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A new report from diversity analytics company Blendoor reveals tech companies pledges of support for Black Lives Matter only went so far.

The State of DEI in Tech 2021 spotlights the diversity, equity, and inclusion disparities in 240 of the worlds largest and well-known tech companies. It comes a year after George Floyds murder. The death of the Minneapolis Black man at the hands of police reverberated around the world and prompted a wave of declarations and promises by organizations to make Black Lives Matter a part of their mission, and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all facets of their work.

Blendoor counted 535 pledges worth $4.56 billion made by a majority of those tech companies between January 1 and December 31, 2020. But the report also reveals, for example, that the tech companies that made Black Lives Matter pledges or statements have 20% fewer Black employees on average than companies that did not make similar pledges and statements.

Despite these public displays of commitment to DEI and the investment of billions of dollars over the last seven years there is little evidence of tangible progress overall, said Blendoor founder and CEO Stephanie Lampkin, MBA 13.

The report also spotlights that there are no Black females who are named executive officers (usually the five highest paid executives at a publicly traded company) in the 240 tech companies analyzed. Women only make up 15% of those named executive officers and on average make 21% less money than male named executive officers. And there are 49% fewer Asian executives compared to Asian workers at entry-level positions, the largest drop-off in the tech pipeline according to the report.

Lampkin started Blendoor in 2015 and in 2020 launched its BlendScore tool. The tool analyzes companies using a variety of information like public data sets as well as company websites, annual reports, diversity reports, and equity and inclusion performances. Blendscore was used to compile the State of DEI report using data from January 1, 2020 through March 31, 2021. A companys score is based on four criteria: leadership, retention, recruiting, and impact.

Heres a closer look at some of the reports findings.

According to the report, 42% of tech company executives analyzed are women or people of color, but white women represent about half of that group. White men represent about 58% of tech executives, while Asian (South, East, and Southeast) men make up 12% of tech executives. Asian women hold less than 4% of those roles, while Black men and women, and Latino and Indigenous men and women, make up less than 5% total.

Of 240 tech companies analyzed, zero had a Black female as a named executive officer. NEOs are the five highest-paid jobs in publicly traded companies.

The average salary for a white employee at one of the 240 tech companies scored is $130,000, compared to $98,000 for Latino and Indigenous employees;Black employees make an average of $91,000.

Companies founded after 2008 had an average of 32% more Asian executives than older companies. Larger companies with more than 10,000 employees had on average 56% more women executives than smaller companies. Companies headquartered in the Midwest have an average of 50% more underrepresented minorities than companies in other parts of the U.S. Underrepresented minorities are defined in the report as any individual in the U.S. in the tech industry who does not identify as white or Asian.

According to the report, Asian women in the tech companies studied have the lowest upward mobility from entry-level to executive/senior-level, with 58% fewer Asian women in executive positions compared to the number of Asian women in entry-level roles (called a drop-off rate). Asian men have a drop-off rate of 44%. Underrepresented women experience a drop-off rate of 25%, while underrepresented men experience a drop-off rate of 50%.

White women and white men did not experience a drop-off rate. Both are better represented in executive/senior-level roles than they are in entry-level roles.

Impact refers to a companys established programs and partnerships aimed at corporate social responsibility.

Annual diversity reporting is the most common impact practice among the 240 tech companies analyzed, with nearly half of the companies analyzed doing some sort of reporting; followed by supplier diversity that emphasizes relationships with women, people of color, veterans, and people with disabilities; and diversity scholarships.

Lampkin said the report does offer signs of improvement, like growth in female employees and Asian employees at every level of tech in the past six years, as well as more companies sharing their data, hiring diversity consultants, forming employee resource groups, and conducting unconscious bias training.

The companies who are making pledges are also saying we need to do better, Lampkin said. What were trying to elucidate is just saying were working on it is insufficient. If indeed you want to do better, show us your numbers on a regular basis much like you do with quarterly financial reporting.

