Tech Sector Shifts Focus to African Americans
“Smash it!”
Three hundred Howard University students and members of the community shouted those words inside the university’s Cramton Auditorium during a recent Black History Month event sponsored by AT&T.
SMASH IT is an acronym that African American technology guru Mario Armstrong unleashed while exhorting the audience to incorporate technology into the pursuit of their dreams: Show Movement And Start History-Making Integrating Technology.
“You can do all of this, but if you don’t integrate technology in this, you’re going to be behind,” Armstrong said after navigating through a slide show of prominent African Americans, including Madam C.J. Walker, the country’s first self-made female millionaire, and Thomas Jennings, the first African American to receive a patent.