Black history is not only relevant, it is how we ensure that our heroes are not forgotten and that we have a viable future in our respective industries. As Carter G. Woodson famously said, “If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.”

As the US leaders of Afroflare, Cloudflare’s employee resource group (ERG) for employees of African descent, we made a personal commitment this month and beyond to effectively represent, build, and grow at Cloudflare and in the tech industry.

To honor that commitment, we decided to tackle some commonly asked questions about the state of African-Americans in tech.

The latest report on diversity in high tech from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in May 2016, indicated African-Americans made up 7.4% of the high tech workforce, with less than 1% in Manager or Executive roles.

An updated report hasn’t been released, but according to USA Today, Wired, and Fortune, Black workers made up between 1% and 6% of Black of the tech workforce from 2018-2019.

According to the EEOC, some factors driving the lack of diversity in high tech include:

• The "pipeline" problem - traditional recruiting efforts depend heavily on individuals’ personal networks, which in the US, are typically not diverse.

• The inhospitable culture in relevant industries and occupations forcing women and minorities to tolerate the environment or leave the field.

• The reluctance of high tech companies to train new employees.

• The fast-changing nature of the industry.

The future of African-Americans in tech is dependent on the concerted and consistent effort of all high tech employees and departments.

Recruiters can build a more diverse pipeline by building relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), attending events like Afrotech, or partnering with organizations whose mission is aligned with increasing diversity in tech. We have highlighted a few notable organizations below.

Black Girls Code, founded in April 2011, focuses on teaching young African-American girls how to code in several programming languages. They hope to “bridge the digital divide” in a society that pits underrepresented, young, aspiring, girls against more privileged individuals. They aim to “provide African-American youth with the skills to occupy some of the 1.4 million computing job openings expected to be available in the U.S. by 2020, and to train 1 million girls by 2040.”

/dev/color is a non-profit foundation led by supporters of inclusion in the tech industry with a mission to “empower Black software engineers to help one another grow into industry leaders.” /dev/color does this by focusing on helping individuals find new jobs, assist with start-ups, and most importantly, ensure that engineers find a sense of purpose in their careers and in tech.

Project Include uses data and advocacy to push diversity and inclusion initiatives in high tech. They work with companies to implement diversity initiatives that focus on three core concepts: inclusion, comprehensiveness, and accountability. Project Include shares a powerful message about what it takes to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to diversity:

“Change is hard, especially around a multidimensional issue like diversity. It is easy for all of us to become defensive and emotional, to shift the blame to others, and to feel fundamentally unheard or misunderstood. It is so uncomfortable for us to talk about the diversity problem that we have not been able to acknowledge it in full.”

These are a few of the many tech events and organizations working to solve this problem. However, doing this work takes more than just money. It involves having difficult conversations, training employees on ally skills, and supporting ERGs to celebrate and educate tech companies on different experiences, which is what we do here at Cloudflare.

As Cloudflarians, we come to work every day to build a better Internet. As Afroflarians, we want to acknowledge the current industry problems around inclusion and work tirelessly to build a better tech industry that welcomes and supports everyone. Not just during Black History Month, but always.

We urge you to do the same.

Afroflare at Afrotech in Oakland (November 2019)

Afroflare at Afrotech in Oakland (November 2019)

Afroflare at Afrotech in Oakland (November 2019)

The reason why we feel like we can help build a better Internet is simply because we believe in values that instill a nature of freedom, privacy, and empowerment in the tool that helps individuals broaden their intellectual and cultural perspective on the daily.

Knowing all of this, our own great company needs to be able to build itself daily into a better company. And that starts with having those conversations which are always uncomfortable. And let me be clear in saying this, being uncomfortable is a good thing because that makes one grow and not be stagnant. Saying all that, here we go...

The Afrocultural community at Cloudflare should take pride in being diverse and inclusive for all just as we all work together to help build a better Internet for all.

And one of the many ways we can build upon this effort is to do more than just belong in a work place and eventually build off of that, feeling normal over time. When I mean belong, it’s more than the "Impostor Syndrome" that normally hits every new hire at any great company. The "Impostor Syndrome" phenomena can be explained by the fact that even though someone may have all the credentials that make them seem like they fit in that particular space, a human being can feel like they don't belong there because of self-doubt or nervous, initial insecurity. This notion eventually goes away over time because this person proves to not only to his/her team that they belong in that space but also to themselves.

That’s the problem, however. That feeling doesn’t seem like it goes away for cultural groups, especially that of the Afrocultural community.

That's the Black Elephant in the Room and it's about time we talk about this.

Our community came together because we needed each other. We wanted to congratulate each other when one of us surpassed a goal at the end of a quarter. We wanted to have dialogue with not only our team but with other communities in Cloudflare, to empower, encourage, and remind each other every now and then that we are apart of what makes working at Cloudflare so great. From that moment on we knew that we had a sense of community and diversity. Cloudflare is a great place to work, but we knew that we need each other to make this an unforgettable experience. From that first meeting, we knew something special was born, and that is Afroflare.

And so we're able to talk about the issues that matter to us: diversity in the workplace, Afrocultural pride, a new and fresh view of the Black culture at work, or even just saying, "Hey, you're dope." More importantly though, we're done talking among each other. No. We now need to have the talk with our other brethren on this little blue ball in our Solar System called Earth. How can other Afro American employees get to feel welcomed into the tech world? What do young African American men and women need to strengthen their resumes and also empower themselves to be better and smarter individuals? In what ways can Cloudflare help lead this charge?

After all....we're just discussing the Black Elephant in the room.