If indeed you want to do better, show us your numbers on a regular basis much like you do with quarterly financial reporting.

The absence of Black female named executive officers and the 20% fewer Black employees figures are two things that stood out to MIT Sloan lecturerMalia Lazu.But she said she wasnt surprised at the reports overall findings or what might appear to be a lack of progress from the 240 tech companies.

This isnt about getting an anti-racism widget to market, said Lazu, a former Berkshire Bank executive vice president who focuses on inclusion in the innovation economy. Its important to understand that what youre changing here is value structures, and that doesnt happen quickly.

Building and maintaining a diverse and inclusive company is a process of continual accountability, Lazu said, but she offered some short-term steps for managers. They include individual education listening to podcasts and reading books to better understand the history of diversity, equity, inclusion, and corporate accountability and looking at the numbers, to see who exactly makes up their workforce.

Blendoor offered several calls to action for companies, including the adoption of reporting standards, and incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion standard metrics into their due diligence or when they are raising funds. Blendoor is also pushing for public disclosure of EEO-1 forms, which provide demographic breakdowns of a companys workforce by race and gender.

2021 is ushering in a new generation of environmental and socially consciously investors, consumers, and job seekers, Lampkin said. Companies who take an apathetic or apolitical stance on social issues will find it difficult to attract and retain the best talent.

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Tech companies lag behind their Black Lives Matter pledges - MIT Sloan News

Italy's national football team has decided not to "take the knee" before kick-off against Austria in the Euro 2020 match in London's Wembley Stadium on Saturday 26 June.

However the situation now appears to be less clear-cut than reported by Italy's media on Friday, with new reports suggesting that the entire Italian team willtake the knee only if Austria does the same.

Theall-or-nothingapproach is designed to avoid a repeat of the divisive scene before the Italy-Wales match in Rome on Sunday when five Italian players knelt - together with the entire Welsh team - and six remained standing.

The five players - Federico Bernardeschi, Andrea Belotti, Emerson Palmieri, Matteo Pessina and Rafael Toloi - chose to make the anti-racist gesture to express their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

The spectacle descended into a political case - with Italian politicians and the media weighing in with opposing views - a situation that Italy's football chiefs are keen to avoid.

Until now Italian players were free to choose whether or not to make the gesture, however itwas subsequently decided to stop players from taking the knee, reflecting the majority view of the squad, to avoid any further "confusion."

After the players who did not kneel before the Wales match were criticised in the media, the Italian team issued a statement.

On behalf of the entire squad, we reaffirm that we are against all forms of racism, said communications chief Paolo Corbi, adding: "Adhering or not to a form of protest, a symbolic one at that, does not mean ignoring the fight against racism.

The case, which comes as former US police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in jail for the murder of African-American George Floyd, has divided Italy's fans on social media.

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Euro 2020: Italy will not take a knee for Black Lives Matter - Wanted in Rome

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

GoLocalProv News Team

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U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Brother Gary Dantzler

I think the people who are running the place are still working on that and Im sorry it hasn't happened yet, said Whitehouse. The Senator and his family have been members for decades.

Since GoLocal reported the news the Whitehouse's defense of the exclusive club, it has been reported by the NBC News, the Daily Mail, Washington Post, Fox News, and dozens of other news organizations globally.

SEE THE FULL VIDEO INTERVIEW BELOW

The Senator transferred his ownership in the club to his wife Sandra Thornton Whitehouse making her one of the largest shareholders in the exclusive club.

Whitehouses comments sparked outrage and disappointment from Rhode Islands leaders in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

In Rhode Island, there are two separate BLM groups. Brother Gary Dantzler, Executive Director of Black Lives Matter Rhode Island blasted Whitehouses membership and Baileys Beach Club.

We need to put an end to this good ole boy mentality and hold our elected officials accountable. Black Lives Matter Rhode Island expects the Senator to call this what it is; Jim Crow era racism thats been lingering around the Black community like a plague. Its time for real change and equity, said Dantzler.

