 Just so you know, but it's fine because I'll do what I always do, which is just completely talk out of my ass And actually my slides I hate PowerPoint like With a passion they say I reserve for you know, like people who scan the alibaba rates So all I have are photos. There's like maybe two sentences and that's it What I'm going to talk about today kind of is my my journey through the tech industry and Into where I am now which working is working predominantly exclusively as a social justice writer and speaker and It is because of my relationship with tech that I actually am where I am today So I hope you guys are interested in hearing me talk about me because that's all I'm gonna do See if I can make this quick Alright, so this is the beginning. This is me and my brother and we did not start out the way that many people in Seattle Who find themselves in tech start out? We started out really poor like not poor when your friends say like I can't afford to go to a movie Poor like we were living in a car. We had no electricity. Oh, we had nothing so we had no tech In fact, I remember when Super Nintendo came out and we wanted one really bad. My mom went and found us an old pong console And she was like, it's just as good And we invited our friends over we're like, no, we got this cool game and they were like wow you guys are so poor and Ever big jig was up So we really did not know anything about technology. I think I Was 14 so this is 94 95 when my mom got us an apple to a computer So, you know, we were always about a decade behind as far as tech goes But then I got pregnant Had a baby and I got a husband and not one of those cool husbands. I got a really bad So I needed to get a job and So I got a job and I just happened to get one in telecom Which is I think pretty normal for a lot of people who need to get a job in Seattle At least it was probably 10 years ago 13 years ago when like 18 teen singular all that good stuff is happening I started off just in regular customer service and then I started volunteering for projects like testing things like that turned I did not for it So I moved from testing to actual business and analysis project management things like that but Still my love had always been politics and this this will make sense So like social issues had always been a love of mine, so I decided I was gonna go back to college and this is at Western so if anybody went to Western. Yeah, you recognize that statue right away and I went back to school To study political science and I continued to work in text that whole time. So I supported my son and I By working in text, so I worked from home doing dev releases Red hat things like that from my house Look to the point where people that I was in conference calls with knew my son so well that one time He was asking me for a lollipop as a conference call and one of the directors in Atlanta Shout out Malcolm it is 10 o'clock in the morning. You cannot have a lollipop So I was going to transition out kind of use my skills to transition into areas I was passionate about and I had actually Received an offer from the Gates Foundation To work there kind of combining my tech skills with my social justice love but then I got pregnant again and so I Was not going to be able to move to Washington DC To begin work at Gates Foundation, which is where this particular program was Done, so I just focused on finishing school And I don't know if you can tell that I'm pregnant in that robot is like, oh my god, everyone looks pregnant But I my son graduated from kindergarten the day before I got my bachelors So he was pretty excited and he wore his hat and made everyone tell him congratulations So I went back into tech and started working and kind of fell into the tech world First I start working actually is a T1 provisioner and a switch switch technician So actually, you know going in pulling wires Writing out circuits things like that. It was an interesting environment for me having spent the last couple years immersed in The world of academia political science To come back in to tech especially landline tech, which is like this I don't know if anybody here has worked on that It's a really strange world because it's like a mix of like half Navy guys because that's really where you learn a lot of things like switch Switch tech stuff and things like that and then just you know, well like the rest of the tech industry kind of Mashed together and I did not Fit in that industry, but I was very good at it That promoted like three times within two years Was working, you know really hard doing well, but I was constantly Confronted with sexism in the industry lots of racism in the industry I remember being asked during in an orientation for a promotion. I had gotten if this was my real hair I've been asked that so many times Is it a weave because I saw that good hair movie and I know what black girls have to go through with your hair I've been kissed on the elevator by people. I don't know It's a it's been really weird environment And it was kind of one of those things that you just played along and I actually was I was really happy I had friends, but I noticed that who I was what I started talking about who I was talking to changed, you know My subject matters Revolved around tech things all the time, you know, my friends we talked about work when they were