firehose

In June 2014, Lightspeed magazine will be doing an oversized  issue that's entirely written and edited by women titled "Women Destroy Science Fiction!" They even have a Kickstarter campaign going to help fund the issue where you can get things like posters and subscriptions. An easy response would be to write this off as some sort of pandering, given that a lot of times projects like this are done to quiet down the disgruntled women-folk without having to hire them regularly. However, there's more to this project and this publisher than just a simple feature on women.

On July 3 of last year, just in time for American Independence Day, I walked away from a six-figure content job to start a venture devoted to independent local journalism, a trifecta of assumed unprofitability and presumed failure. Why would a person of my good sense choose to forgo such a great living to stake her livelihood on such a seemingly risky venture?

The short answer is, of course, because I wanted to execute an idea I was confident in and couldn’t shake, the same impetus as many other entrepreneurs.

But I also opted out of working for others based on a calculation: I concluded after nearly eight years as an employee that building my own venture was the only way for me to maximize my potential, particularly given my entrepreneurial yen to create things.

As a young black woman working in a the culture of a successful startup that was overwhelmingly white and male—particularly in the executive ranks—I found that no matter how well-founded my ideas, well-presented my proposals, well-executed my plans, and well-articulated my desire to build, I was often treated like a functionary, and not a visionary.

On occasion, I’d even tried taking the roguish prerogative to “ask forgiveness and not permission” and build things, without official sanction, that ultimately worked and accrued to my company. That tack didn’t work either.

And when I collected my journalism degree and began pitching stories about my hometown of Newark, New Jersey, that varied from the police blotter-style coverage the city normally gets, I faced repeated summary dismissal for months. To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr., the actual “content” of my skillset, results, and insights were repeatedly overlooked when I had to convince others of my entrepreneurial worthiness.

I’m not alone. Today’s diversity conversation is not just about access—it’s also about the potential for people of color to create real impact. And when they find their ideas quashed, mentoring relationships scant, and opportunities for stretch assignments limited, more and more of them are choosing to build their own houses instead of continuing to bang futilely against glass ceilings.

In my case, I was convinced I could marry my journalism chops with my technology experience, and decided to stop pitching others and build my own platform.

The proliferation of less capital-intensive startup possibilities, and availability of more diverse financing options like crowd funding, have lowered the barriers to launching erected by people of colors’ documented lack of access to traditional capital. In light of that, we’re seeing a pent up supply of media voices, technologists, and entrepreneurs opting out of existing institutions, and creating their own opportunities. In doing so, they’re also filling previously untapped demand for the types of products and perspectives the audiences they represent want to consume.

Similarly, James Lopez, co-founder of the entrepreneur education company the Phat Startup, left the publishing world in part because he felt his impact suddenly plateau at a major publishing house. “I thought I was on my way up,” he said. “I wanted more, and I think maybe I was just too ambitious for them.”

As often happens in organizations with few people of color, Lopez couldn’t exactly quantify how much the general company culture, versus his race, was limiting. He said he found mentors at the company and felt well liked. The company was also a place, he explained, that didn’t put a premium on an upstart mentality like his, and where promotions were often based on longevity, factors that would frustrate any entrepreneurial person.

But he couldn’t rule out race as a factor in his career plateau. “In most of the higher positions, there were no persons of color,” he said. “I could read between the lines and say, ‘What are my chances of fitting in?’” He eventually left the publishing company and co-founded the Phat Startup with entrepreneur Anthony Frasier, who is black.

The Phat Startup invites successful founders to discuss how they built their companies. The pair asks questions that are particularly relevant to aspiring entrepreneurs from the communities they represent. The resulting interviews often produce insights about starting up that aspiring entrepreneurs might not get elsewhere, because Lopez and Frasier’s differentiated experiences inform their questions, which inform their interviewees’ answers in turn.

People of color are also using new media tools to gain visibility in the entertainment world, which critics have long charged with being disinterested in substantive diversity. Social media watchers have been paying ever more attention to the folkways and impact of “black Twitter,” an organic phenomenon on the social network that frequently sees Twitter users deploying hashtags to comment on everything from serious injustices to pop culture moments.

And in a recent flare-up involving diversity in entertainment, the television show, Saturday Night Live, was criticized when all eight new cast members were white, stoking criticism about the paucity of black women cast members on the show over the years; the previous class helped double the number of black male comedians—to two.

Although the controversy sparked by the snub initially focused on Saturday Night Live’s diversity record, which the show recently addressed by hiring a black woman cast member and two black women writers, it eventually came around to the broader and more elusive phenomenon: There actually exists a sizable pipeline of black women comedians working on independent projects, in the shadow of the mainstream entertainment world that largely ignored them.

A few notable projects have already emerged from that pipeline. Lena Waithe, whose YouTube-distributed movie Dear White People is currently touring the Sundance circuit, created the comedy series Twenties, which centers on the experiences of three black women. She became frustrated when networks read and loved her script, but passed on it because they thought there was no audience for it. Convinced she needed to execute her concept instead of simply pitching the idea, she secured funding from Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit, and produced a pilot presentation of key scenes from her script. Her goal is to convince television networks that the show could actually command an audience.

And actress Issa Rae created the YouTube comedy series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, a Curb Your Enthusiasm-like show that catalogs cringe-worthy life moments from a black woman’s perspective. Her work on the show, and the sizable buzz and audience she amassed, earned her an HBO production deal.