The Senator has spoken out about the injustice of systematic racism in America. On June 4, 2020, after the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, Whitehouse said in a statement,We hear the voices of the peaceful protestors who have marched. We can and must do better to root out systemic racism in its many forms."

Its time to create opportunities in the Black community by supporting the work thats happening in RI. No more hiding behind empty words, added Dantzler.

Whitehouse in his interview with GoLocal said of the exclusive club,It's a long tradition in Rhode Island and there are many of them and I think we just need to work our way through the issues, thank you. Whitehouse was then ushered away by a staffer.

SEE GOLOCAL'S 2017 INTERVIEW WITH WHITEHOUSE HERE ON HIS MEMBERSHIP IN THE CLUB

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Senator Sheldon Whitehouse at Bailey's Beach Club

Harrison Tuttle, the Executive Director of the BLM RI PAC, also had strong words for Whitehouse and called for him to force change at Baileys.

Sen. Whitehouse declining to push to diversify the all-white Baileys Beach Club shows where his priorities lay, said Tuttle.

After a year of protests calling for change, Sen. Whitehouse is in a position to make it happen and has passed the buck. Its past time that Sen. Whitehouse used his platform and make his actions match his rhetoric. Sen. Whitehouse should publicly and vigorously support increased diversity and accessibility and clubs like his, which have long held shut their doors to people of color, added Tuttle.

Read more:
BLM Blasts Whitehouse I Am Ashamed of Senator and His Affiliation With This Racist Club - GoLocalProv

The summer of 2020 was unforgettable. The murder of George Floyd sparked protests around the country, drawing millions of Americans into the streets for demonstrations. And the sounds that summer from the chants of peaceful protesters to the frequent explosions of violence in response from police are still echoing throughout the nation. Many musicians added their voices, sometimes as protesters themselves, but also by releasing songs about the impact of police violence and racism, like The Bigger Picture from Atlanta rapper Lil Baby.

Theres a long history of music from the African American voice being used in resistance. On Fridays episode of A Word, I spoke with Atlanta-based entertainment and music journalist Jewel Wicker about what Black protest music looks like today. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Jason Johnson: What struck you about The Bigger Picture and how Lil Baby put it together? And is this the kind of thing that he tends to talk about or was this a departure?

Jewel Wicker: This was certainly a departure from what Lil Baby has usually put out content-wise. And I think what really struck me was the timing of the release. It was something that Lil Baby couldnt have known when he put it out, but less than 24 hours after he released that song, a Black man by the name of Rayshard Brooks was killed by police in South Atlanta in the neighborhood that Lil Baby grew up in. And so what was really special I think about this protest anthem that was released was that, 24 hours later, it became an anthem in Lil Babys own city.

What are some of the other songs that came out last summer that you think really spoke to the moment? And again, were those songs with sort of long-term activist, hip-hop stars and rappers, or were they departures as people were paying attention to the moment?

We had songs from everyone from DaBaby, who released a remix of his song, Rockstar that had a Black Lives Matter type of verse to it. H.E.R., a singer, released a song called I Cant Breathe. Anderson .Paak released a song called Lockdown. A rapper by the name of YG filmed a music video at a protest. A group here in Atlanta called Spillage Village released a song called End of Daze. Their music video touched on the protest.

I think it became really common at that time for artists to be speaking on what was going on. I spoke to a Harvard professor, her name is Ingrid Monson. She said what really stood out to her about last years protest music was the timeliness of it, right? If you had protest music in previous decades, they couldnt put it out and have it become the song of a protest the next day. But with streaming, you can put out a song and then the next day, it can become something that people who are in the streets are listening to. Or you can film a music video at a protest and put it out while protests are still going on. This timeliness element is what really stood out about some of the songs that were coming out last year.

What do you think distinguishes Atlanta protest music from maybe songs coming out of Houston or a song coming out of Chicago? Do you think Atlanta has its own flavor to protest music?

