Tech's Day 19 in Black History:So much more...

Through school, TV, and other media we usually hear the same names during Black History like Martin Luther King Jr, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X, but there is so much more. 

 While at the home of the 2016 National Champions the Clemson Tigers, I had a professor, Dr. Henry Lewis Suggs, in college that made us read and study about others in Black History, the ones that weren't taught in schools, churches or the media. The names you commonly hear and the ones I listed above were excluded.  Dr. Suggs established the African American Studies Program (AAS) at Clemson where he was then inspired to publish four scholarly books and dozens of scholarly articles.  So, thank you Dr. Suggs for inspiring me to look deeper and to study  to learn about these great people in African American History.

 Today at church, our youth were presented by three teachers; who presented a male and female African American in history that they may have yet heard about like Claudette Covin who refused to give up her seat on the bus nine months before Rosa Parks or Carter G. Woodson who was one of the first scholars to study African American history.  Why wasn't Tech invited? Anywho...

One of your youth said he wanted to make video games, so now Tech was asked to mention Gerald A. Lawson; the man behind the first video game console that was mention in the previous blogs Techs in Black History....

GERALD A. LAWSON



Do you own any of the X box, PlayStation, or Nintendo systems? Or have you every played on a friends? Do you call yourself a gamer? Well, you can thank Gerald A. Lawson, a self taught engineer who created the first home video game system with interchangeable parts!! That's right, gamers, his work paved the way for Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation.

It all started in 1976 with the Fairchild Channel F Home Entertainment System that became the bases for modern systems. Lawson was the director of engineering and marketing for Fairchild Semiconductor, where Apple's Computer's co-found Mike Markula had headed Marketing. Lawson also founded and rand Videosoft, a video game development company that made software for the Atari 2600. He also made one of the earliest arcade games, Demolition Derby, which debuted not to long after Pong.

In the 1970s he joined the Silicon Valley's Homebrew Computer club where at the time he was the only black member. While he was with the club, he met Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Lawson was born December 1, 1940 and died April 9, 2011. It was until March 2011, that Lawson was honored as an industry pioneer by the International Game Developers Association shortly before his death.


Check out the African American Tech Inventors  blog post by Clicking Here!

Tech talks Black History Month: Repost

Black History Month, also known as African-American History Month in America, is an annual observance in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom for remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora. It is celebrated annually in the United States[1] and Canada[2] in February and the United Kingdom[3] in October. Wikipedia

Carter G. Woodson

Tech back again to celebrate Black History Month.  Who knew that not only Canada celebrated it but also that the United Kingdom does in October.  Where did it all start?  Well, it wasn't even a month at first, it started of as just a week, the second week in February and it was called Negro History week.  Historian, author, journalist, and founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History Carter G. Woodson announced the celebration and said that the week was chosen because of the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass (dates that were already celebrated together in black communities).  

Woodson believed that teaching black history was essential in preserving the value of the black race in society: 

"If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated. The American Indian left no continuous record. He did not appreciate the value of tradition; and where is he today? The Hebrew keenly appreciated the value of tradition, as is attested by the Bible itself. In spite of worldwide persecution, therefore, he is a great factor in our civilization."

From the initial start up, the enthusiasm to learn and celebrate the accomplishments of blacks grew with mayors across the US endorsing it as a holiday.  Black History Week became Black History month when leaders of the Black United Students at Kent State University proposed it in 1969.  The first celebrated month took place there in 1970. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the whole month of February as Black History Month.

Before in another blog, I highlighted African Americans who change the world through technology:

Gerald A. Lawson
 Created the first home Video Game System

Mark Dean
Launched Modern Computer Age

James E. West
Developed microphone tech

Roy L. Clay Sr.
The Black godfather of Silicon Valley
Build HP's first marketable Computer

Marc Hannah
Invented the Geometry Engine
(Used for CGI Special Effects)

To get more details on each of these guys check out the  blog post by Clicking Here!

Black History Month: African Americans who changed the Tech World: James E. West

 I said a hip hop, Hippie to the hippie, The hip hip a hop and you don't stop, a rock it, to the bang bang boogie, say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the booggie the beat.

Now what you hear is not a test - I'm rappin about Black History
And me, the groove, and G Nation are gonna try to educate like the rest
And introduce you the man, simple known as James E. West

See, I am Tech Support, and I'd Like to Say Hello
To the black, to the white, the red and the brown,The purple and yellow.

Without this man you couldn't hear a voice,and along with Gerhard M. Sessler his friend.
They made it possible to rock a mic, and bust a rhyme to no end.

Ok, I'm done...

