Knowledge Is King ( Black History Month Special )
by Gary Robinson
Knowledge, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is simply defined as “information and understanding that you have in your mind.” Knowledge can change the trajectory of your life, while impacting the lives of others. And no one can take it from you. The phrase “scientia potentia est” is a Latin aphorism meaning “knowledge is power”, commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon. My high school Latin teachers would be so proud of me for quoting this reference. Knowledge is imperative. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” This sentence of bible verse is often quoted. But the meaning behind the statement is only found if you read further. It makes reference to having knowledge, and yet ignoring what you know to be true. Sound familiar? Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is almost a universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” Thankfully there are those who seek out information and understanding to gain as much knowledge as possible. Just like Dr. King sought to teach Americans that our nation’s true identity lay not in color and hate, but in diversity and love.
Diversity is welcomed by everyone when it references material things like fashion, automobiles, food, entertainment and vacations. But diversity is much less welcomed when it references people of color. Even though February in the States is Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr’s. Birthday is now a national holiday, there are still many playing fields to be leveled. African Americans are working in all those fields. Not the southern fields of their forefathers, but in every field of knowledge on this planet. African American inventors have impacted our daily lives in phenomenal ways. Thomas L. Jennings invented the dry cleaning process in 1821. George Washington Carver invented instant coffee, bleach, laundry soap, shaving cream and diesel fuel. Frederick McKinley Jones invented refrigerated trucks and air conditioners for automobiles. And, we cannot omit Dr. Shirley Jackson, PHD., the first African American woman who earned a doctorate from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), created fiber optic cables. Marie Van Britton Brown and her spouse invented the first home security system patented in 1969.
At 10:30 pm on October 29, 1969, the first ARPAnet message was sent from a UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) site to the Stanford Research Institute in northern California. ARPAnet is the first large-scale, general-purpose computer network to connect different kinds of computers together. The internet was born! NASA also made history in 1969 by landing the first men on the moon. The Apollo 11 mission made Neil Armstrong and Buz Aldrin household names, forever positioned in history as the first men to walk on the moon. A mission made possible by Katherine Johnson. Katherine Johnson is African American, and the first woman to be pulled from NASA’s computing pool. She created the calculations that lead to Apollo 11 landing on the moon. The Oscar nominated film Hidden Figures tells the story of Katherine Johnson and the other African American women that contributed to NASA’s success. Amid racism, discrimination and misogyny, they excelled.
With knowledge you can excel to unimaginable heights. And give amazing gifts to the world. Dr. King said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?” In the tech world, that question seems to be very relevant and central to many tech innovators. The Good AI, an IT services and IT consulting company, highlights a few of these innovators in an article for IN. Joy Buolamwini really caught my attention. Joy is a poet of code who uses art and research to illuminate the social implications of artificial intelligence. She founded the Algorithmic Justice League to create a world with more ethical and inclusive technology. Her TED Featured Talk on algorithmic bias has over 1 million views. Her MIT thesis methodology uncovered large racial and gender bias in AI services from companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon. Her research has been covered in over 40 countries.
I’ve lived in Los Angeles since 2005 and I’ve met quite a few celebrities. As an actor, I’ve met and worked with famous actors. I’ve met famous singers, musicians and professional athletes. However, one of, if not the most impressive person I’ve met, holds none of these titles. But has worked with the late Nipsey Hustle, Beyonce’, Jay Z, Rihanna and Travis Scott. His name is Iddris Sandu. Iddris is a digital architect, technical consultant, engineer and entrepreneur. And is one of the nicest, most genuine and empathetic human beings I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with. Iddris was an intern at Google at 13. He created his first app at the age of 15. His app allowed students to navigate around the campus using augmented reality. At 15 years old, he also received the Presidential Scholar Award from President Obama. Iddris was born in Accra, Ghana, and was raised by his mother in Compton and Harbor City, California. As a child he navigated the challenges of lower income neighborhoods. Especially the absence of any current books on technology in those neighborhood libraries. However, his resume, innovations and clientele are testimony to where an unrelenting thirst for knowledge can lead you.
At 26 years old, Iddris is the CEO and founder of Spatial Labs. Spatial Labs is a hardware first company where tech, music, fashion, culture and humanity intersect. Iddris believes in, and runs his company on, empathy-based designs. Empathy centered innovation is the fuel that powers Spatial Labs. To quote Iddris, “When in doubt, think like a human. Not an algorithm.” In January of 2023, web3 infrastructure and hardware company, Spatial Labs landed $10 million in funding led by Blockchain Capital, making Iddris Sandu the youngest African American entrepreneur to raise a double digit seed round. Spatial Labs is focused on creating hardware and software products that connect physical products to digital assets. Iddris has also purchased nine acres of land to build a state of the art tech hub in Ghana’s capital. Iddris is always on a mission to make this world better than he found it.
Knowledge is more fully defined as: facts, information and skills acquired by a person through experience or education, the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. Dwayne Campbell, CEO of Medallion XLN is knowledgeable in decentralization, blockchain, extended reality and artificial intelligence. These are the mainstays of Medallion XLN. Dwayne states that, “Medallion XLN believes that tools should be developed to secure individual digital rights such as privacy, anti-censorship and monetization. Each person’s data should not be farmed or used without the knowledge of the affected person without said person being alerted then compensated. We aim to even the playing field between each person and powerful internet corporations by implementing a decentralization focused community initiative that secures our digital sovereignty.” Medallion XLN is a startup company helmed by an exceptionally brilliant and self-taught young African American man. Diversity, empathy, fairness and faith are the cornerstones of our company. To quote Coretta Scott King, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” Please reach out to us directly to find out more about our mission at Medallion XLN. Watch and like our videos and podcasts on YouTube. You can read our blog on Substack. And all of this knowledge is free. Thanks for your continued support.
