Code2040 Honors Black History Month by Shaping the Legacy of Tech Toward Justice
By Mimi Fox Melton, CEO
As we celebrate Black history this month, let’s remember that our people have been at the forefront of innovation for centuries. Grade schoolers frequently learn about George Washington Carver and his myriad inventions, but we also have Ida B. Wells who leveraged data to organize against racial terror in the South, and co-founded the NAACP in 1909. Her legacy stands among racial justice advocates who know that data is not just about numbers, but a storytelling device that can point us along paths toward freer worlds. Wells was committed to imagining a more just, more free world and she worked tirelessly to build it.
In the spirit of Black History month, we’re celebrating the Code2040 Fellows, the next generation of technologists on our blog and socials. Our Fellows have inspired me since I started at Code2040 in 2015, and every year, they remind me that other worlds are possible and that we can dare to hope for more just technological futures.
The Fellows are curious, imaginative, and excited about the possibilities for technology. They’re invested in using technology to create more possibility in the world, and to make life more easeful for their families and communities. They see technology as a way to create new realities, and they want to use their computer science skills to create connections, inspire wonder and play, and make life more possible for everyone.
This month, and through 2025, we’re continuing our work for racial equity. The Fellows are the future of tech, and our work at Code2040 is to support them to launch their careers. We don’t just want them to get jobs; we want the Fellows to thrive as Black and Latinx computer scientists, and that requires challenging the racial inequities that shape the industry.** Racial equity work is about imagining the world we want to see, and working to bring that world into reality, right now.
As it is currently written, the legacy of the tech industry is one of bolstering white supremacy and systemic racism. Yet, at Code2040 we know science and technology can offer us a different path. Our imaginations are powerful tools, and we are working with Black and Latinx Computer Science majors who want to use technology for social good. Together, we can shape the legacy of technology toward justice, but it requires dismantling the barriers that have long prevented Black and Latinx people from accessing jobs in tech and holding leadership positions in the industry. Join us in bending the legacy of tech toward justice by supporting the Code2040 Fellows, the leaders we need in the innovation economy.