CALL & RESPONSE: Black Tech & Innovation

Today ‘s discussion will cover Black Tech & Innovation. With special guests Baratunde Thurston (Writer, Activist, Comedian, and Commentator), Van Lathan (Reporter & Podcast Host “Higher Learning ‘ on The Ringer), and Morgan DeBaun (CEO & Founder Blavity Inc.). Hosted by Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle.

SHOW NOTES

• Los Angeles Unified School District voted down getting rid of police in schools (Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle)
• Today would have been Tamir Rice ‘s 18th birthday (Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle)
• Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle discuss the issues with two-party political system
• Baratunde Thurston talks about growing up in a Black family with a computer and how access to a computer made him a huge teach resource in the Black community, gave him more access to information, but didn ‘t help his dating life
• The current need for us to apply technology to things that affect Black livelihood (public transportation, healthcare, etc) (Baratunde Thurston)
• How protestors used a database to find out individual police offers complaints & announced those violations at a protest
• How COVID-19 is forcing people to use social media for information vs. aesthetics & how the pandemic has brought us to the collective realization that work/life balance is impossible unless we innovate (Baratunde Thurston)
• How Baratunde Thurston ‘s sister, Belinda Thurston, runs Just B Yoga, a donation-based Yoga Studio in Michigan that has made yoga affordable, accessible, and more body positive
• Why calling out “Karen ‘ and #LivingWhileBlack videos are a sign of progress (Baratunde Thurston)
• Baratunde Thurston ‘s new podcast, “We ‘re Having A Moment ‘ which focuses and documenting how COVID and George Floyd ‘s murder is impacting and changing America
• The censorship and misinformation within American History, how cell phone videos are unbiasedly documenting present-day injustices
• The power of the people vs. our current democracy (Baratunde Thurston)
• Van Lathn opens up about how quarantine initially drove him to a nervous breakdown & how not starting his day with technology, talking walks, and making a point to consume positive content helped him
• Why Van Lathan examines praises “The Wire ‘ in his podcast “The Red Pill ‘ for its honest examination of systems, gangster capitalism, exploitation of the poor & the dwindling of the middle class
• The problems Van Lathan encountered while working at TMZ
• How defunding the police would free up taxpayer money to better our communities (Van Lathan)
• CEO & Fonder of Blavity Inc. Morgan DeBaun explains how the company is leveraging the power capitalism to empower the Black community and Black initiatives
• How forming “the Black lunch table ‘ as school made Morgan DeBaun feel more grounded and connected to other Black classmates and how that echos in how Blavity Inc. is connecting, empowering & enriching the Black community
• How Morgan DeBaun ‘s experience in Silicon Valley motivated the origins of Blavity (“Black Gravity ‘) and , the importance of carving out space for Black ownership in the tech industry
• The AfroTech Conference & how it is connecting Black people in the tech industry (Morgan DeBaun ‘s)
• The future of Blavity and how young the advice that she passes down to younger people (Morgan DeBaun)
• How business scale is possible without folding to corporate greed and changing the company ‘s initiative (Morgan DeBaun)

GUEST RECOMMENDATIONS

• #Unplug: Baratunde Thurston Left The Internet For 25 Days, And You Should, Too (Article)
• Just B Yoga (donation based online yoga studio by Belinda Thurston)
• How To Deconstruct Racism, One Headline At A Time (TedTalk with Baratunde Thurston)
• How the ‘Karen Meme ‘ Confronts the Violent History of White Womanhood (Article)
• Living While Black: Here are all the routine activities for which police were called on African-Americans this year
• We ‘re Having A Moment ‘(Podcast by Baratunde Thurston)
• The Aunt Jemima brand, acknowledging its racist past, will be retired (Article)
• The Red Pill (Podcast by Van Lathan)
• ‘The Wire ‘: Way Down in the Hole – The Ringer (Podcast)
• Higher Learning with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay The Ringer
• The Wire (Television Series)
• America ‘s Top 50 Women in Tech; Morgan DeBaun (Forbes)
• Blavity Inc
• AfroTech Conference
• Afrofuturism

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EPISODE

Baratunde Thurston explains why #Karen and #LivingWhileBlack videos are a sign of progress

Why Van Lathan examines “The Wire ‘ in his podcast and the problems he saw while working at TMZ

Morgan DeBaun explains why scale is possible without corporate greed

TODAY ‘S GUESTS

Baratunde Thurston ‘ Writer, Activist, Comedian & Commentator

Instagram: @baratunde

Twitter: @baratunde

Facebook: @baratunde

Van Lathan ‘ Reporter & Podcast Host “Higher Learning ‘ on The Ringer

Instagram: @vanlathan

Twitter: @VanLathan

Morgan DeBaun ‘ CEO & Founder Blavity Inc.

Instagram: @morgandebaun

Twitter: @MorganDeBaun

ABOUT THE SHOW

Call & Response is a new show designed to respond to the changes and activism of our time. Each day, Baron and Mike will invite their favorite Black creators ‘ activists, comedians, musicians, actors, visual artists, and more ‘ to riff on current events, discuss the present momentum, and speak about their work and struggles.