This morning I’m at Google IO out in San Francisco. I’m actually quite happy to be here. In general, I’ve avoided the so called “super conferences” due to amount of people. With so many people it is very hard to meet new friends and associates due to whole lifeless vibe of the gathering. In reality it isn’t lifeless; there is just too much going on at one time for anyone person to get a good sense of the vibe
So, back to the topic. There are no black people here. Well there at least a couple. Myself, two black folks who I saw walking up the escalator, and this black women who has walked pass me just now. But other than that our race isn’t really represented in the tech sector.
I want to assure everyone reading this, that I don’t just sit around looking for minorities. I believe that people given the same set of chances will succeed in the same percentages across race and sex lines. And that brings me to the point of this rant.
I consider myself lucky. My father was in the military, and we moved around a bit while I was small. My father tried his hardest to give me every thing he thought I would need to do well. Back in the 80s he saw that computers were the future, so he bought me one. Not only that, he bought me every book that I asked for, and even purchased a course on learning C. I think this is the key. I hate to say it, but this wasn’t the cool thing for a black dad to do. He didn’t have me out there trying to be the next basketball star. He was firmly pressed that success in education was paramount to success in life. Unfortunately, I think he was in the minority (even though he was a minority).
Without knowing it, my father had actually solved the whole equality of the races thing. The solution is simple. Stop focusing on being black, and start focusing on being successful. Success comes from much practice and hard work. Of course it came come from the hustle, being a good athlete, or being an entertainer, but those chances are extremely slim.
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