PBS News Hour, 9/28/2011 (Milt Haynes)

Inequality Hurts: The Unhealthy Side of Economic Disparity. As part of our series on economic inequality, Paul Solman investigates the health effects that inequality can have on individuals and society. To determine the hidden costs, he speaks with epidemiologists, former six-figure income earners who are chronically unemployed and poor teenagers who struggle with inequality each day.

Watch the full episode. See more PBS NewsHour.

Creating IT Futures Blog, 9/27/2011 (Khalia Braswell, Stephanie Brown, Julius Clark, David Gottlieb, Reginald Jamerson, Dennis Rankin)

Julius Clark

It's Time to Show IT Off. The thing is, if material success is important to a person, then a kid could do a lot worse than to follow a career in information technology (IT). For example, it was recently reported that mobile app developers are pulling in six figures — whether they had a college degree or not.

Six figures for someone in their 20s! Hey, that seems like rap star status to me.

Julius Clark thinks so, too. Clark is the president of the Charlotte (N.C.) Chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), a professional technology organization formed in 1975. I was introduced to Julius over the summer when Creating IT Futures Foundation partnered with BDPA's own foundation to award $10,000 in scholarships.

Read the full Creating IT Futures Blog post.

Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, 9/21/2011 (BDPA Twin Cities)

BDPA Twin Cities Place 5th at National Computer Competition. The Twin Cities Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA) Minnesota teams won first and fifth place at the 2011 National BDPA High School Computer Competition, which was part of the 2011 33rd Annual BDPA Technology Conference held August 3-6 in Chicago.

The members of the High School Computer (HSCC) team were Cedric Cyrus (Como HS), Samantha Spears (Woodbury HS), Jorian Wulf (St. Paul Central HS) and Douglas Callahan (St. Paul Central HS). The Twin Cities Chapter High School Competition Team took fifth place out of 45 teams. The Rochester team won first place, Detroit team placed second, Columbus, Ohio team placed third, and the Atlanta team placed fourth.

Read the rest of the  Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder article.

The Atlanta Post, 9/13/2011 (Kai Dupé)

Why Technology Networks Are Critical for African Americans.  The lack of support networks has been identified as a critical aspect to involving more African Americans in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  While I agree that this is very important, I do not agree that African Americans lack technology support groups.  I assert that the problem is that the African American community at large is not aware of the networks that do exist.

There are three that I have worked with over the years. I am sure there are others and I am even more certain that most of our people, particularly our young people are not aware of these groups.  I know this because I do quite a bit of public speaking around the country.  When I ask students if they are familiar with The Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), BiTWiSE, or Blacks In Technology the answer is invariably no.

Read the rest of The Atlanta Post article.

Mason Pulse-Journal, 9/11/2011 (BDPA Cincinnati)

Margo Springs "Keynote Speaker" for Sixteenth Annual BDPA Awards Banquet. BDPA Cincinnati announced that Margo Springs, Chief Information Officer, City of Cincinnati, is keynote speaker for this year's banquet, addressing the theme “Ignite, Inspire, & Empower – The GPS of Future Technologists”.

Read the rest of the Mason Pulse-Journal article.

IT Martini, 9/6/2011 (Ricardo Wilkins)

Top Three Ways to Build Your IT Community. As IT Professionals, we spend many years developing our crafts and investing in our careers. Along the way, we have all been fortunate enough to get help from many sources, including colleagues and mentors who decided to take the time to share their knowledge and experience with us.

As a result, we grow in our profession. Most of us inevitably ask the question – what can I do to give back and make the same investment in others someone made in me? Fortunately, there are many ways in which we can ‘return the favor’ in the IT Community while making a positive impact on our industry.

Read the rest of this IT Martini article.

South Florida Caribbean News, 9/6/2011 (Larry Quinlan)

Honorees Named for 18th Annual Caribbean American Heritage Awards Gala. BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) director Larry Quinlan is among the individuals that will be honored by the Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS) at the 18th Annual Caribbean American Heritage (CARAH) Awards Gala on November 11, 2011. The elegant affair recognizes individuals of Caribbean descent of accomplished and emerging stature in their field of expertise or who have made outstanding contributions to the community. Larry Quinlan is the Chief Information Officer for Deloitte, a professional services organization. His expertise has helped the company develop and implement a globally recognized strategy to address technology use, application, infrastructure and execution. He serves on the US Executive Committee and chairs the global CIO Council. He will receive the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Corporate America.

Read the full South Florida Caribbean News article.

BDPAtoday Newsletter, 9/1/2011 (BDPA Washington DC)

Newsletter: BDPA Washington DC (Sep 2011)

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