L
isten to black women” is a frequent refrain
on the internet. And if we listened, we’d
live in a more just and equitable world.
But on a daily basis, rejection and
microaggressions damage black women and, in
less visible ways, society as a whole. We should
shift our priorities and our cash to the black
female entrepreneurs of the tech sector.Black women are the most educated demographic
in the United States, but black women tech
founders receive on average only about $42,000
in venture capital. This is according to
ProjectDiane, a biennial study of startups run by
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tech entrepreneurs have received only .06 percent
of the $424.7 billion of total tech venture funding
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that raised in 2017.”There are countless stories behind those
numbers, but one of them was recently
highlighted by Jasmine Crowe, founder and CEO
of tech-enabled food-waste-management
company Goodr. After she pitched a prospective
investor, he told Crowe, “We just invested in
another black female founder last year, so I don’t
think we’ll do another deal until later this year.”
The VC tried to backpedal when Crowe called him
on it, but “he meant what he said,” she tweeted.Give Your Money to Black Women
PCMag Senior
Features Editor
Chandra Steele got
her tech journalism
start at CMP/United
Business Media. She
also writes fiction
and has been
published in
McSweeney’s
Internet Tendency.COMMENTARY