#POCedtech an Empowered Community : An ISTE Reflection
When I attended my first ISTE, four years ago, I knew exactly three people of color in this field and I didn’t leave that conference knowing much more. Each year, that changed little by little and soon we realized that what we needed in order to continue to fill that gap was a space of our own within the larger space to which we were all connected.
For the past year and a half, teachers of color using technology or working in this field, have been connected through private social media channels specifically created for People of color in edtech.
We created this space out of a need…a need to build, support and amplify our voices through local, state, national and international spaces. We help each other with everything from local initiatives to conference proposals and even Tech focused communities through Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc.
We support each other in blogging, podcasts, webinars and even brand development, which is necessary when seeking career advancement…especially for us. Those who cringe at the idea of branding haven’t experienced life as a person of color having to prove yourself amidst much less qualified peers.
In our voxer group, we are often the first voices that we hear to start our days and the last that we hear before we sleep at night. For us, this community is everything. It is our lifeline. It is how many of use manage to get out of the car of our parking lots in order to tackle the day. It is how many of us survive when others without such support struggle.
We struggle, but we do so knowing that there are people living it with us who have our backs.
When it came time for ISTE proposals, we called each other, sent texts, collaborated, nudged like crazy and provided necessary feedback in order to make sure that our work and voices were heard. This encouragement continued well into the late deadline hours. You’d be shocked to hear how many of us do amazing work in schools, but feel that our work isn’t on par to share or that what we do has little value.
In case you're wondering, that’s how oppression works and privilege is never living this reality.
When we learned of the depth of our conference acceptances, we celebrated because we immediately understood how different this experience would be compared to previous years.
Each day, I met a new person of color and each one was welcomed into our space…a space that we know has so much value that many of us were here because of it.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a change in ISTE’s intentional messaging from visibility of people via marketing materials to inclusion in the recent educator and student standards refresh as well as scheduled speakers and keynotes.
While the community itself may still be super white, we feel as though there is space for us to collaborate and build. This is a new feeling but well past its need.
I feel so proud of us and even more so that those who attended their first event got to experience something that many of us did not.
…Dr. Mila Fuller, stepping onto that stage as board president.
…more importantly, having the support of a board, CEO and organization who believe in the need for an inclusive network and have no problem saying it.
What a difference 4 years makes!
PS: Dear ISTE affiliates, take note. We’re here and you need us because guess what…we represent the dynamic of the students that you serve and we aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
