Last winter, when Delali asked me to chair HACK Baltimore with him, I hesitated. Over the course of my tourism career, I’ve spoken broadly to the massive growth of start-up companies that have made Baltimore a tech hub. But, I’m a marketer, a storyteller, not a techie. 

Of course, one can only dodge Delali Dzirasa for so long. So, in November I jumped in, excitedly. Here I was, just bouncing along thinking, “Yo, I got this!”  “I mean, who would be against leveraging technology to solve Baltimore’s biggest challenges?!” “Who would push back on social innovation, open source data and technology advancement?!”

I’ll tell you who: the black and brown people in our communities who have been plagued by some cities’ and governments’ uses of technology that the world deems as innovation, like surveillance, contact tracing and facial recognition. The understandable mistrust is a hell of a barrier when one of the city’s most pressing concerns is Public Safety.

I remember it like it was yesterday!  It was February, and my team had just wrapped an amazing HACK Baltimore launch event. We invited community advocates and city agencies. HACK Baltimore is a city-wide initiative, so we needed all hands on deck.

Afterwards, I was feeling kinda good about myself. Then, my phone buzzed, and that is when I came face-to-face with cyber security’s long dark relationship with major urban cities.

“WTF!!”, I thought. I know some of these people. They are no threat. My spirit was unsettled because what I was reading went against everything that I stand for. “I can’t be a part of this. What am I going to do?” Immediately, I went into triage mode. I needed to speak to some people, check sources and do my homework. 

My tribe huddled around me. You know how your girlfriends do.  They loaded me up with books, article links, videos and people to follow.

The more I spoke with residents in the community, the more I understood their contention. But, I also noticed that the digital divide in Baltimore’s most underserved communities is less of a “gap” and more of a “chasm.”

Students in Baltimore without access to the Internet are two years behind students with access. 

And, I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that the three communities with the lowest percentage of college degrees and the highest percentage of unemployment are:

• Sandtown Winchester/Harlem Park

• Midway/Coldstream

• Greenmount East

I was disgusted. It hurt to know that the same neighborhoods that produced me were never equipped to prepare me. That is nearly 30% of Baltimore’s students. I will never participate in the detriment of my people. But, I also won’t stand by and allow the benefits of education and innovation to bypass my community.

Did you know that East Africa has the world's oldest record of human technological achievement? We’re talking 40,000 years before the Greeks, Romans, etc...

Slowly, I began to realize that “black people resisting technology” is a myth. In fact, black people created technology. What the African-American community is adverse to are people who use technology to further the oppression of underserved communities. And, that my friend, is a huge-ass difference.

I was left with so much to think about.  I doubted if I was built for the position or the challenge. It was a moral battle. I even contemplated quitting, because I spent my entire career being the “community minority.” Yup, it’s a thing... I just made up. 

Community Minority: This is a single individual, in a crowded conference room, who must constantly stand on the table and ask the question, “And, how does this idea benefit the black and brown people of Baltimore?”

I was stressed. After a few weeks of soul searching, I called my uncle Ricky for advice (please note that no one can call him Ricky but family). I had almost forgotten that he actually owns an IT firm. As we spoke, I reflected on how proud the family was of him when I was a child. Ricky was the first person in our family to graduate from college. And, he took me on the campus. I remembered when he pledged Phi Beta Sigma. And, he took me to my first step show. My uncle attended Bowie State University and stressed the importance of HBCUs. And, now he and my aunt have raised a beautiful family in Roland Park.

Here’s my point. My uncle went from Baker Street to a CEO seat, and I was blessed to be a witness. And, being a witness to his success meant that maybe I could do it too. Through HACK Baltimore, we have an opportunity to bring that hope and inspiration to the people of Baltimore. Because, at the end of it all, technology is what you make it.

If your intention is to harm and discriminate, then technology will help you do that faster and much more efficiently.

If your intention is to support and heal, technology will help you do that faster and much more efficiently. 

I couldn’t quit, especially, when I know that people of color only make up 7% of the tech industry...an industry in which we are the architects. That cannot continue. Not on my watch. 

For more information or to participate in Baltimore’s city-wide civic tech movement, visit HackBaltimore.io