meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Tech Won't Save Us

Tech Giants Don't Care About Black Lives w/ Edward Ongweso Jr.

Tech Won't Save Us

Paris Marx

Silicon Valley, Books, Technology, Arts, Future, Tech Criticism, Socialism, Paris Marx, News, Criticism, Tech News, Politics

4.8626 Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2020

⏱️ 41 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Paris Marx is joined by Edward Ongweso Jr. to discuss how the labor practices, tech products, and global supply chains of tech companies prove they don't care about Black lives — regardless of what they've said in recent statements. Edward also explains why we should defund the police. Edward Ongweso Jr. is a staff writer at Vice. He recently wrote about tech companies' response to Black Lives Matter and what it would mean to defund the police. Follow Edward on Twitter as @bigblackjaco...

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

It fits their business model more to say that they care about Black Lives

0:03.4

so that they can capitalize on the sort of PR that that would give them

0:07.4

than to challenge what has been making them a podcast that wonders if tech companies that are exploiting Black Lives really think that they matter.

0:32.3

I'm your host, Paris Marks, and today I'm joined by Edward Ongwesso Jr.

0:36.4

Edward is a staff writer at Vice and recently wrote an article

0:39.8

about the tech company's response to Black Lives Matter and the hypocrisy in their statements.

0:45.3

If you like the podcast, please leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts and share it with anyone

0:50.4

who you think would be interested in our conversation or the podcast in general.

0:54.7

And if you want to support the work that I put into the podcast, you can do so by going to

0:58.4

Patreon.com slash Paris Marks and becoming a supporter. Thanks so much and enjoy the conversation.

1:04.4

Edward, welcome to Tech Won't Save Us. Great to be here. Thanks for having me.

1:08.3

Great to speak with you today. So obviously I wanted to have you on

1:11.2

because there are Black Lives Matter protests sweeping the United States, and they have grown

1:17.6

into, I would say, a much larger kind of global movement against police brutality, against systemic

1:23.1

racism and all the forms that takes in our societies. And so there are a lot of companies responding

1:30.1

to these protests with really nice statements acting as though they are allies to this broader

1:36.2

movement and that they believe that Black Lives Matter as well. But when we actually dig into

1:42.0

what many of these companies are doing, especially these major tech giants, which is kind of the focus of this podcast in particular and a lot of your writing at Vice, they don't actually demonstrate that in their actions, right?

1:55.9

And so I wanted to touch on multiple ways that that plays out and where they show a disregard for

2:05.3

black lives or even explicitly hurt black people, right? So when it comes to the labor question

2:11.4

and how tech companies treat their workers, are they really treating black workers with the respect that you would

2:20.2

expect from companies saying that black lives matter? You know, I think at the end of the day,

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Paris Marx, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Paris Marx and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.