Deep Social Movement Using Blockchain

(2 min 15 sec reading time) This week kicked off with Martin Luther King Day, reminding many of us the responsibilities for upholding equal treatment for all. I am half-Asian, an outcome of the Vietnam War with an Air Force father who brought home a Thai wife who was not fluent in English. I was born "in-between" two worlds of Appalachian and Buddhist culture, and let me be the first to explain, you may find my viewpoint on racial equality unusual.

My master's thesis had a focus on multi-racial cultures, and I read thousands of pages about race. I sought explanations of why my own family marginalized my mom, often mocking her accent and what she cooked (and folks, it was delicious Thai food). My grandfather told her that my dad should have married someone with blonde hair and blue eyes. Even my friends at school made fun of my mom's accent, and this was one of the various hard parts growing up with an immigrant parent. Although I had many exceptional childhood memories, and I love my family, racial tension created an awkward position for my sister and me. We each experienced our own stories of being slandered in public. And as a woman of color, I have thought long and hard on solutions for equity.

Years of experience provide my answer but, brace yourself -- and please give me support for being boldly honest and idiosyncratic -- my response to solve racism is this; we each must face the hard truth that we are all discriminatory. Yep, I believe that and go deep on this for yourself. I did. And yes, there are various degrees of prejudice, but cherish the layers of complexity for each human, which encases our decisions. The most dangerous kind of discrimination is the subtle kind, and it happens daily — for example, in the book "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell, he writes about a pivotal time in classical music when they implemented blind auditions. Judges were stunned when they grappled who they chose with an "honest ear." Once that process was in established, the number of minorities in orchestras increased. Most of us would never fathom race or gender would cloud our decisions, but it does. In a culture dense with stereotypes, we have subconscious driven decisions, and Gladwell's extensive research supports that notion.

In most daily life, we can not conduct the equivalent of blind auditions, but we can seek ways to operate screened analysis, which brings us to the blockchain technology. There are numerous use cases in which consent contracts, cloaked data, and permissioned based access can regulate policies to protect people. Nigerians are using blockchain as a means to create products of fundamental value and sustainability. I hear these stories weekly, and it is provoking while bringing extended meaning to my work. We can use technology to bring us closer, in real-time, connecting at our core. 

Today, we have many organized groups and programs to support minorities. As much as I advocate these initiatives, and participate, the paradox is, they also divide us. I do my best to be self-aware when I am on that fine line. I want to be a part of the unspecified large group that is well mixed across race, gender, and age. We stereotype to categorize to understand each other better, but when we focus on differences, we separate ourselves. When we look at our similarities, we unite with our inner humanity.

ABOUT ANGIE GALLAGHER: she is the Director of Business Development at BurstIQ. Powered up with memes and entrepreneurial DNA, Angie oversees BurstIQ's worldwide developer community, called GrowthIQ. BurstIQ's secret sauce is the frontier technology named blockchain, which accelerates data management, data sharing, analytics, consent, multiple-ownership structures, and more. If you want to learn more or want to connect because you are also in Colorado, health care, blockchain, or you want to learn about our enterprise HACKATHON IN OCT 2020; please message Angie.