Coding and Switching
Rashaan Peek
Chief of Staff at Charlotte Center City Partners | Author of "ABC Book of Affirmative Words" | Founder of Your Girl Inc? & YG Delivers | Certified Nonprofit & Supply Chain Management Professional | Advocate
It's time for work. What are the feelings that are keeping you from jumping up and getting to it? Tweet us @blkteclt
Mathematician Gladys West was an integral contributor to the invention of the cell phone, GPS, and social media. Marie Van Brittan Brown created an early version of the home security system. Frederick McKinley Jones developed the automatic refrigerator system. Because of him, grocery stores could buy and sell products from far distances limiting the risk they would spoil during the trip. We all know at least one person that can convert US weight measurements to the US dollar without a calculator.
So, when did we get it in our heads that we aren’t good a math, science, or innovation? What is it about STEM that makes Black people so uncomfortable? Black workers makeup 11% of the US workforce but represent 9% of STEM workers. (Pew Research Center). Over 3.5 million jobs will need to be filled by 2025.
What is it that we need to be doing now to change the narrative and increase access to opportunities created by having a STEM job or business? The average median hourly wage for STEM jobs is $38.85 vs. 19.50 for other jobs.
How are we going to incorporate STEM in our daily lives so it benefits our communities? We're listening. blktechclt.com