Some poor black girl in Children’s Hospital has the cure for cancer.

The LaQuita Theory.

You know, we talk about “diversity” like it’s some sort of fucking pity party. We tell these big corporations that they should put their greedy biases aside and help minorities out because it’s the right thing to do. We shout,

“minorities need opportunities, so minorities need you to care.”.]

We talk about economically challenged citizens like they’re the fat kid with the thick glasses being picked last for the dodgeball game (and if we don’t let Timmy play, our moms will be mad at us).

This way of thinking about women, POC, or LGBTQ members is fundamentally wrong. And if you’re a woman, or a POC, or a member of the LGBTQ community and you think that these companies should help you out just because you’re a member of an oppressed group, then you’re wrong too.

Here’s a shift in perception — maybe… think for a moment… that we don’t need their help nearly as much as they need ours.

Hear me out…

The truth is that we don’t need corporations to put their greedy biases aside and help us out. We need them to realize that by hiring us they’re actually in more of an alignment with their greedy biases than ever before.

The RO-fucking-I on having a diverse corporation is exponentially profitable. I’m not talking about meeting some fucking quota, as if, the most impactful thing hiring more women could do is lift a percentage and help PR.

I’m talking about the fact that us as women, given the opportunity, will not only change your company for the better, or the country for the better, but we will change the world for the better.

The world doesn’t need more empathy for minorities, the world needs more empowered minorities to make a difference and get us out of this shit hole. Not because “it’s the right thing to do”, but because it’s profitable. It’s progressive. It’s competitive. It’s innovative. It’s necessary. It’s a top priority. It’s all of these amazing things, yet we continue to demand respect as if we’re the only ones that benefit from us having it.

I have this theory, that some poor black girl in Children’s Hospital has the cure for cancer right now, or at least the potentiality to discover it, but she will never get the opportunity to, because someone won’t hire her since they can’t get past the fact that her fucking name is LaQuita.

What I’m trying to say is that we need to stop talking about diversity like it’s a hand out that solely helps the minority.

The truth is that when more diverse companies exist, we ALL win.

When more diverse companies exist, we are more profitable. When more diverse companies exist, we find the cure for cancer. When more diverse companies exist, we solve the issue of world hunger. When more diverse companies exist, we end slavery for once and for all.

When more diverse companies exist, we will migrate from the US dollar to Bitcoin, because there’s a possibility that the one person who has both the design and coding expertise to convince the masses that crypto is safe enough to use is a Pakistani woman in section 8 housing right now… who may never even get an interview with a leading crypto company, because her last name is Bukhari.

We have to put this stupid, racist, sexist, transphobic shit aside so that we can move forward as a country and as a human species. The world needs us, way more than we need them and the potential for exponential growth here is astounding.

You know what I think about when I hear that only 2% of Google employees are black? I think to myself, “wow, Google Glass probably would’ve worked big time if this number were higher”. Only 18% of technical roles at Google are held by women and when I hear this, I think to myself “hmmm, no wonder we’re still waiting for driverless cars to happen”.

I’m not saying that Google is lacking innovation or intelligence… actually, yeah that is what I’m saying.

Because unlike most, I’m not comparing Google’s innovativeness with another male driven company’s innovativeness. I’m comparing it with the potentiality that is untapped! Undiscovered! Unknown! The person who would’ve suggested that Google buy Facebook back in 2009 never got the job because she was a blonde with big boobs whom the interviewer felt would be a distraction to the fucking workplace.

Anyone who doesn’t hire or empower females, POC, or LGBTQ is an idiot who might as well be punching themselves repeatedly in the face, because by not hiring you, they may think that they’re hurting you. However, in reality, they’re hurting themselves. They’re hurting their company. They’re hurting the world, and whichever company spearheads the movement of true, thoughtful diversity is going to win big time.

Inspirational tech folks say that you should found a company that works on solving your own problems, and that makes a lot of sense.

So, is it really that far-fetched to believe that getting someone who has enough money to pay for a personal driver, to figure out how to make autonomous cars work is probably not the most efficient way to figure out how to make autonomous cars work?

Maybe the person on welfare who is sick and tired of riding the bus every day to work would be more suited for the task of figuring out how to get autonomous cars to market, don’t you think? I’m asking you to imagine that that person who experiences this problem every day won’t even get the chance to solve it simply because English is their second language, and their boss never promotes them to more powerful and vocal positions because he hates listening to the accent.

We’ve got to move on. We’ve got to solve these problems. It starts with us truly knowing our worth and talking about ourselves from empowered points of view. I’m a double-minority, and I don’t want your fucking hand out.

When I apply for your job, understand, I’m not asking you for shit.

I’m the one offering.

Felecia

— I’m a coder, designer and podcast host