Underrepresented in Tech

Welcome to the Underrepresented in Tech newsletter for October! This is our very first monthly newsletter and we’ve packed it with some stuff we think you will like. Let’s get right into the content. 💪

✨ Here’s one of our favorite things from the past month.

Post Status Excerpt: "Trust and DIstrust: Microagressoins, active install growth data for plugins, and open source security" with Nyasha Green and Dan Knauss on the Post Status podcast.

In this episode of Post Status Excerpt, Dan and Ny take on three issues in the WordPress community that can threaten or impair trust while also revealing how foundational trust and healthy communication are: 1) racism and microaggressions, 2) the sudden removal and uncertain fate of the active install growth chart in the WordPress.org plugin repository, and 3) open source and security. Briefly discussed: emerging US federal policy that aims to secure open source software. Zero-trust architecture might work well for networked machines, but human relationships and communities need trust.

👩‍💻 Our Latest Podcast Episode

Listen to: Disability and Accommodations feating Kathy Zant

“Everybody’s just one bad event from accessibility being the most important thing in their life.” And it just kind of floored me and I’m like, “I can vouch for that.” […] I’m trying to figure out all of the accessibility stuff […] And it’s still a journey that I’m soaking in.

📰 Diversify Your Feed

Is Working from Home a Trap for Women? – Press the Issue

Nicolas Steenhout is announced as the Keynote Speaker for WordPress Accessibility Day – WordPress Accessibility Day

How Accessible Product Design Improves Business – Noupe.com

The Good and Bad of Open Source – HeroPress

Equal Access with Amber Hinds – In the Loop

Tech CEO fires two engineers secretly working multiple full-time jobs at once – Insider

Check out this thread full of free tech certifications – Marko Denic

🔥Hot Take from Allie: Drop “Woke” From Your Vernacular

If you’ve been online anywhere between 2016 and now, you’ve heard the word “woke.” You’ve probably heard it used as a derogatory way to describe people, their thoughts, ideas, or words. Woke was made popular as an AAVE term meaning alert or aware of racial prejudice and discrimination. In the last 5 years, it’s been taken and changed into something else. One of my largest pet peeves recently has been the use of the word “woke” to dismiss, discredit, or disrespect someone who is thoughtful. It’s been turned into a catch-all to describe anyone or anything that relates to thoughtful, considerate, or – let’s face it – liberal thinking. Black Little Mermaid? Disney is being woke, and that’s bad. Think women should be paid equally? Well, you’re being woke and you must hate men. My hot take this month is to let “woke” die out as a phrase. Despite what someone may mean when they say it, the fact is it’s been co-opted, warped, and ruined.

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