This points to a possible way forward for people of color without losing institutional impact: The success of independent execution helps decision-makers see the value of not only attracting diverse people into their ranks, but empowering them while they’re there.

To wit, my local journalism venture has not only made deep inroads with audiences, local newsmakers, and local businesses, it has also become an effective beacon and powerful professional calling card. Taking the risk to build what is essentially a monument to my skill as a creator has initiated meaningful conversations and professional regard. That was a lot more difficult to get when I worked on the inside.

Follow Andaiye on Twitter @andaiye. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com. 

planaro:

Lars von Trier was invited by BBC Nature to produce a new documentary and…

There’s a new working people’s anthem out there for San Franciscans who are angry about the expanding chasm between the haves (those who work at technology companies in the Bay Area) and the have-nots (everyone else).

China plans to have four aircraft carriers in the very near future.

This article is about the fictional language in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy writings. For the real-world dialect, see African American Vernacular English.

Link (thanks, Sam Hill!)

Dance games can help you burn off calories, lose unwanted weight, tone your muscles and teach you some sweet moves to bust out at the next wedding you're invited to. According to a study published in Neurology and Urodynamics, they can also help ...

T. Rex

She could get a guy to do it with his OWN thighs, then go get drunk and kill a troll.

Wilson has found the going tough against the stiff Niners defense and his team trails 10-3 at halftime.

Outside of one big passing play, the San Francisco 49ers have held Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in check through one half of the NFC Championship.

Wilson went 8-of-12 for 112 yards through the first two quarters as the Niners built a 10-3 lead. The San Francisco defense, which has held its playoff opponents to an average of 15 points per game through two postseason matchups, has gotten frequent pressure to keep Wilson off balance. The 49ers sacked him four times, including a strip sack by Aldon Smith on the game's opening play from scrimmage.

The only time Wilson has been able to shake free for a big play came midway through the second quarter when he used a dramatic rollout escape to find Doug Baldwin for a 51-yard pass to get them into scoring position. The Niners defense tightened up afterward, forcing the Seahawks to settle for a field goal.

After another Pro Bowl season, Wilson has struggled over the past month. He threw for just 103 yards in the Divisional round win over the New Orleans Saints and hasn't topped 200 yards passing since Week 15 of the regular season.

A big play by the game's other star quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, set the 49ers up for the half's only touchdown. Kaepernick busted loose for a 58-yard scramble in the second quarter, weaving through the Seattle defense to get them into the red zone. The Seahawks made them work for the payoff with a stiff goal-line effort, but eventually Anthony Dixon went over the top for the score on fourth-and-goal from the 1.

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"Supposedly this is a picture of a CT scanner sans casing," writes io9-reader Monica, "but it looks more to me like a first-generation Stargate." We heartily agree – and just wait until you see what this beastly contraption looks like in motion.

Read more...

dendropsyche:

plzdiekthnxbye:

like for real I would fight the world and this would be my magical weapon

at first i thought this was going to be super dumb but then

retroworks writes "Dr. Gary Becker (University of Chicago) and Julio Elias (Universidad CEMA, Argentina) wrote a thought-provoking editorial in last week's WSJ, arguing that the prohibition on voluntary sale and trade of human organs is probably killing people. In 2012, 95,000 American men, women and children were on the waiting list for new kidneys. Yet only about 16,500 kidney transplant operations were performed that year. 'The altruistic giving of organs might decline with an open market, since the incentive to give organs to a relative, friend or anyone else would be weaker when organs are readily available to buy. On the other hand, the altruistic giving of money to those in need of organs could increase to help them pay for the cost of organ transplants.' Paying for organs would lead to more transplants, the article maintains. 'Initially, a market in the purchase and sale of organs would seem strange, and many might continue to consider that market "repugnant." Over time, however, the sale of organs would grow to be accepted, just as the voluntary military now has widespread support.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Early 19th Century Intaglio Wax Seal, Purple Crystal (sold)

An intaglio for sealing the outside of a letter that warns "Pry not if your’s it be not.”  I like it because it sounds like pirate-speak.

submitted by j_macd [link] [34 comments]

transfeminists:

therunscape:

Heart attacks symptoms are different for women. I recently learned this. 

Important information for cis woman and AFAB people.

This guy is really, really good at video editing.

submitted by helix19 [link] [20 comments]

The worldwide CrossFit community is rallying together to help one of their own who was seriously injured during a competition.

Check out CSBG's collection of first appearances, like the first appearance of the Batcave or the latest -- the first time J. Jonah Jameson libeled Spidey!

Manga artist and writer Hajime Isamaya created Attack on Titan, a manga and anime that is beautiful, dark, and complex...and also extremely popular.  It also features a character named Zoë Hange who, despite their female first name, is consistently not gendered in the course of the manga or anime.  Isamaya has clearly done this deliberately, as he's repeatedly avoided giving Hange (or Hanji as the name is often written) a specific binary gender. Publisher Kodansha has now gotten in on the discussion via their Tumblr account and is attempting to keep the Attack on Titan manga as close to Isamaya's vision as possible.

open kitchens do neither effectively. Instead, the detractors say, open kitchens leave guests with an eyeful of kitchen mess, distract cooks, and leave Mom and Dad with no place to hide from their noisy brood