Description:
As
Silicon Valley spreads into Oakland in search of cheaper real estate,
local social entrepreneurs are working to ensure that black youth not
be left on the sidelines, but instead become leaders and even
transformers of the tech revolution. This film examines the evolution
of Oakland through the eyes of social entrepreneurs who are
determined that youth of color not be left on the sidelines as
Silicon Valley spreads across the Bay and into the home of the second
largest black community in California. Kalimah Priforce, whose first
success as a social justice rebel was a hunger strike at the age of
eight to get books for his group home, and Kimberly Bryant, a
successful electrical engineer turned founder of Black Girls Code,
are organizing large-scale hackathons to prepare youth to redesign
the future through the power of digital coding. Joined on the
national stage by #YesWeCode founder Van Jones, their work represents
the cusp of a movement to change both the face and use of technology
in America. Is Silicon Valley ready to be hacked?
Biography: Kelly
Amis graduated from Georgetown University. She taught in South
Central, Los Angeles as a charter corps member of Teach for America.
She went on to earn an MA in education policy from Stanford
University and researches Australian education as a Fulbright
Scholar. Kelly has worked for US Senator Dianne Feinstein and many
non-profit organizations including Fight For Children, the Thomas B.
Fordham Foundation and Building Hope, which she helped design and
launch. Kelly founded Loudspeaker Films in 2009 to combine her
passion for social justice and education equality with her love of
art and belief in the power of film. Its signature project is the Teached short film series.
