Roy Clay in CIO Magazine

One can witness the history of black economic empowerment through the story of Roy Clay Sr.   As we observe the 2010 theme of Black History Month, it is important to relate that history to current challenges.

As he describes in the new documentary, Freedom Riders of the Cutting Edge, Clay and other pioneers faced no less daunting challenges to their careers than demonstrators facing police dogs.

Thanks to their perseverence, more than 600,000 African-Americans work in information technology, according to Silicon Ceiling 9: Equal Opportunity and High Technology.

The road to becoming a member of the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame started in an all-black community called Kinloch, outside of St. Louis.  He was able to learn about work, sweeping in a black-owned billiards parlor.

Fate might have made him one of the first black baseball players in the major leagues, but instead he chose to get a degree in mathematics from St. Louis University.

His resume got him an interview with an aircraft maker.   The documentary begins with Clay’s reminiscence of the reaction when he showed up.  ”I’m sorry, Mr. Clay, we have no jobs for Negroes.”

Five years later, in 1956, the company hired him to program its first computer.

Within ten years, he was manager of computer research and development for Hewlett Packard.
The interviews with Clay and the other pioneers featured in Freedom Riders demonstrate the importance of thorough preparation, a quest for excellence and dogged determination to overcome barriers crafted through intolerance.

He could scarcely have seen five decades later, to a day when African-Americans routinely fill top executive roles in the most demanding cutting edge industries, and even the White House, but he took the faith of his predecessors forward.

Still today, as founder of Rod-L Electronics, Clay continues to open doors for more African-Americans as employees and entrepreneurs.

While observing Black History Month, take a broader view of the civil rights movement by recognizing the many stalwarts who opened doors to high-paying careers and growth opportunities in practically every profession.

Source: http://50mostimportantaatechnology.wordpress.com/



 

The 2010 McGraw-Hill Black History Essay Contest & Scholarship

Deadline: March 1st, 2010

The McGraw-Hill Companies sponsored Black History Month Essay Contest is open to all undergraduate students who are a member of HBCUConnect.com, and are interested in potential internship opportunities with McGraw-Hill. The winner will be notified by April 1st, 2010 and will receive a $1,000 scholarship for use toward tuition or college related expenses. 

• Essays should address the following topic:
Many of America's Black History makers used educational and career opportunities as a part of their path to success and achievement. Please give an example of an African American history maker that used their education and/or career to help catapult them into the history books. You may also include your own plans for making Black History as you pursue your education and career path.
• Each student may enter only one essay submitted using the form below.
• Essays should be no longer than 500 words in length.
• Applicants should be a member of HBCUConnect.com.
• Applicants must also attach a resume with their scholarship submission.
• The winner will receive a $1,000.00 scholarship for use toward tuition or college related expenses.

Internships at McGraw-Hill
The McGraw-Hill Companies Internship Program is committed to providing students the opportunity to gain valuable work experience while learning about the exciting work offered by The McGraw-Hill Companies. A variety of internships are available at our businesses including McGraw-Hill Education, Standard & Poor's, J.D. Power and Associates, Broadcasting, as well as our other leading brands. Through our internship program, interns will have the ability to gain valuable industry knowledge through their assignments and further their career development. To view our internship opportunities visit our intern portal.


link:http://hbcuconnect.com/scholarships/mcgrawhill.shtml

And they said I wouldn't make it...A Story of Hope

Written and Performed by Samuel G. Roberson, Jr. February 22, 2010 - 7pm Tickets: $10 At the age of 8, this typical, healthy, all-star baseball player was diagnosed with Leukemia, a cancer of the blood that was unknown to him and his family. This play looks at the strength of a young boy and his family during a time where success seemed impossible; yet failing was not an option.  It intimately explores the emotional highs and lows of hospital care, as well as the joy and pain associated with maintaining a family's spirit of hope while faced with what some doctors would say was certain death. But this is not a story about death or sorrow but one of resilience.  A celebration of how the struggles in life shape us into who we are.  A story of HOPE. Sam G. Roberson, Jr., is a graduate of the Howard University BFA program with a concentration in Theatre Arts.  Roberson has been seen in Chicago on the stage of Victory Gardens Theater, Goodman Theatre and Congo Square Theatre.  Additional credits include Penumbra Theatre in Black Natavity: A Homecoming, The Children's Theatre Company in Bud, Not Buddy, The Lost Boys of Sudan, Antigone, Prom, Pippi Longstocking, Alladin Jr. and Sleeping Beauty.  He has also been seen at the Pillsbury House Theatre, Illusion Theater, Imagination Stage, Source Theatre and The Studio Theatre.  His first play, Same Difference, was produced as a co-production between the Illusion Theater and Pillsbury House Theatre.  His second play And they said I wouldn't make it...A Story of Hope was workshopped in the Illusion Theater's Fresh Ink series in 2008.  he has served as an acting apprentice with The Children's Theatre Company and has been awarded a 2007 Jerome Many VoicesResidency through the Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis.  He is also a recipient of a 2008 Cultural Community Partnership Grant through the Minnesota State Arts Board. He is the Founder and President of Make Me A Match Project, a non profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about leukemia and other blood related diseases with an emphasis on minorities.  he is very thankful to his family, friends and all of those who have supported him over the years.  16 years of remission and counting.  Conceive, believe, achieve!!! Source: http://victorygardens.org/content/node/1749

FIRST BLACK ARTIST SELECTED TO EXHIBIT ON WORLD-FAMOUS FOURTH PLINTH, LONDON’S TRAFALGAR SQUARE

Guaranty Trust Bank of Nigeria sponsors Yinka Shonibare MBE’s “Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle’, to be unveiled on Monday 24 May 2010. The commission coincides with the anniversary of Nigeria’s 50th year of independence. The work links to London’s multiculturalism and legacy colonialism.