tech - in 2017 how to act as an ally in frame shift …wtf? 2017 cc by-sa ann larie valentine about...
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How to act as an ally intech - in 2017
Valerie AuroraFrame Shift Consulting
http://frameshiftconsulting.com/
CC BY-SA Frame Shift Consulting, Liz Fong-Jones
WTF?2017CC BY-SA Ann Larie Valentine
https://flic.kr/p/5QQC7k
The rules have changed
Example: Godwin's Law
"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1." — Mike Godwin, 1990
Godwin's Law today
"If you’re thoughtful about it and show some real awareness of history, go ahead and refer to Hitler or Nazis when you talk about Trump. Or any other politician." — Mike Godwin, 2015
Godwin's Law
Godwin's LawSuggestion
WTF?2017CC BY-SA Ann Larie Valentine
https://flic.kr/p/5QQC7k
About meTaught Ally Skills Workshop to thousands of people in 7 countries over 5 years
Led adoption of codes of conduct at thousands of conferences
Wrote Linux and file systems code for over 10 years Valerie Aurora
Credit where credit is due: Liz Fong-JonesLiz Fong-Jones is a Site Reliability Engineer at a large tech company who has extensive experience in organizing tech workers to achieve specific goals
Liz's full advice is available as a 40-minute video (also as transcripts, notes, captions, tweets, etc.)
http://bit.ly/organizetech
What is an ally? Some terminology first:Privilege: an unearned advantage given by society to some people but not all
Oppression: systemic, pervasive inequality that is present throughout society, that benefits people with more privilege and harms those with fewer privileges
What is an ally? Some terminology first:Target: someone who suffers from oppression (also called "a member of a marginalized group")
Ally: a member of a social group that enjoys some privilege that is working to end oppression and understand their own privilege
Actions
ExamplePrivilege: Employers, law enforcement, and random strangers assume you are a legal resident of the U.S. unless you tell them otherwise
Oppression: The self-reinforcing system of stories, TV, news coverage, and the entire legal system which promotes the idea that people of color in the U.S. are more likely to be immigrants and/or undocumented
ExampleTarget: Any person of color present in the U.S.
Ally: Any white person who donates to organizations fighting "show me your papers" legislation, corrects their friends when they tell racist or anti-immigrant jokes, or reads Twitter threads from people of color talking about their fears of being detained by ICE
Actions
We ask targets to do work more often than allies
CC BY Nicolas Raymondhttps://flic.kr/p/eeZ2WB
Targets are already dealing with:Overwork
Stress
Lower pay
Less power
Higher risk of retaliation CC BY Tax Creditshttps://flic.kr/p/bZwHv5
Allies have more:Time
Energy
Money
Power
Benefit of the doubt
CC BY Nick https://flic.kr/p/5bt6cp
CC BY Kat Ter Haar https://flic.kr/p/8ugZks
Just one supporting research paper:"[...] Ethnic minority or female leaders who engage in diversity-valuing behavior are penalized with worse performance ratings; whereas [ethnic majority] or male leaders who engage in diversity-valuing behavior are not penalized for doing so."
David Hekman, Stefanie Johnson, Wei Yang & Maw Der Foo, 2016
Does valuing diversity result in worse performance ratings for minority and female leaders? http://amj.aom.org/content/early/2016/03/03/amj.2014.0538.abstract
Acting as an ally in tech in 2016:Reviewing your promotion system for unconscious bias
Inviting people of color and women of all races to speak at your conference
Advocating for trans inclusive health insurance
Including accessibility information in all your event announcements
Acting as an ally in tech in 2017:Everything from 2016, plus...
Supporting coworkers who suddenly lost the right to enter the U.S. or no longer feel safe living in the U.S.
Planning what to do if the U.S. government demands data from your company to carry out human rights abuses
Changing your terms of service to forbid advocates of genocide from using your product or platform
How to act as an ally in tech in 2017, short version:1. Identify your sources of power and influence
2. Connect with and organize like-minded colleagues
3. Listen to leaders from marginalized groups
4. Choose a concrete, specific, attainable goal
5. Identify decision-makers and understand them
6. Use money, time, and social capital to achieve the goal
Identify your sources of power and influence
CC BY-SA Bronson ABbot https://flic.kr/p/3KAx86
Be honest and realistic
Potential unfair sources of power and influence● Dominant ethnic group● Male● Cisgender● Straight● Not disabled● A legal resident or citizen● Speak certain language(s)● Specific ages● Certain height/size/shape
● Not a mother● Not a caregiver● Educated● Technically experienced● Wealthy (can be earned)● From an upper class family● High caste● Certain religions● And many more...
