Celebrating Black History Month with MIT Enterprise Forum NYC

For me, Black History Month is about taking the time to learn about the history of African Americans in the US, celebrate successful black leaders despite the historical and societal challenges faced by them, acknowledge that there are still work to be done to achieve equality and racial justice in many facets of our society, and taking the time to contribute to allyship. 

Honestly, as an immigrant to the US, this was not a topic I understood very well when I was younger and uninformed about the history of African Americans in the US. Today, I think celebrating Black History Month and working on diversity and inclusion initiatives, such as Women-in-Tech, AAPI Heritage Month, and others should be a fundamental part of our society. Diversity of ideas and experiences, which often arise from the diverse makeup of our society, helps us create a more innovative and equitable world.

I hope that our friends in the US and abroad, new immigrants and long-time citizens alike, could take a moment this month and learn about why we celebrate Black History Month and what we can do to help build a more just society for all. 

Next Monday, on 2/22nd, we are hosting a Black Tech Leaders Panel, made up of black tech leaders across a couple of generations, from Jason Scott, who was my classmate from MIT and now heads Google’s Startup Developer Ecosystem in the US, to Dr. Dedric Carter, my freshman advisor from MIT, who is now the Vice Chancellor for Operations and Technology Transfer at Washington University in St. Louis. I would like to encourage everyone who has the time to join us for this event and hear their story. 

(Registration is $10 to make sure people who register will actually attend but I have some fee-waivers if you are interested in attending or would like to share this event with your network)