[Photos] NYC Tech Group Honors Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Through Hackathon
‘Black Techies’ teamed up with Tumblr to organize a 30-plus hour hackathon, which took place over Martin Luther King weekend, at the microblogging site’s headquarters in the Flatiron District in New York City’s Silicon Alley. In true collaborative spirit, organizations such as All Star Code, Blacks in Tech and Silicon Harlem showed their support for Black Techies’ first overnight event.
‘Black Techies’ teamed up with Tumblr to organize a 30-plus hour hackathon, which took place over Martin Luther King weekend, at the microblogging site’s headquarters in the Flatiron District in New York City’s Silicon Alley. In true collaborative spirit, organizations such as All Star Code, Blacks in Tech and Silicon Harlem showed their support for Black Techies’ first overnight event.more
MLK DreamCode organizer Kyle Wanamaker addressed hackathon attendees early Saturday, Jan. 18. The Tumblr engineer and Black Techies founder wanted attendees to create hacks that furthered Dr. King’s values of “equality, peace and social justice,†he shared via his Tumblr blog.more
Hackers split up into teams before they hacked against the clock.
“I wanted there to be a safe place for people to learn, for people to admit sort of what they don’t know, and to build a community of learning and mentorship and entrepreneurship so that hopefully in the next 10-15 years, we can create wealth through startups and have an intellectual vision that’s going to come through technology,†said Wanamaker.
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Hackers took a quick break to test out wearable technologies.
New York City-based All Star Code dropped by Tumblr headquarters to get in on the fun. The non-profit initiative offers young males a curriculum that includes workshops, ongoing mentorship and networking opportunities, as well as a six-week summer intensive program set to start in 2014. ASC founder Christina Lewis Halpern is determined to fill the technology career pipeline with qualified, young black men. (Image: Kevin Steck) more
Our Black Box team members worked on a site that would visualize statistics like graduation rates, the wealth gap, and other data involving the African-American demographic via an interactive map.
It's never too early to get your children involved in tech.
Local Greens took first prize in “Best Use of Tumblr†category.
OurBlackBox took first prize in the “Social Justice†category.
Sponsibil, a Yelp-meets-Kickstarter platform for social good won the grand prize. They each took home a Roku 3 and Wanamaker will donate $500 to the charity of their choice, which will be matched by Yahoo!, totaling $1000.
For more pictures, visit the DreamCode Tumblr page.more