One, I would say that Atlanta artists are very linked oftentimes to our politicians here. We see a Killer Mike and a T.I. at a press conference with the mayor. Thats not an uncommon sight here in Atlanta.

But then another thing I would want to point out: I spoke to a reporter by the name of Rodney Carmichael. He does a podcast called Louder Than a Riot, and what he pointed out, which is very true, is that although our artists might not always be speaking about protests specifically, theyre always talking about racial justice in their own ways. If Lil Baby is rapping about growing up in poverty and trapping and things like that, that is inherently political. When you think of Goodie Mobs Soul Food, that was a political album. And so I think we have to stretch our imagination of what we think of when we think of political music. And if we do that, a lot of times the hip-hop music that were listening to is political because being Black, growing up in poverty, growing up in some of these situations are inherently political.

How many of these hip-hop songs and how many of these artists really came out with music last year that was George Floydcentered, that was a change from what or who they had been musically before?

Whats really interesting, and Ive been thinking about this, because when Lil Baby put out The Bigger Picture, I interviewed him last summer for GQ and profiled him, and I spoke to him about releasing that song because it was such a departure for him to put out something that was so blatantly political. What he told me back then, paraphrasing, I dont want to be Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. I put out that song. I spoke to the moment because it touched me and I want to be done with it. I dont want to be involved with politicians.

The DA here, he lost, but he was running for reelection. And he had said that Lil Baby endorsed him. Lil Baby said, I did not. He was very clearly stepping back from being involved in politics. Now, since then, Ive been very interested in the fact that he went on to perform it at the Grammys and he had Tamika Mallory and he had an actor re-create almost the killing of Rayshard Brooks at the Wendys and things like that.

He was just photographed at the White House with Nancy Pelosi. Its a sharp contrast to what he said last July about not wanting to be involved in politics. Im not sure why he made that departure. I have not spoken with him since. I cant say if it was something that he just felt compelled to do. I cant say if it was something that was business-motivated. Lets be honest, a lot of rappers tend to, once they get to a certain levelthey cant always say F the police, or they cant always be explicitly anti-government in the way that they were before; its not lucrative for them to do that. So I cant say if hes doing that just because his heart is leading him to do it, or if its because its just bad for the brand for you not to go ahead and lean into this.

Theres a long history of music telling the story of Black Americans fighting for our rights. So were going to step back in time for a moment. Jewel, youve written about how closely many musicians like the Staple Singers worked with civil rights leaders in the 1960s. How did these relationships come about? Was it because they were already active in the movement and this was just a way that they could participate? Were they moved by what was happening at the time and went into the studio and decided to cut an album?

I was really interested in that and I looked to Bernice Johnson Reagon. I didnt get to interview her, but I did some research about her previous interviews, and she was a founding member of the SNCC Freedom Singers, and shes from Southwest Georgia. And she told PBS that the Staple Singers toured with Martin Luther King Jr.; Mahalia Jackson organized fundraisers for him. They were very much intertwined with the movement beyond the songs that they were recording in the studio. They were actually out activating and organizing a lot of times with these leaders.

I think thats really interesting because weve seen some of that play out recently when we see our artists link up with leaders and politicians today. So I was really interested in that link and in seeing how artists go beyond the music that they released, beyond that moment of going into the studio and feeling compelled to release a song and going beyond that and saying, I want to actually organize, I want to fundraise. I want to do things that are actually going to make me a part of the movement beyond producing the soundtrack.

A lot of artists in the 1960s were all connected to the Black church. They came out of the Black church, they learned from the Black church. Church attendance has gone down in the African American community as it has for almost everybody else. So where are we getting our musicians from now? Where are we getting that sort of activist music?

Well, I would say two things. I would say that even if were not in the church, we usually grew up with a grandma or somebody who was in the church, so the church is still very much a part of us as Black people, even if we didnt grow up specifically in the church. So a lot of times when you listen to some of these songs, you can still hear that element that is a part of these songs.

