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In this paper, three Black women in HCI and CSCW share their experiences of being Black women academics enduring a global pandemic that is disportionately impacting the Black community while simultaneously experiencing the civil unrest due to racial injustice and police brutality. Using Black feminist epistemologies as a theoretical framework and auto-ethnography and testimonial authority as both methodology and epistemic resistance, the authors exercise epistemic agency to testify to their lived intersectional experiences and the various fronts on which they fight to be seen, to be heard, and to live. Additionally, they advocate for more inclusionary policies of Black women and other marginalized populations within the CSCW and HCI communities. We conclude with a call to action for both communities to: 1) stand in solidarity with Blacks in computing; and 2) acknowledge, disavow, and dismantle Whiteness and oppressive power structures in the field of computing, specifically HCI and CSCW. 

Efforts to broaden participation in computing have led to gender-focused interventions intended to increase the number of women in the field of computing. However, such efforts have failed to significantly increase the percentage of Black women in computing. For example, only 1% of the 28,884 bachelor\textquotesingle s degrees in computing were awarded to Black women in 2018. Moreover, too few empirical studies have intentionally explored the lived experiences of Black women, an often overlooked and understudied population in the computing ecosystem. In this paper, we introduce intersectionality - the complex overlap of socially constructed identities such as race, gender, class, sexuality, etc. - as a theoretical framework and springboard for exploring the lived experiences of Black women in computing. We interview 14 Black women in various stages of the computing ecosystem (undergraduate students, graduate students and early career professionals) to understand how intersectionality influences their ability to persist in computing. Preliminary findings from the analysis of the 14 interviews provides insights into how the interlocking systems of oppression (i.e., gendered racism) play out in computing education and negatively impact the recruitment and retention of Black women in the field of computing. 

This study reports findings from a longitudinal study aimed at supporting middle-school Black girls’ computational algorithmic thinking (CAT). We argue that STEM learning, in the way SCAT designs it, is not about neoliberal aims, but provides Black girls with opportunities to radically shape their identities as producers, innovators, and disruptors of deficit perspectives. Using Black Feminist Thought and Intersectionality as a theoretical lens, findings suggest Black girls participate in SCAT in order to find meaning in relevance and altruism, author their own creative imaginations, and create new narratives about themselves and other Black girls and women. Implications for K-12 are discussed.