It is no secret that Africa is the newest frontier for technology development and experiencing a bit of a global glow up. With an abundance of natural resources, the Continent continues to offer Western investors an abundance of opportunities. Through the pandemic, society has become dependent on technology in new and profound ways. Similarly, the global digital divide remains vast and polarizing. African nations are no exception to these disparities, and ultimately, will face challenges of discerning true investment from exploitation. While richly melinated people of the Continent do not experience a white supremacist problem like their Black sisters and brothers in the United States, Africa is still recovering from the effects of imperial colonialism and fighting against further exploitation from outside nations seeking her abundance.

This workshop will take a deep dive to collectively explore the consistent pattern of intersectional disenfranchisement that occurs along racial, gender, and socio-economic lines and experienced by black people globally.

Workshop facilitators will leverage their experience as a Black women-led organization based in the United States focusing specifically on building community relationships by using race and racism as a vehicle to engage people in conversation, and by extension, build community. Outside of the United States, gender and socio-economic disparities remain consistent; however, where racial lines are not dominant, there are still issues of classism, sexual orientation, religious and tribal affiliations that create barriers for collaboration and community building. Facilitators will discuss how much of this is deeply rooted in colonialism, and by extension, white supremacy.

The goal of this session is to offer tools that can help to dismantle colonialism and strengthen relationships among Black leaders in tech. While technology is part of our collective future and gives Black people throughout the diaspora a foothold into generational wealth, it is an extension of capitalism, a colonial system. While we can not single-handedly dismantle colonialism, we of the global majority can create and expand without imitating our colonizers.