Here Are the Black Women in Gaming to Look Out For

Black women have been emerging as leaders in many technology-based fields, but the gaming industry remains very one-sided, with women and minority groups still underrepresented both within games and as creators. However, talented women of color are making their mark, and the opportunity to broaden the representation in gaming—benefiting everyone—has never been greater. The blog Black Girl Nerds profiled several black women making their mark as leaders in the gaming world.

By Kaylyn Williams

The gaming community is one that’s continuously growing and developing, but we haven’t hit a point to call it “inclusive”. The medium is still dominated by white men and minorities still aren’t fully represented. Recently, Blizzard has come under fire for failing to add a Black woman to their roster in Overwatch (even though it’s been out for three years, come on Blizzard).

It seems like gaming communities just don’t think Black women are in their target audience. That’s not true. We’ve always been there. We wear the merchandise, play the games, and support creators. And now, we’re starting to become more vocal. Black women recognize that there aren’t many spaces that accept us with open arms, so we create our own. There’s an abundance of creators and communities that celebrate Black women in gaming.

It’s easy to be discouraged in the gaming community as a Black woman, but that shouldn’t stop us from participating. So many of us love gaming and want to find a way to talk about it. Sometimes it just feels like we have to put it away. We shouldn’t have to feel like that. There are spaces where we can feel safe amongst one another, talking about the one thing we all love.

Image credit: Black Girl Nerds

Read more

Want to receive early-bird invitations to our global events, custom-tailored content we think you'll love, and exclusive access to "The World Women Report"?

Join Us by Subscribing NOW!

Between Astronaut Jeanette Epps and Hidden Figures, Black Women in STEM Are in the Spotlight

slate.com - In 2018, astronaut Jeanette Epps will become the first black American astronaut to join the crew of the International Space Station. NASA announced the upcoming months-long mission last week; it will also be Epps’ first trip to space. In a NASA video, Epps said she was inspired to become an aerospace engineer as an elementary schooler by Sally Ride and other early female astronauts, as well as some words of encouragement from her brother. Ladies and gentlemen, female role models in action. Since that fateful early-1980s burst of motivation, Epps worked to build up the kind of unimpeachable résumé it takes to make it to NASA: After getting undergrad and master’s degrees, she earned a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering at the University of Maryland. She then spent a few years working for Ford and the CIA, and again with a little encouragement (this time from a friend and fellow astronaut), Epps landed in NASA’s astronaut class of 2009, one of just nine picks out of 3,500 applicants. (By the way, God, does astronaut school need to be a Shondaland show ASAP.)

The Movie About NASA’s Black Female Scientists That’s Been A Long Time Coming—ThinkProgress

Women, especially women of color, do not always enjoy the notoriety and recognition of their male peers—even when they are instrumental in the scientific progress of humanity. One movie, Hidden Figures, focuses on black women mathematicians working for NASA during the 1960s. ThinkProgress has more about the movie, the nonfiction book upon which it's based, and the movement to recognize women, especially women of color, as central players and leaders in the human story. Check out the trailer here, and read more at the link.

thinkprogress.org - The movie trailer premiered to Twitter fanfare on Sunday night during Olympic prime time. Sandwiched between two Olympic events, the timing of the new trailer seemed aimed at generating buzz for these long-overlooked women among the widest audience possible.

The trailer for Hidden Figures, an upcoming movie focusing on three black female mathematicians working at the NASA during the days of Jim Crow and the civil rights movement, attacks this erasure head on.

The highlights of the space race still loom large in the American imagination. John Glenn, the first man to orbit the earth, and Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the moon, are both household names. But behind those celebrated men were legions of scientists and engineers, among them scores of brilliant women of all backgrounds, whose brainpower made it all possible. Those women, for the most part, have been forgotten — until now.

In the trailer, a white cop comes across the movie’s three central women — Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) — marooned on the side of the road thanks to car trouble (the alternative, one of the women says half-joking and half-not, would be to “sit in the back of the bus”). When the cop asks for ID, they hand over a NASA ID card.

Read more

Tech: An Opportunity For Black Women and Investors

Forbes Woman highlights a recent report showing how tech provides great opportunities for black women to found or invest in tech startups—even if they're not techies. Get the details at the full article. Black women are underrepresented in tech, but they're the fastest-growing group of entrepreneurs in the United States, so their successes—and further opportunities for black women in tech entrepreneurship—are trends worth following for founders and investors. Read the full article at the link.  Forbes - Technology represents a huge opportunity for black women. You don’t need to be a techie to spot an opportunity in the market. You also don’t need to be a techie to start a technology company. You can find a techie cofounder by getting referrals, attending tech events or using a service, such as CoFoundersLab. You can also hire or outsource the development of your technology. Some developers will even defer payment until you are making money.

Black women represent a mere 4 percent of all women-led tech startups in the U.S., according to #ProjectDiane. Black women represent 18 percent of all women in the U.S., according to BlackDemographics.com. I’ve highlighted three women mentioned in the report.

• Angie of The Shade Room provides celebrity news and juicy gossip 24/7. She  has been at the forefront of developing a model to monetize her huge following on Instagram. As a result, she has been named one of 18 of TechCrunch’s females founders who killed it in 2015.
• Kellee James of Mercaris started a market data and auctions site to help companies that sell organic and non-GMO agricultural products in the U.S.. She was a White House Fellow and worked at an electronic trading platform for spot, futures and options on carbon, sulfur, clean energy and other environmental derivatives.
• Nicole Sanchez founded eCreditHero, a five-minute credit fix app. She has a Harvard undergraduate and MBA degree.

Read the rest here.