hanging out and Getting drunk and stuff like that And I was doing okay There's me at a conference, you know talking about digital marketing and advertising But then Trayvon Martin happened and It's really hard. I still struggle to put into words what that meant what that breaking point was for me But I was traveling. I was working as a trainer in digital marketing a travel the country Basically explaining the internet to old white guys. That was my job I was on the road when this happened and my brother was on the road as a musician and my son is now 13 and I saw so much of my son in this boy and I saw so much of my brother As well and I was absolutely heartbroken But what I noticed Turning to the avenues that I was so used to relying on the internet Was the absolute silence that I encountered from my community Nothing, I mean and it got to the point where I was begging especially to because I was on the road So I'm trying to find connection home And I would say somebody say something and the response I would get back was I Don't really feel like this is my place. I don't really feel comfortable What if someone yells at me if I say something and it was utterly heartbroken I've grown up in Seattle Seattle's been my home And it was the first time I ever Really felt like there was a concrete wall between me and the rest of the community that I lived in So kind of out of desperation of survival. I just started writing I started writing about what I was feeling because I needed somebody to talk to about it and it ended up Kind of changing my social life. These are right, you know some groups of people I met who just started listening to what I was saying I ended up Kind of shifting to a whole another social circle but as I was writing more and Speaking more at conferences talking about police brutality talking about race talking about feminism really just to kind of Keep alive after seeing that disparity between you know the place I spent most of my day and the rest of my identity It became really harder to be quiet. I was already known as a loudmouth and I remember people saying You know, okay, you know Joma's great at presentations and they would bring me out to like impress big clients But if it was a question about we need someone's opinion They were like let's not include Joma in this meeting because she does have opinions She has a lot of opinions and you'll know what they are to the point where actually I you know The last promotion I got in my job before I left the industry someone called me and she said you're so good at this You know you're great at your job and she's like, you know, and I was worried because When you applied someone called me and said that you have a very strong personality. I Don't see that necessarily as a negative and I certainly don't think it's something that Had I not been a woman, especially a black woman in the industry would have ever been used as a detractor To describe someone Especially in tech. So then all of a sudden I started like showing up on television, which was weird It was really weird to the point where I mean because I had I still literally was working in digital advertising and then I was getting emails from from CNN and from CB CBS Evening News saying you want to fly to New York and talk about race in America And so I would because I didn't want to ruffle feathers at work. I wouldn't even tell them I left. I Could fly to New York And like work like I was there and just like start a couple hours later be like, yeah, no, it's fine Hey, you know, I've just got a meeting for an hour and I would like run Sit and make up get on TV because I knew that none of them ever watched There's much no chance and in the whole time only one person ever and it was a vendor came in and was like No Totally someone else Like what But as I was doing this more and more It was it started to kind of bleed into my life And so I started things like people on Facebook going look I found a quote of you on Twitter on Tumblr and it was like this weird Inception world where things I tweeted about when it up in Tumblr and then my friends on Facebook would find it on their Tumblr and put it on my Facebook and then my friends were like, what are you so mad about a gentleman? I'm like, well, this is what I'm talking about all the time So eventually I couldn't do it anymore, and it was a weird break where I just had a day where I said you know, I think today might be the day I quit my job and I was writing a lot but I had started to make decisions where I had to turn down writing and speaking assignments because you know, like my boss was not gonna like he was gonna notice eventually that I was like flying out of town or Showing up on the radio in the middle of the day, which I totally did like ready. I would go out to my car for like 15 minutes And do a radio call and I'm trying to muffle the noise of traffic So it doesn't sound like I'm in my car and talk about race and social justice and then I would run in and my boss would say something like Joma, Joma, Joma. Okay. Okay. See there's this commercial of this like Really ugly dude, and I just need you to make fun of him and make an ad for it And I'd be like this is the worst job I've ever had in my life and So one day I just I did I just quit my boss sent me another condescending Sexist email on my reply was yeah, I'll