Building a Pipeline of TECHIES to Serve The People
Upcoming Workshops
We host workshops in Oakland, CA; Detroit, MI; Philly, PA; and Manhattan, NY.
Offline and Online Security Tips for Protesters and Organizers
Ongoing VIRTUAL CLASSES
Digital Security is Self-Defense in the 21st Century.
In the words of Assata Shakar,
“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love each other and support each other.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
In order to win we must create strategy, understand what/who we are up against, and protect one another off and online. During this session, we will hear from movement technologists on tips you should consider as you prepare for protests, actions, and safety tips for your everyday life -- as being an organizer is a lifetime commitment.
Who should attend: Anyone who is interested in safety and security tips, for both offline and online actions.
We will send more details as we confirm them.
MOVEMENT TIPS
We respect where you are in your journey to consciousness of our social issues around the world. We don't trust corporate algorithms to start you in the right direction so here are some places to get started.
Books To Read
There are many books to start with, but here is what we suggest:
- A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? by Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.
- The Black Panther's Speak by Philip S. Foner
New to Protest? Here are some tips:
The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense stood up to a police state that targeted Black and Brown bodies.
The media called them a terrorist group and the public allowed the police and government intelligence groups to dismantle this beautiful organization.
The year is 2020, what changed? Read these tips as you prepare yourself to join this movement to uplift human life and stand against exploitation, oppression, and anti-blackness practices.
Tips from other respectful organizations:
Equality Labs anti-doxxing article: https://medium.com/@EqualityLabs/anti-doxing-guide-for-activists-facing-attacks-from-the-alt-right-ec6c290f543c
Palante's Zoombombing protection guides: https://palantetech.coop/blog/zoombombing-self-defense and https://palantetech.coop/zoomboming-self-defense/tech-guide
DIY Guide to Feminist Cybersecurity (https://hackblossom.org/cybersecurity/ )
Catalyst's Troublemakers' Guide: Principles for Racial Justice Activitists in the Face of State Repression (https://collectiveliberation.org/principles-for-racial-justice-activists-resisting-state-repression/
We believe in order to bring solutions to dismantle racism, sexism, poverty and issues impacting our environment, one must first understand the power dynamics in our society. This is why we believe in the study of political education.
During our first phase of work we provide one-day workshops to raise awareness of technology and its socio and economic relationship to our society. These workshops include a one-hour panel discussions on topics such as Digital Media, Digital Security, Open Source, Web Development and Emerging Technology followed by a hands-on training workshop to learn current tools related to the day's topic.
There is no technical experience required to attend our one-day workshops.
Meet The Crew
People question the capability of bringing change in the world, and that is because for so long the people who have had the knowledge and tools of empowerment have done nothing but create extreme poverty and desperate times.
We are educators, technologists, activists and disrupters. We believe in the power of unity. We are working hard to develop a space where everyone, regardless of their level of education, can come together to learn, strategize and create with digital technology.
We hope you join us: Volunteer, Attend a workshop, Become a Tech Activist.
Idalin Bobé
Founder and Co-Director
Educator, Activist and Technologist.
Past includes serving as Global Social Justice Lead at ThoughtWorks, and founding partner and former Community Manager of Black Girls CODE.
Tyson Amir
Co-Director, West Coast Lead
Educator, Artist and Author. The wisdom in his lyrics, social consciousness, and story-telling abilities can be attributable to his upbringing: his father was a Black Panther and his mother, an avid reader and active participant in the Black Liberation struggle.
Alexis Hancock
Digital Security Lead
Passionate digital humanist and Black feminist who often searches for solutions through their first love, technology. She has a background in web development, community organizing, racial economic disparity research, and education media.
DonAte
TechActivist.Org is a project of:
ETINA, 501(c)(3)
All donations are tax deductible.
Please send funds through PayPal
Payee: donations@etina.org on PAYPAL.
Please send check or money order to:
ETINA, 2010 Linden Ave, Venice, CA 90291
Analysis
Why We Exist.
As poor communities and communities of color increasingly organize and mobilize against police brutality and demand basic human rights, technical tools and platforms are consistently used to oppress and suppress their voices. While there are small pockets of people working on decentralized technical tools to support frontline activists fighting against systemic poverty, oppression and racism, these groups are small and often do not represent working class communities of color.
Overwhelmingly, the people most impacted by social ills are on the losing side of the digital, educational and economic divide. Of the 2,000+ activists we've worked with since 2015, 97% have stated a desire to create their own technical tools but never had access to computer programming classes nor knowledge of the technology to use. Their lack of technical knowledge and resulting low capacity to effectively fight back in digital spaces undermines the potential of today’s activist to effectively amplify their voices and drive real social change.
How We Got Started.
In 2014, while our founder, Idalin Bobé, did community organizing work in Ferguson, MO, she created a tech institute for activists to learn digital security tools, digital media and web development. After seeing how activist were learning technical skills to advance their work, groups around the country started requesting trainings to meet their technological needs and interest. TechActivist.org was started because activists’ need for tech-related skills were and still are crucial to propel the mission of liberation, equality, and justice.