Shireen Mitchell: "You Can't Stop the Girl" Part 2 of 2
This Week's Guest: Shireen Mitchell
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Hold on to your airpods, because this is one of our most fervid episodes that you won’t be able to stop listening to. If you caught part one of our conversation with Shireen Mitchell, you heard her backstory of getting into computers, gaming, and coding during the 1980s as a young Black girl from the projects of New York. Shireen also spoke about her early career in Washington D.C. that gave her profound first-hand insights into the issues minority women constantly face within the world of tech—most of which have not changed.
She felt prompted to found a number of different organizations that help other women find their place in the tech space and work to protect them from abuse and harassment online, such as Stop Online Violence Against Women. So if you missed that episode, please make sure to give it a listen first.
In part two with Shireen, we have an honest discussion of the constant threats, harassment, and sexism women of color face in online spaces, and how social media platforms often have it backward in their attempts to police the ongoing abuse directed at minorities.
We’ll also talk about the consequences of the growing trend to label conversations about racism and sexism as “political” discussions and how this has led to social media platforms creating special protections for politicians that don’t extend to ordinary citizens.
Towards the end of the episode, we pivot to Shireen’s thoughts on hiring practices regarding diversity and inclusivity and why so many still can’t seem to find the right approach. You’ll also hear her views on what true allyship should look like and some closing thoughts on voter suppression and the weaponized disinformation that is so prevalent today. There’s a lot to take in with this episode, so don’t miss it.
LINKS AND ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Stop Online Violence Against Women - A nonprofit that addresses inadequate laws and policies that lack protections for women, in particular women of color
An explainer on Donglegate, widely viewed as the precursor to Gamergate
Gamergate—An online harassment campaign that centered on issues of sexism and anti-progressivism in video game culture
Kansas Cop Fired After Threatening 5-Year-Old Girl On Facebook—Huffington Post
The Central Park Five (referred to in the episode by Shireen as the “Exonerated Five”)—Five black and Latino youths wrongly convicted of assaulting a NY woman in 1989
Amadou Diallo—The unarmed 23-year-old Guinean immigrant killed by plainclothes NY policemen in 1999 after reaching for his ID
Stop Digital Voter Suppression—Shireen’s grassroots reporting movement that supplements existing data collection efforts with real-life experiences
The First Amendment—(at Shireen’s request—we could all use a brushing up from time to time)
SOVAW Reports—Shireen’s reports on Russian disinformation targeting black voters
Russian Influence Operation - Targeted specifically Black users across social media in 2016
More About Our Guest
Serial Founder, Speaker, Trainer, Social Entrepreneur, Diversity Analyst, and a Political, Digital, & Social Strategist
A native of New York, Shireen Mitchell is an award-winning technological woman of color who was playing video games, designing BBS boards and gopher sites prior to the Web going worldwide. As an early adopter and one of the few women of color web designers in the early 90's, she has been involved with tech and social networks for over 30 years.
Shireen is also a serial founder. Digital Sisters/Sistas Inc. is the first organization to focus on women and girls of color in tech and online access. She created the first women of color web multimedia management firm (MHG). Her recent projects are Tech Media Swirl, Stop Online Violence Against Women & Human First Tech.
Shireen was the manager for PoliticallyBlack.com, a site that was later sold to Netivation and ended at Politico.com. She created the game TechnoDemic, a multimedia competition to help youth learn technology and programming terms.
Shireen has organized various tech events around the country and/or on planning committees: the Digital Community, Techno Rodeo, Feminism 2.0, She's Geeky DC, Geeky Girls Night Out, Nonprofit 2.0, Computers, Freedom and Privacy, Gov20 Expo, and others.
As an author, she's written “Gaining Daily Access to Science and Technology” in the book “50 Ways to Improve Women’s Lives” and “Access to Technology: Race, Gender, and Class Bias,” The Scholar and Feminist Online.
Shireen has been named one of the Fast Company's The Most Influential Women in Technology, DC Tech Titan, DC's Top Ten most influential in Social Media, The Root 100: African-American Leaders of Excellence and GovFresh's 100+ Women in Government & Tech. She has also been awarded the Social Citizen: Apps for Democracy DC, Rising Star: Woman of Color in Technology, and Heroine in Tech.
