This is a word, a podcast from Slate.

I'm your host, Jason Johnson.

Big Tech has transformed our business, politics, and even our personal relationships.

But even as the industry redefines the future, why does it still seem stuck in the past on issues of race?

I can be partially blamed for shipping a product that is harming my own community.

And nobody wants that.

Barr Williams on the challenge of diversity in tech coming up on a word with me, Jason Johnson.

Stay with us.

Welcome to a Word, a podcast about race and politics and everything else. I'm your host, Jason Johnson. Over the last several decades, Silicon Valley has grown into an international hub of technology and innovation, a place where big ideas are transformed into thriving businesses and multi-billion dollar fortunes.

But it has also built a reputation for being a boys club, with limited opportunities, harassment, and sometimes open hostility to women in its workforce.

Those issues are often magnified for women of color,

who are severely underrepresented in the world of big tech, with just an estimated 3% of the industry jobs held by black women. And while so-called racial reckoning took place and they aimed

at some of the barriers to advancement. Many of them have collapsed in

recent years as a full-blown backlash to diversity, equity, and inclusion has swept through

the industry. Plus, there's growing evidence that the technology that ideally would eliminate

racial and other kinds of bias often systematizes the bigotry of its creators.

So what's the path ahead for African Americans in big tech and is the prize worth the fight?

That question is central to the work of Bari Williams, who built a career as an attorney for tech companies, including Facebook. She's also the co-founder of the startup the Runda Lab.

Williams has written about tech for outlets like Wired, Fast Company, and the New York Times.

Her latest book, Seen and Unseen, is out in paperback now.

She joins us on a word.

Bari, welcome to a word.

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