Resources

Much of the conversation around diversity presupposes that people are not always consistent in what they believe. While a person may work to consciously believe in racial equality--for example, due to their upbringing, friendships, experiences, or any number of factors--they may unconsciously carry around negative associations and stereotypes about a particular group.

But how can we recognize what our own biases are?

Open source web service that analyzes text for sexism and other common tech culture pitfalls.

Companies for years have disregarded the needs of parents to have on site child care programs because they have spent more time skirting the issue than finding a cost effective solution. This had led to fewer women excelling into management positions and fathers finding it difficult to be a part of their children's lives while in a high demand position. The US does have FMLA but is the only country in the world that does not mandate paid leave for new parents.

PDF essay excerpted from Working Paper 189. "White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account
of Coming To See Correspondences through Work in Women's Studies" (1988), by Peggy McIntosh.

Good Black News is a website that writes articles about Black people doing good throughout the world. Articles often focus on people who have made a difference on their communities at a local scale, but also cover nationwide or worldwide initiatives from companies or governments.

It's time to create an intentional environment that promotes diversity and not make excuses about how our job descriptions or organizational positions hinder us from hiring and promoting work equity. We should admit our bias and use it to create awareness of the issues facing us in the workplace. We must combat the promotion of homogeneity and its culturally accepted normality because that prohibits us from accepting our differences and embracing such uniqueness as a quality and not a detriment to organizations.

Jenna Weiss-Berman’s, a radio host/producer wanted to create shows that altered from the traditional format that catered to white male views and instead have more inclusive radio programming that spoke to a variety of underrepresented demographics. Though her podcasting structure opened the door for new voices, she argues that the lack of financial resources allocated in public and college radio stations, further enables the inequity seen since the only members who can rise through the ranks of such a system are rich white people in radio.

Men are becoming more present in the feminist rights movement but the attitudes towards women have changed very little. The sexual harassment and traditional notion of women having a secondary voice if not role altogether, still permeates the progressive movement. This lack of understanding among male progressives represents a hypocrisy within the movement in general that represents equality and an end to socio-political and economic disenfranchisement. Such attitudes that marginalize the voice of women have been shown to only exacerbate the inequity women face in society.

David A. Graham writes a piece that examines the role of monuments dedicated to the Confederacy and the struggle to take them down. These monuments commemorate a society that explicitly enslaved people on the basis of race, in a manner inconsistent with modern values, yet the monuments persist. Graham articulates the connection between these monuments and race, and examines alternatives that might remember the Confederacy without glorifying it.

A global summary of primary sacred days in world religions. Not a perfect list, but useful when starting to plan an event.

Equal Future is a resource on social justice and technology — a web site and newsletter.

Lesbians Who Tech is a Community of Queer Women in or around tech (and the people who love them).

Marco Rogers outlines how to use Twitter to improve your understanding of social justice work. 

Tracey Ross discusses the many ways people of color are marginalized in the supposedly "meritocratic" tech world, including basic access to technology, pattern matching at venture capital firms, and more. 

Shanley Kane discusses the perils of becoming visible on the internet for marginalized people in tech. 

This article shares a lot of fundamental concepts and resources for those wanting to be better allies.

John Scalzi uses video games as a metaphor to discuss privilege.