James E. West along with his colleague, Gerhad Sessler, developed the mic or the Electroacoustic Transducer electret Microphone; which they got a patent for in 1962 while working at Bell.  It was small, lightweight, cost effective, acoustical accuracy and high performance and is used in 90% of microphones today.   This tech is also found in telephones, tape recorders, camcorders, baby monitors, and even hearing aids!  West owns over 250 patents on microphones and other related discoveries involving polymer-foil electrets.  So, thanks to him G Nation can rock the mike, bringing you shows and entertainment!

In 1997 West was appointed president-elect of the Acoustical Society and joined the National Academe of Engineering in 1998.  In 1999, he and Sessler were inducted into the Nation Inventors Hall of Fame.  West encourage to get African American Women and students to pursue careers in science and technology.  Not only was West an inventor but he is also a published author and contribute to a number of scientific books and papers.  West went on to retire from Bell in 2001 and joined Johns Hopkins as a research professor at the school's Whiting School of Engineering in the electrical/computer engineering department; where he serves to this day.


Black History Month may be coming to end but it can be talked about and researched everyday of they year.

Know Your History

Black History Month: African Americans who changed the Tech World: Roy L. Clay Sr.

 

 

 

 Roy L. Clay Sr.

The black godfather of Silicon Valley 

Computer Programmer, Entrepreneur

Many of you may have heard of Hewlett-Packard or HP.  The company that is known for its printers and Personal Computers.  Well, meet Roy L. Clay Sr. the man who built HP's first marketed computer.  Clay started out as a school teacher after in 1951 he received his degree in Mathematics from St. Louis University.  In 1956, Clay got a job programming IBM and Burroughs computers in the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation (now McDonnell Douglass).  At the time, teaching school was about the best job an African American could get.  Back in those days Universities didn't offer Computer Science degrees so Mathematics graduates were hired for programing and software development. In 1958, Clay went on to work as a computer programmer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he wrote software that demonstrated how radiation particles would spread after a above ground nuclear explosions and then in 1962 he worked as a software engineer for Control Data Corporation where he developed software languages for Control Data computers.

It was in 1965 when Roy Clay got a position as the software development manager and lead developer for the HP 2116A; HP's first marketed computer, the first mini-computer and it was the second 16-bit computer to hit the market after Honeywell's DDP-116. Not only did he lead the team that created the computer he also wrote the software that ran it.  Unlike other computers at the time that filled up a whole room, the HP 2116A was about the size of a small under-the-counter refrigerator.  The first HP-2116 was bought by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and was used aboard a research vessel.  Even in the harsh conditions of being on a ship like salt in the air and constant temperature changes, the computer lasted more than 10 years!

 

Clay became the first director of the HP Research and Development Computer group that worked to promote HP's computer division.  He wanted an environment that would promote creativity so his workers day began with a round of golf at daybreak and at 9:00 a.m. they came into to HP and stayed until the work was done. Wonder if he would let me start the day off with a round of Call of Duty on Xbox?   Ok, anyway, with his positions at HP, he helped other minorities have successful careers in the tech industry.  He broke down barriers for African Americans in technology by recruiting and developing talent and paving the way for the next generation of black technology innovators giving him the monarch, the black godfather of Silicon Valley.

The black godfather of Silicon Valley's guidance lead to the initial funding of popular Computer companies like Intel, Compaq, Tandem and many other successes in Silicon valley.  Along with helping those companies Clay started his on company Rod-L Electronic the hipot and electrical-safety test equipment manufacturer; named by his wife after their two sons.  Here he invented the first electronic equipment safety testing device to be certified by Underwriters Laboratory (UL).  In the mid 1970's Clay learned that UL was going to require electrical safety tests on electrical products to make sure that they would not shock or cause a fire.  The ROD-L tester was placed at the end of HP, IBM, AT&T and Xerox production lines.  The tester is still the standard to this day.  Look at the back of your computer, you can see the UL safety sticker and information.  Not only computers but the tester is used on everything from dishwashers to pacemakers.  Clay is still the CEO of ROD-L.  Check out the company website here!

 On top of all this he has been a vital part of his community.  In honor of his wife he founded the Virginia Clay / Unity Care Annual Golf classic to promote the success for young minorities.  Proceeds fund the Unity Care Groups Pre-College Minority Engineering program that encourages minorities to build technology projects.  He also lead the Girls' Club of the Mid Peninsula tht helps girls reach their full potential and JobTrain that helps take personal motivations into marketable skills that make higher self-sufficiency and self Esteem.  Also, he was the first non-Caucasian to serve on the Palo Alto City Council and he was the first African American Vice Mayor from 1976-1977.

 I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse.... Know Your History