really nice. It's not alarming, but kind of sort of it is. It's kind of interesting how little of us do it, so whatever chance I always get to reach out to other people and tell them about it and tell other Black girls about working in tech, I try and expand my horizons and just get them updated and stuff like that. Just try and expand, essentially. But yeah, so I also want to speak today and just touch up on a couple things. How to get involved in tech and how to start in tech. All right, girls, I'm here to get you guys started and what to do if you want to get into tech. If you are a woman and you want to just get started in tech or if you're anyone who wants to just get started or even see if you're interested in the tech industry, I definitely would build a strong foundation in a computer background. Whether it's just knowing how to do a simple language, I honestly started on NetBeans. That was my first coding thing, and then I went to JavaScript. So that was very interesting. I use a lot of Khan Academies, and I use a lot of videos online to help me learn to code. It's very interesting. It's honestly helpful that there's so much information out there online to just get started. I also would definitely look into things in your area that have a computer background. For me, I had Black Women in Tech. I had a Girls Who Code club actually in high school, so that I also was a part of. Just having stuff like extracurricular activities to help you stay connected and just challenge yourself when it comes to stuff in tech. I would also definitely look into finding someone who is speaking with your advisor, speaking with someone who is in the same field as you, in the same boat as you. I think, honestly speaking to other people and just hearing other people's voice definitely helps me see how to get through with it. Black Women have made really big strides in the tech industry for a really long time, but only recently have we gotten to really break through boundaries and show people what they really are made of. Black Women in Tech are usually not really shown. There's not really many of us. The numbers speak for itself, like I said. I really think that the roles in tech have increased massively within the past couple of years, especially since COVID-19. We definitely need to get more diverse in the tech industry. Coming from a PWI and having to be very much thinking on... You're always on edge, always on 10. It's very much hard to put yourself out there and go to this interview and go to these things and be sitting in a room full of people who look nothing like you and pretend, not pretend, but be the best version of yourself in order to get this job or get wherever you need to be because you need to strive for it. Black Women are still facing many challenges from lack of representation in leadership roles in the tech community. Overcoming these challenges is going to be kind of hard. I think it's going to be within... It's not just our fault. I think it's more so funding. I was lucky to take an AP Computer Science course. I was lucky to take a Comp Sci course in high school, but many people don't have the opportunity to take courses like that. Many people don't have the resources to even go to college and afford to go to school for stuff like that. I definitely want to plug in, and I definitely want to show a lot more interest in non-profit organizations like Black Girls With Code or Black Girls Code, which is a non-profit organization that supports black girls who aren't funded to code and to work in tech industries. I really think it's important to empower young women and tell people, women from the ages of, like, from early ages, like, I'm going to even say 9, 10, like, when I knew I was hitting a computer at that age, when I knew I was using the computer to go on and make a Facebook at 10, 12 years old in middle school, like, that's the moment I knew, like, I think I really like this. And women in Black Girls With Code is a non-profit organization that feeds into young black girls and feeds into them to introduce them to the skills of computer science and programming and stuff like that, just so they could be more exposed to it. I feel like it's very interesting to see such a, like, a niche company and a niche role. Like, I know that the Black Girls Who Code, the Black Girls With Code Company, is just very opening, and it's just something that can make our community stronger and make black women, like, just rise through the ashes of not being represented and be a lot more there and present. I personally am a part of Black Girls With Code as well, so you represented me as well. But, yeah, there's definitely a lot of, they have coding games, they have, like, coding events, they have other fun and other stuff as well. Thank you, everyone, for tuning in to this episode of Code and Color. My name is Kendra Jamila, and I'm very, very grateful for all of you here. We've been discussing and experiencing challenges facing the black women in the tech industry, and we hope that this episode has provided you a valuable insight and inspiration for those looking to break into the tech field. We want to thank our special guest, me, today, because I don't have a special guest today, but I will next week, so stay tuned. That's me, a learning human. That's the quick me for next week. But, yeah, I'm just very excited for this journey, and I'm very excited for this podcast. Thank you, and have a good day.