Black Family Technology Awareness Week luncheon at Northeast High School

A portion of the students, staff and professionals attending the 2010 Black Family Technology Week luncheon held at Northeast High School.

This story also appears on Northeast news site NEast Philly and is reprinted here with permission as part of a content partnership. See more photos here.

More than 200 students, staff, technology professionals and partners listened to the musical stylings of a high school choir last week. But everyone was there to promote technology literacy.

Held at Northeast High School, the sixth annual luncheon was again the signature event of the 11th annual Black Family Technology Awareness Week, which has some lingering events over the next few days.

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Events Highlights for Feb 22-28th, 2010

Thanks to some warm weather, our city streets are now actually, you know, walkable.

No longer do we all have to ice skate to SEPTA, and that means that heading out to the week’s tech events should be as easy as ever. Although, the weather gods seem to be brewing the next storm, so you’d best take advantage while you can.

First and foremost, Black Family Technology Awareness Week has a handful of remaining events this week, including the Changing Expectations Career Tour for anyone considering getting into tech.

On Tuesday, head on over to Liberty Plaza to learn everything you ever wanted to know about mobile programming. The next day you should come out to hear Technically Philly present its business plan to the Philly Startup Leaders and other attendees. Even if you aren’t into sustainable journalism (but, let’s be honest: everyone’s into journalism’s business models… right?), come out for $2 beers and $3 well drinks. And lastly, after work on Friday, TrendCamp will help us all discover the trends that will come to define 2010.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more.

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Black Family Technology Awareness Week launches 11th year, first without pioneer

Socioeconomic forces complicate an already complicated issue, but, still, the digital divide is perhaps most often seen as a split between white communities and black communities.

Forty-five percent of black Americans will use a computer on a typical day, 14 percent less than the figure for their white counterparts, according to Pew Internet and American Life research from last summer.

It was with that in mind that more than a decade ago that Baltimore-based media company Career Communications Group and IBM partnered to create Black Family Technology Awareness Week (Feb. 14 – 20), a loose confederation of events that center around the theme of bring technology education, job and other opportunities to black communities that need them. See a complete list of events here.

It has nearly as long a history in Philadelphia, but this year, its pioneer isn’t here anymore.

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Update on passing of Carole I. Smith mayor’s Commission on Technology director

Details on the memorial services for and a scholarship fund on behalf of Carole I. Smith, the executive director of the Mayor’s Commission on Technology who died last Monday, have been announced.

Smith, 67, passed from complications related to pancreatic cancer. She is survived by her daughter Narissa Wallace, who is married with two children.

Supporters can celebrate Smith’s life at a memorial service to be held at 10 a.m. Sat. Jan 23, inside the Community College of Philadelphia’s Bonnell Building auditorium on 17th Street between Callowhill and Spring Garden streets. The internment will be private.

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