KENWOOD — Rainbow PUSH Coalition wants to help Chicago children keep up with the Joneses in the technology field.
On Friday after a Coalition media luncheon, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., founder and president of Rainbow PUSH and Tracy Powell, director of technology initiatives of Rainbow PUSH, took reporters on a tour of their second "Tech Lab."
Powell says this is the organization's way to help make the next generation of black engineers available to groups in the tech field.
"It came from Rev. Jackson engaging technology companies on their lack of diversity," Powell said. "They said that they had problems finding African-American engineers and developers. We decided to help them create that pipeline."
Many of the students involved are learning coding and robotics. Powell said that children in African-American communities need to be exposed to the best resources possible.
"We know there's kids in our communities who can do this stuff. They have the capabilities, but they just weren't exposed to these opportunities," Powell said. "These kids can now get hands-on opportunities and hands-on exposure to different aspects of technology. We want to spread this to Chicago and the entire country."
Rainbow PUSH is also combining lessons in STEM fields with athletics in a day camp that starts July 9 called "Summer STEM/Sports Institute." In the camp students can take classes on coding, website development and financial literacy among others.
Jackson told DNAinfo local children should be taking advantage of the latest technology in order to compete for jobs internationally.
"It's the fastest growing industry in the world. We have capacity to create jobs, invent, imagine," Jackson said. "We're trending youth towards that science. It's a skill that's being taught all over the country."
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