Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
Kronda Adair and Self-Determination
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2014 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
Ada Initiative's interview with Kronda Adair reminded me:
I meet lots of people at conferences, and then have a hard time recollecting nearly all their names and faces, even if we've had long, interesting conversations. So, at a recent Open Source Bridge, I stuck my hand out and said "nice to meet you," and Kronda Adair said something like, "Oh we met last year! We had a long talk and you told me to quit my job."
"I what?"
"Oh it's okay, they fired me. But it's totally fine, you were right."
(Or something similar.) Adair went on to start her own business, speak and write about why you should "Stop Crying in the Bathroom and Start Your Own Business", and say,
"There's not a lot of narrative in the tech industry about being able to directly use your skills to benefit people without the overhead of trying to get biased hiring managers to give you a job, or dealing with sexism, racism, homophobia or transphobia on a daily basis. I wanted to model that and show people that it's possible because it's the way that I see myself being able to stay in the industry long term without sacrificing my emotional health."
In order to exercise the four freedoms that F/LOSS guarantees us, we also need economic freedom and nurturing environments. Adair and I have both benefited from the Ada Initiative's work in those areas, and so I'll remind you that you can help: donate now. Thanks.