get that done for you also like quit and he was like are you kidding me? I said no, I'm done I quit and And it was really strange because I said goodbye to tech but in the same time Completely immersed myself in the internet because that's really where you live today If you work in social justice and if you are a writer So I thought I was like leaving the tech world and instead it was like all I do is technology In fact, I've completely forgotten how to have face-to-face conversations with people. I don't do that anymore It's really weird sometimes because I'll read something I wrote like this is what it sounds like When words come out of people's So I'm still active on Twitter And It's worked pretty well, and then I also got an opportunity to really Take what I had learned from working in tech working on the internet And really start to do some good with it primarily with I believe you it's not your fault this is a Website that we're currently redoing but it started out in Tumblr, and it is a anonymous website for people who have survived physical sexual abuse problems with Disability acceptance fat acceptance and want to talk about it, and so that's the premise of I believe you It's not your fault because that's often what people want to hear and the beauty of the internet is For all of the vile hatred that you can find out there There's also community that you can build out of anywhere So we get letters like this probably a dozen a day right now from young people especially saying, you know, this was my fault what happened to me was my fault and To be able to say no, it wasn't and have other people respond to go. You know what that happened to me, too You're not alone People also get to write their own story, and if they just want their story published It can go out there to reach out to other people and people can get to read it So what was interesting was, you know, I still get calls from my old friends in tech Saying what's it like to leave the industry, you know, I bet you're so glad to be done with it But I wouldn't be where I was without it because I did not understand I was very insulated from how important it was until I was in an environment that was So adverse to addressing Social issues especially issues that affect the brown communities the queer communities The disabled communities It wasn't until then that I realized how incredibly important it was So not just be a good person but to have a voice And to get out there and try and change your environment And I use those tools From that place that was so inhospitable and so hard to live in to Make a difference So I kind of want to talk about this because you know, I'm 34. I'm not a baby And this is something that is fairly recent to me And it's something that's not incredibly hard to do And everyone in this room has an opportunity to look at their environment And see where those gaps are see those things that nag in the back of your brain And make that environment a better place For everyone there and we all have privilege that we can leverage To help those and help dismantle that hierarchy In this very structured environment that we all work in So I think I have just a couple more minutes if anyone has questions, but I don't know what possible Yes No, you know the one thing for me luckily Oh, yeah, so he asked how I deal with jerks on twitter And I have a ton of them and it's actually kind of a weird thing like a specialty of mine is dealing with online trolls I kind of have fun with it at this point. They do because they can really drag you down The internet works very hard to silence marginalized communities For me primarily it I always keep in mind the irony That this person is so invested in what I have to say So why wired up about it that they're trying to come up with ways to make me feel a thing I don't know who they are and when they go away. I still won't know who they are So when you think of it that way, who's trolling who I'm the one like in their brain Right now that's got them so in sense that they're like, I'm gonna look at her family history I'm gonna find I mean people have made profiles of my dead grandfather Um That's a lot of time that's been thinking about me Like a lot and it makes it reminds me that what I'm doing is important and That these aren't the types of barriers. It is so important that people are fat threatened to take that action So I kind of have fun with it a lot of times. I kind of be absurd with it But do whatever you need to do also don't ever let anyone tell you How to handle harassment on the internet. I see a lot of that I see a lot of people trying to white knight they come in and go ignore the trolls Don't talk to the trolls don't do this, especially if you're around the internet It seems like everyone rushes in to be like, hey, do you need do you need help? Do you got this? You should just ignore them It should be fine No, I got this so, you know, don't let people tell you what to do Don't let people tell you to let things go Don't let people tell you to get angry when you don't want to get angry Don't help let people tell you to calm down Don't let people tell you to you don't have to ignore anything ever in fact ignore less things Get mad about more things Well, I'll be here for the best thing. So if you guys want to come up to me later, I'll be here. Thank you for your time