I Am Not A Techie

"During my first Blogher experience, one clarion call rang louder than the others."

There is one thing I consistently note in my writing, it's if there is a disparity in America, Black people are in the lead when facing it. Additionally, it has become clear if there is a insecurity to be claimed, women are owning it. Sporting it hard like a Sunday hat.

Having existed at the intersection of this duo of identity dynamics for the past 31 years, it's disheartening how much both continue to ring so true. This played out pretty plainly at BlogHer 2013, the largest blogging conference for women in the world. Over the course of countless conversations at the conference in Chicago, the need for more women of color in technology was acknowledged. Women of all colors are definitely making waves online, but we're still tremendously underrepresented across the tech sector, as professionals, bloggers, entrepreneurs -- you name it. A verbal reminder came from BlogHer International Activist Scholarship moderator Cheryl Contee, who noted her startup Attentive.ly is one of the very, very few in the country led by a woman of color. BlackFounders.com notes that less than 1% of VC backed entrepreneurs in 2010 were African-American. The stats aren't much better today.

Yet, it was really the latter which became the singular clarion call that rang louder than any, as woman after woman told me, "I'm not a techie." I get it. Knowing one's limitations is important. But limiting one's own potential is dangerous.

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