Then the second thing I would say is weve seen over the year that hip-hop has become the dominant genre and so we really have seen hip-hop artiststhey were very outspoken in previous decades as well, but their music has taken center stage in pop culture. We really have been able to hear them take the front in these moments. And even before last year with protests when we think back to Kendrick Lamar and even, say, Beyonc releasing songs in the Black Lives Matter movement times. They have been able to release songs that were really outspoken about the times that were in and maybe dont have that specific church element, but I think if you listen close enough, you can still hear some of those elements.

We hear about artists endangering their entire lives and careers in the 50s and 60s, but the backlash today is different. So whats the difference in consequences for Black artists making protest music today versus 50 or 60 years ago?

I mean, I think youre right. I think you might not become a Nina Simone in releasing a song, but I also dont want to minimize the impact that some of the controversy might have on an artist when they are attacked by, say, Fox News or by pundits for releasing some of these songs, especially if youre not a Beyonc or a Kendrick Lamar. Releasing a song like F Donald Trump could have a really bigand it didnt for YG. Hes finebut it could have a really big impact on your career. Or recently, weve been talking a lot about Black celebrities and mental health. We dont know what the impact is on their mental health when theyre taking these risks and releasing songs like this. So I dont want to minimize it, but I certainly do think that because of the broad nature of pop culture today and the ways in which artists can have these niche groups of fans, or stans as we call them sometimes, you run less of a risk of being just completely exiled.

Listen to the entire episode below, or subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Continue reading here:
The Soundtrack of the George Floyd Protests - Slate

The Italian Football Federation made a pair of statements clarifying the national team's stance

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has confirmed that the national team will take the knee as a sign of solidarity if their next opponents Belgium choose to do so, but says doing so is not in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign.

The statement comes after centre-back Giorgio Chiellini said that the team would kneel if an opponent did so.

Amid confusion on whether players were free to kneel,the federation backed that viewpoint, saying that taking the knee will be done to show solidarity with their opponents.

As Chiellini explained, the team will kneel in solidarity with the opponents, the federation said, according to La Repubblica.

Not for the campaign itself, which we dont share. The Austrian players didnt kneel and ours remained standing. If those from Belgium do so, ours too will in solidarity with them.

TheFIGC went on to add in a second statement:The Italian Football Federation, in reaffirming its unconditional stance against racism and any form of discrimination, considered it opportune to give the team freedom to adhere to the Black Lives Matter campaign.

As President Gabriele Gravina already affirmed not more than a week ago, the FIGC considers the imposition of any behaviour in itself a form of speaking and sustains the squads decision for Euro 2020 games, including against Belgium on Friday.

The sensibility of each member of the Italian national team in defence of human rights is in the Azzurri DNA, as proven by multiple initiatives and declarations, and cannot be subordinated by the adherence to one not the only manifestation of support for the fight against racism.

To date, there has been confusion about Italy's stance as only a handful of players took the knee prior to the team's group stage match against Wales.

Andrea Belotti, Matteo Pessina, Emerson Palmieri, Rafael Toloi and Federico Bernardeschi all knelt alongside the entire Wales team, prompting a discussion on how Italy would handle such situations going forward.

After the incident,former Prime Minister Enrico Letta slammed the players that did not kneel, saying: "I appeal to our players to take the knee all together. Five took the knee and the others didn't frankly, it was not a good spectacle.

"If they can all agree on the tactical plan in the dressing room beforehand, maybe they can do the same about taking the knee. It's a positive gesture. Looking at it on Sunday, with all the Wales players kneeling and only half the Italian players doing it, was not a good image."

His frustrations were echoed by former Italy star Claudio Marchisio.

Theres freedom of choice, but this is a very important protest, and I would have preferred everyone to kneel down, he told RAI Sport.

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Italy will take the knee before Belgium clash 'as a sign of solidarity' - but national team 'do not support... - Goal.com