How excited am I to announce that I submitted a panel proposal to SXSW and it was selected for the next phase!?
The panel “How Black Women Are Using Tech To Drive Social Change” will be a discussion between myself, Kweli TV Founder, DeShuna Spencer, and my BIA Sister, LaKisha Greenwade, Founder of Wearable Tech Ventures. During this panel we will create a space for not only the Black Women who will be on the stage with me, but also those in the audience to discuss and share examples of how they’ve been using tech as a tool for change, while also being transparent about their challenges and making space to celebrate our successes.
Last year, I was invited by Shanae Jones, founder of Flyest to moderate her panel,
"Wellness shouldn't Imply Whiteness," along with Youmie Jean-Francois, founder of Flex-N-Fly and also a Buy From A Black Woman Community Member, and Malaika Jones, founder of BROWN GIRL Jane. While exploring the rest of the conference, I knew that there was more work to be done, more conversations to be had, and more Black Women who are living examples who need to be present at places like this.
Okay, so I need your help. During this next phase the panel will be open for community voting, which means you can vote to make sure that it's a part of the festival's 2024 programming. All you have to do is:
Sign in to vote, or sign up if you don’t have a SXSW account (signing up will take 30 seconds if you use autofill!)
Select the up arrow for yes
We’re always finding ways to make space for Black Women and make sure we’re represented in the room, so we appreciate your vote and your support in helping us get into SXSW 2024.
Voting ends on Sunday, August 20th at 11:59pm PT, so let’s make these next few days count and get the votes we need to get Black Women in the room.