[liberationtech] #YesWeCode Initiative - & Prince

[Jayne Cravens]

#YesWeCode (http://www.yeswecode.org) is an initiative that seeks to 
mobilize tech and social justice leaders to connect 100,000 
low-opportunity young adults to the skills and experiences they need to 
access high-paying careers in technology. CNN commentator Van Jones 
founded the #YesWeCode initiative with the support of Prince, who passed 
away yesterday.

http://www.yeswecode.org/prince

Jones elaborated on Prince's involvement at the 20th Anniversary Essence 
Festival:

"After the Trayvon Martin verdict I was talking to Prince and he said, 
'You know, every time people see a young black man wearing a hoodie, 
they think, he's a thug. But if they see a young white guy wearing a 
hoodie they think, oh that might be Mark Zuckerberg. That might be a 
dot-com billionaire.'"

"I said, 'Well, yeah, Prince that's true but that's because of racism.' 
And he said, 'No, it's because we have not produced enough black Mark 
Zuckerbergs. That's on us. That's on us. To deal with what we're not 
doing to get our young people prepared to be a part of this new 
information economy.'"

Since July 2014, YesWeCode has been focused on three activities:

Communicate: In partnership with Oakland, Calfornia-based organizations, 
#YesWeCode launched an interactive website with a powerful search tool 
that enables users to find local coding education resources. This tool 
also helps users find local events and learn more about coding 
opportunities.

Convene: #YesWeCode has convened 100+ coding practitioners and 
stakeholders in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and New Orleans. 
#YesWeCode partnered with Qeyno Labs to host a Start-Up Weekend 
hackathon in February 2015, focused on uplifting young African-American 
men and boys.

Catalyze: In July, #YesWeCode launched at the 20th Anniversary ESSENCE 
Festival with a youth-focused hackathon and a headline performance by 
Prince, before a festival audience of 500,000 people.

Just seemed appropriate to post this.

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Ms. Jayne Cravens MSc
Portland, Oregon, USA

The web site - http://www.coyotecommunications.com
The email - jc at coyotecommunications.com
Me on Twitter, other social networks, & my blog:
http://www.coyotecommunications.com/me/jayneonline.shtml

Author: The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook
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(as a paperback or as an e-book):
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