What expertise or knowledge do you have?Computer security expert
Amateur playwright
Know how to screen print
Project management
Studied propaganda
Who listens to or respects you?
CC BY Tim Green https://flic.kr/p/ne1gEt
What resources do you control or own?
What resources do you control or own?
What resources do you control or own?
Example: Devops/SRE/security incident responseSpecialized, high-demand skill set
Site downtime can be millions of dollars per hour
You control where & when you give your labor
Your employer really cares about your happiness
Listen to leaders from marginalized groups
CC BY terren in Virginia https://flic.kr/p/6HpEEF
"Let's build an app"
Question tech solutionism
"Let's build an app"
CC BY http://emojione.com/
Bad example: Annotation system for news
Example: Buy/donate things on CAIR's wish list
Connect and organize with like-minded colleagues
Public domain by Pascal https://flic.kr/p/kmTPPN
Connect and organize with like-minded colleagues
Example: Tech Solidarity meetupsCities so far: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Raleigh/Durham, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, DC
http://techsolidarity.org
http://twitter.com/techsolidarity
Choose a concrete, specific, attainable goalVague goal: support disabled folks better
Concrete goal: Add reserved parking spaces at all employee entrances, not just the main entrance to the building
CC BY-SA By Xnatedawgx
Identify decision-makers and understand themIf you are the decision-maker, you are done!
Don't focus on people who can't make the change - it's a waste of time
Ask decision-makers why they made the current decision so you can make useful arguments for changing it
Route communications through 5-6 people
Use money, time, and social capital
Many of you have more access to money than most
CC BY-SA Japanexperterna.se https://flic.kr/p/srsFmV
Separate venting from problem-solving
CC BY Jon S https://flic.kr/p/ayGkBN
Separate venting from problem-solving
CC BY Kelsey MacDonald https://flic.kr/p/cNfAbG
Use Situation, Behavior, Impact modelConstruct communication in this format:
Situation: "When reporters ask for comment on whether our company will build a Muslim registry"
Behavior: "and PR refuses to comment"
Impact: "It makes a significant percentage of your engineering staff reconsider whether they want to work for this company."
Example: #DeleteUberSpecific ask: We want the Uber CEO to resign from the president's advisory council
Collective action: Internal "Letters to Travis" campaign plus external #DeleteUber boycott campaign
Result: CEO resigned from the president's advisory council
Example: Never Again Tech pledgeDec. 12: Twitter is the only major tech company on the record to not build a Muslim registry in response to press questions, other companies refuse to comment
Dec. 13: Never Again pledge has 300 signatures, covered by TV and newspapers, reporters ask companies again
Dec. 14: "Tech Summit" with president-elect, Facebook goes on record against Muslim registry
Example: Never Again Tech pledgeDec. 15: Microsoft goes on the record as refusing to build a Muslim registry
Dec. 17: Google, IBM, Apple, and Uber go on the record as refusing to build a Muslim registry, pledge has around 1300 signatures
Dec. 21: Pledge closes with over 2800 signatures
Upcoming issues for tech as a whole
Wishful thinkingDec. 14 at Tech Summit: "I’m here to help you folks do well."
Jan. 27: Executive order banning thousands of tech employees with green cards and visas from entering the United States
CC BY Kasiahttps://flic.kr/p/2UNRSm
"We're a neutral platform/utility/tool"
"We're a neutral platform/utility/tool"
"We're a neutral platform/utility/tool"
The "paradox" of toleranceKarl Popper: A tolerant society must be intolerant of one thing, intolerance (1945)
John Rawls: "Society has a reasonable right of self-preservation that supersedes the principle of tolerance" (1971)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance
The paradox of tolerance and free speechKarl Popper argues that we cannot extend free speech to groups that plan to suppress the free speech of others if they gain power
This goes double for groups who plan to kill, oppress, remove voting rights, or remove human rights from others
European countries differ from the U.S. on free speech in this case (e.g., Holocaust denial is illegal in 14 countries)
Challenges for tech workers in 20171. Acknowledge that people who want to commit
genocide exist, are gaining power in many countries, and are using their products and labor
2. Develop a strong ethical code to govern their actions in this new environment
3. Ask employers to fully integrate this ethical code with their business model, changing business model as necessary
More detailsVideo, notes, etc. on how to organize tech workers;
http://bit.ly/organizetechThe Ally Skills Workshop, Focus on Allies talk, etc.
http://frameshiftconsulting.com/
Q&AValerie Aurora
Frame Shift Consulting
http://frameshiftconsulting.com/ally-skills-workshop/