Prince Quietly Helped Launch a Coding Program For Inner City Youth (qz.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Though many would say Prince changed the world through his music, the artist also took a hands-on approach to changing the world beyond music. The global superstar was the inspiration behind YesWeCode, an Oakland nonprofit, which works to help young people from minority backgrounds enter the tech world. The idea for the program came from a conversation between Prince and his friend Van Jones, who heads Rebuild the Dream charity, following the 2012 shooting of teenager Travoyn Martin. "Prince said, 'A black kid wearing a hoodie might be seen as a thug. A white kid wearing a hoodie might be seen as a Silicon Valley genius. Let's teach the black kids how to be like Mark Zuckerberg.'" Jones told CNN. The program is aiming to teach 100,000 low-income non-white teenagers how to write code, and was launched at the 20th Anniversary Essence Festival in New Orleans in 2014.

Comments

next needed: "from poor backgrounds"

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> young people from minority backgrounds enter the tech world

The whole "special access due to skin color/gender" bit is getting a bit old, when what's really probably needed is "special access to people from impoverished backgrounds." When you've never seen anyone in your family working in a corporate office, it's a little hard to see understand what a career in IT/legal/other-cushy-white-collar-job could be, and there are plenty of "non-minority" kids stuck in that world too.

Re:next needed: "from poor backgrounds"

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

>> as a white anglo you're much more likely to have an (white collar professional) in your family who is a role model

That's exactly the assumption I'm challenging. I think this association cleaves closer to economic lines than racial ones. In the boonies you're likely to find a lot of "white anglo" family groups without a single college education. If you ignore them long enough, you end up with Trump voters, or worse. :)

Re:How the F***

[__aaclcg7560]

But if it's only for non-white teens, that is the definition of racism.

You're absolutely right. White minority students in California (a minority-majority state) wouldn't qualify for this program.

Re: Let's teach the black kids how to be like Mark

[Locke2005]

The reason the rich send their kids to Harvard and Stanford is not that they receive a better education there, but rather that they make contacts with the kids of other rich families that they have a good chance of getting hired by or starting a company with. So I agree, a lot of being successful is WHO you know, not WHAT you know, and that cannot be taught. On the bright side, I've seen some very talented lawyers and other professionals mentoring poor minority kids, and that assistance may be more valuable than going to an Ivy League school.

Re:This is stupid

[__aaclcg7560]

How is this program supposed to actually work?

Teaching students how to think logically rather than impulsively is a useful skill in life.

Re:I like Prince but.

[unimacs]

1. Prejudice based on skin color and clothing is a real thing. Pretending it's not doesn't make the problem go away.

2.There is a significant wage gap between white and black people. A larger percentage of black people live in poverty. That is not something in dispute. African-American culture is a subset or even a distinct American culture on its own. What may very well prove successful with one group of low income people may not work as well with another. Trying to help one group of people doesn't stop anyone from helping another group.

3. Teaching valuable skills is a good thing whether it's in a vocational or college setting.

Re: Let's teach the black kids how to be like Mar

[mapkinase]

You need Harvard to help with crawling into upper class, but you do not need tit to become a normal middle class coder.