SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Tech Workers Celebrate Pi Day With Protests Against Trump
'Tech has the duty to stand up and be a leader for progress, especially when there is a lack of leadership in Washington'
Mar 14, 2017
Tech workers are planning to mark the celebration of Pi Day--March 14, or 3/14--by protesting President Donald Trump, with demonstrations scheduled throughout the country on Tuesday.
Tech Stands Up, an activist group of industry workers, is organizing protests in Silicon Valley, the California epicenter of the technology sector, as well as Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, according the group's Facebook page.
"We believe in creating a space that respects, empowers and includes all. We believe in standing up for the fundamental rights of all communities and persons. We believe in standing up for something, not simply against it," the organizers write.
In a post on Medium published Saturday, organizers Brad Taylor and Mckenzie Lock wrote, "With great power, comes great responsibility. With its talents and resources, tech has the duty to stand up and be a leader for progress, especially when there is a lack of leadership in Washington."
"We have been forced to confront some uncomfortable truths head on: that while technological advancement has improved lives, it has also disrupted livelihoods," they write. "[T]hat economic and social progress is not only the responsibility of those in Washington but of everyone, especially those with the ability to affect them."
Close to 2,000 people have registered to attend the rally in Palo Alto, which will include speakers and information tables for nonprofit organizations, the group said.
The tech industry has decried Trump's controversial travel ban and other immigration policies. Almost 100 companies, including Google, Apple, and Facebook, were among those who filed legal briefs in February challenging the now-suspended executive order that banned travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
"The order makes it more difficult and expensive for U.S. companies to recruit, hire, and retain some of the world's best employees," the brief stated. "It disrupts ongoing business operations. And it threatens companies' ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
Tech workers are planning to mark the celebration of Pi Day--March 14, or 3/14--by protesting President Donald Trump, with demonstrations scheduled throughout the country on Tuesday.
Tech Stands Up, an activist group of industry workers, is organizing protests in Silicon Valley, the California epicenter of the technology sector, as well as Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, according the group's Facebook page.
"We believe in creating a space that respects, empowers and includes all. We believe in standing up for the fundamental rights of all communities and persons. We believe in standing up for something, not simply against it," the organizers write.
In a post on Medium published Saturday, organizers Brad Taylor and Mckenzie Lock wrote, "With great power, comes great responsibility. With its talents and resources, tech has the duty to stand up and be a leader for progress, especially when there is a lack of leadership in Washington."
"We have been forced to confront some uncomfortable truths head on: that while technological advancement has improved lives, it has also disrupted livelihoods," they write. "[T]hat economic and social progress is not only the responsibility of those in Washington but of everyone, especially those with the ability to affect them."
Close to 2,000 people have registered to attend the rally in Palo Alto, which will include speakers and information tables for nonprofit organizations, the group said.
The tech industry has decried Trump's controversial travel ban and other immigration policies. Almost 100 companies, including Google, Apple, and Facebook, were among those who filed legal briefs in February challenging the now-suspended executive order that banned travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
"The order makes it more difficult and expensive for U.S. companies to recruit, hire, and retain some of the world's best employees," the brief stated. "It disrupts ongoing business operations. And it threatens companies' ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States."
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
Tech workers are planning to mark the celebration of Pi Day--March 14, or 3/14--by protesting President Donald Trump, with demonstrations scheduled throughout the country on Tuesday.
Tech Stands Up, an activist group of industry workers, is organizing protests in Silicon Valley, the California epicenter of the technology sector, as well as Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, according the group's Facebook page.
"We believe in creating a space that respects, empowers and includes all. We believe in standing up for the fundamental rights of all communities and persons. We believe in standing up for something, not simply against it," the organizers write.
In a post on Medium published Saturday, organizers Brad Taylor and Mckenzie Lock wrote, "With great power, comes great responsibility. With its talents and resources, tech has the duty to stand up and be a leader for progress, especially when there is a lack of leadership in Washington."
"We have been forced to confront some uncomfortable truths head on: that while technological advancement has improved lives, it has also disrupted livelihoods," they write. "[T]hat economic and social progress is not only the responsibility of those in Washington but of everyone, especially those with the ability to affect them."
Close to 2,000 people have registered to attend the rally in Palo Alto, which will include speakers and information tables for nonprofit organizations, the group said.
The tech industry has decried Trump's controversial travel ban and other immigration policies. Almost 100 companies, including Google, Apple, and Facebook, were among those who filed legal briefs in February challenging the now-suspended executive order that banned travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
"The order makes it more difficult and expensive for U.S. companies to recruit, hire, and retain some of the world's best employees," the brief stated. "It disrupts ongoing business operations. And it threatens companies' ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy