How She Hacked Into The Tech Industry

By: Avalon Lustick

A few hours before Idalin Bebo was scheduled to takeoff to China, she gracious took a call with Violet Summer. Get to know the tech activist from Philly and keep it locked on the site for a possible followup interview.

For a portion of the US population who live in low-income communities, access to information isn’t as direct anymore since the birth of the internet. Presently, the most direct access someone can have to all the information and education they could desire comes with a hefty price tag. Information Technology requires attending college or some expensive incubator program. But, what if you can’t afford college? A laptop? What if you can’t even afford a bus ticket to your library?

Idalin Bobe’ is the founder and codirector of TechActivist.org, a nonprofit tech company that provides technical training and political education to working class youth and activists. She not only cares about

She talks about her journey to Silicon Valley on The Karen Hunter radio show and how she took a risk and bet on herself. It basically only took access to a laptop for Idalin Bobe’ to hack the corporate world.

It was throughout this journey that she realized the lack of access to technology and literacy oppressing to her own community. Her bubbly personality matched with her computer skills. Like many of us, it’s not about who you know, it’s about what you know in technology. For Bobe’, when she cracked her own life code, obtaining her masters, founding her own company, something needed to change in the same community she grew up in that is still struggling.

The Tools

With internet colonization, fake news, mass data extraction, and overreaching surveillance, Bobe’ and her team are training and educating activists and workingclass youth the technical and political skills they need to stand up against the corrupt multi-billion dollar sheriff in town.

“We are living in the information age, where literally people are walking around with information more than the encyclopedia in their pockets,” Bobe’ told Violet Summer before her flight to China. “But instead of engaging with educational content that will liberate our minds and our current situation more and more people are being distracted.”

Yeah, sounds familiar. The internet has basically been hijacked by Facebook and social media.

The internet is not just a tool for memes and youtube videos. It’s a place to earn a comfortable living. A place to gather information to build a billion dollar company. It’s a catalyst for change. The #blacklivesmatter movement was started and organized on this platform.

The TechActivist.org website says that technical tools and platforms are constantly oppressing and suppressing the voices of poor communities and communities of color. In fact, the organization says that since 2015, 97 percent of the 2,000 plus activists the team has helped, stated they have wanted to create their own technical tools- though they never had access to computer programming classes or even knowledge of which technology to use. When they achieve these skills, young activists can use them as a fighting chance for social justice on the internet.

Speaking of asking questions and finding the correct answers, TechActivist.org exists as an answer to an important question. The TechActivist Facebook says that in 1972, the Black Panther Party claimed that technology was not neutral ground, it’s wild territory.

Therefore, the political organization added “Community Control of Modern Technology” to its 10th point of the 10-Point Program and Platform. This addition was the result of Huey P. Newton’s “Technology Question,” an analysis Newton curated while questioning the morals of technology and the advancement of humanity. His conclusion? Technology is not neutral. Marginalized communities must take a stand and that’s what Bobe’ and her team are doing.

Breaking the Internet

Bobe’ learned a lot about tech activism in her professional career. The North Philadelphia-native has worked with numerous organizations in the fight against the technology limiting companies on their high horses. These tech activist companies include Hands Up United, India Rise, Black Girls CODE, Qeyno Labs Hackathons, and #YesWeCode. Numerous outlets have also recognized and honored Bobe’ for her work in tech innovation like the New Leaders Council, Silicon Valley Chapter’s 2017 Changemaker in Technology for Good, YWCA’s 2016 Girls Symposium: Women of Influence, and Revolt TV’s The New & Diverse Leaders of Technology 2016.

Currently, Bobe’ and her team at TechActivist.org are raising money for their organization. They host events in New York City and California like “Intro to Threat Modeling for Activists + Journalist” (which is offered in both Spanish and English), “Storytelling for Justice - Protect yourself in the Digital Age,” and “Malcolm X - The Media’s the Most Powerful Entity.” In addition to holding educational events, they also have a Tech Warrior Fellowship. The fellowship, “is designed to afford financial support and a community of peers to young activists who have expressed interest and success in learning technical skill sets.” The fellowship will allow 4-5 Tech Warriors to participate in tech training and a social justice internship during their time at TechActivist.org. With the access and literacy of technical tools, the communities these grubby-dull-as-dishwater colonizing companies primarily target are taking a stand for themselves. The individuals that TechActivitst.org teaches can now ask questions and have the tools to determine their own destiny online. They can discover how to protect their private information, start a dialogue surrounding fake news, and hold these companies accountable for their unjustified “Manifest Destiny”