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    "title" : "Celebrating Black History at TTS: Reflections on the Challenges of the Past and Present |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Celebrating Black History at TTS: Reflections on the Challenges of the Past and Present",
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    {"title" :"Celebrating Black History at TTS: Reflections on the Challenges of the Past and Present","summary" : "Technology Transformation Services (TTS) has a vision for a government that is trusted, modern, and provides services for all. During Black History Month, two of our affinity groups took the opportunity to balance celebration with reflection on the challenges of the past and present.","date" : "2022-03-14T17:05:00-05:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-24T09:38:50-06:00","authors" : {"patrick-kigongo" : "Patrick Kigongo","jon-roberts" : "Jon Roberts"},"topics" : {
        
            "digital-service-delivery" : "Digital service delivery"
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  "Title card graphic with a black background. On the left is the title in white text, Celebrating Black History at TTS: Reflections on the Challenges of the Past and Present. Below that is the digital.gov logo in white. On the right is a green circle with two figures in front of it. On the left, a stock photo of a young black woman with an afro, wearing a black blouse with white polka dots. To her right is a black and white photo of poet and civil rights activist, Dr. Maya Angelou. Below them are abstract shapes in gold, red, black, and green. Photo credit: Maya Angelou visits YCP! 2/4/13 by York College ISLGP is marked with CC BY 2.0.", "width" :
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      "filename" :"2022-03-14-celebrating-black-history-at-tts-reflections-on-the-challenges-of-the-past-and-present.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2022/03/2022-03-14-celebrating-black-history-at-tts-reflections-on-the-challenges-of-the-past-and-present.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/mh-content-updates/content/news/2022/03/2022-03-14-celebrating-black-history-at-tts-reflections-on-the-challenges-of-the-past-and-present.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/mh-content-updates/content/news/2022/03/2022-03-14-celebrating-black-history-at-tts-reflections-on-the-challenges-of-the-past-and-present.md","slug" : "celebrating-black-history-at-tts-reflections-on-the-challenges-of-the-past-and-present","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/mh-content-updates/2022/03/14/celebrating-black-history-at-tts-reflections-on-the-challenges-of-the-past-and-present/","weight" : "1","content" :"\u003cp\u003eDuring this past month, Technology Transformation Services (TTS) continued our tradition of honoring Black History Month through our internal campaign of highlighting Black people’s achievements and societal contributions that impact our digital technologists. Members of TTS’ \u003cem\u003eWorking While Black\u003c/em\u003e affinity group shared their thoughts with the organization to celebrate the contributions of Black Americans to every facet of American life.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n  \n\u003carticle\n  class=\"dg-note dg-note--comment\"\n\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"dg-note__heading\"\u003e\n    \u003csvg\n      class=\"dg-note__icon usa-icon dg-icon dg-icon--large\"\n      aria-hidden=\"true\"\n      focusable=\"false\"\n    \u003e\n      \u003cuse xlink:href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/mh-content-updates/uswds/img/sprite.svg#comment\"\u003e\u003c/use\u003e\n    \u003c/svg\u003e\n    \n      \n        Comment\n      \n    \n  \u003c/h4\u003e\n  \u003cdiv class=\"image image-right\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/dr-maya-angelou-york-college-feb-4-2013-square_w200.png\"  alt='Dr. Maya Angelou is seated in front of a microphone against a black background. She is wearing a long black dress, dark glasses, and gold jewelry. On her left is a small table with two books.'\n    srcset=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/dr-maya-angelou-york-college-feb-4-2013-square_bu.jpg 48w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/dr-maya-angelou-york-college-feb-4-2013-square_w1200.png 1200w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/dr-maya-angelou-york-college-feb-4-2013-square_w800.png 800w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/dr-maya-angelou-york-college-feb-4-2013-square_w400.png 400w,https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/dr-maya-angelou-york-college-feb-4-2013-square_w200.png 200w\"\n    sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 40vw, 400px\"\n  /\u003e\u003cp\u003eMaya Angelou visits YCP! 2/4/13, by York College ISLGP, CC BY 2.0.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCelebrated poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou was an American Treasure. In addition to being a best-selling author, Angelou was also a dancer, actress, film-maker, and singer who won three Grammy awards, spoke six languages, and worked as a journalist in Egypt and Ghana. She was the second poet in history to recite a poem at a U.S. presidential inauguration, and was nominated for a Tony award. In 2000, she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Arts by former President Bill Clinton, and in 2011 she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Barack Obama.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAngelou’s writings have altered society for the better, bringing greater diversity into the theater and literature. Her autobiographical works provide powerful insights into the evolution of Black women in the 20th century, and she continues to make history today as she is the first African American woman to be printed on the U.S. quarters.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e — \u003cstrong\u003eShawnique Morrison\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003c/article\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLed by our \u003cem\u003eWorking While Black\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eTTS Diversity Guild\u003c/em\u003e colleagues, these conversations illuminate how the inclusion—or exclusion—of these talents has also shaped our nation’s history.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n  \n\u003carticle\n  class=\"dg-note dg-note--comment\"\n\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"dg-note__heading\"\u003e\n    \u003csvg\n      class=\"dg-note__icon usa-icon dg-icon dg-icon--large\"\n      aria-hidden=\"true\"\n      focusable=\"false\"\n    \u003e\n      \u003cuse xlink:href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/mh-content-updates/uswds/img/sprite.svg#comment\"\u003e\u003c/use\u003e\n    \u003c/svg\u003e\n    \n      \n        Comment\n      \n    \n  \u003c/h4\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eBlack American artists have traditionally been isolated from art history. Historical work by Black artists is often under-examined and underrepresented in private and public collections. These reasons, and many more, led Black artist and curator David C. Driskell to curate \u003cem\u003eTwo Centuries of Black American Art\u003c/em\u003e at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA - which is right down the street for me) in 1976. The exhibition was curated with the purpose of staking \u0026ldquo;\u003ca href=\"https://www.artnews.com/art-news/retrospective/david-c-driskell-shaped-black-art-pamela-newkirk-archives-1202683191/\"\u003ea claim for the profound and indelible contributions of black and African American art makers\u003c/a\u003e\u0026rdquo; between 1750 and 1950.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e — \u003cstrong\u003ePatrick Kigongo\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003c/article\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGovernment services also have a history of excluding those most vulnerable with barriers to accessibility, and contributors took the opportunity to balance celebration with reflection of the challenges of the past and present.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n  \n\u003carticle\n  class=\"dg-note dg-note--comment\"\n\u003e\n  \u003ch4 class=\"dg-note__heading\"\u003e\n    \u003csvg\n      class=\"dg-note__icon usa-icon dg-icon dg-icon--large\"\n      aria-hidden=\"true\"\n      focusable=\"false\"\n    \u003e\n      \u003cuse xlink:href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/mh-content-updates/uswds/img/sprite.svg#comment\"\u003e\u003c/use\u003e\n    \u003c/svg\u003e\n    \n      \n        Comment\n      \n    \n  \u003c/h4\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eAlthough we\u0026rsquo;re nearing the end of Black History Month, there\u0026rsquo;s more to share! As you might have heard by now, the 2022 Black History theme is \u003cem\u003eBlack Health and Wellness\u003c/em\u003e, established by the \u003ca href=\"https://asalh.org/black-history-themes/\"\u003eAssociation for the Study of African American Life and History\u003c/a\u003e. Did you know the mortality rate for Black women diagnosed with breast cancer is 42% higher than the rate of white women? \u003ca href=\"https://www.bcpp.org/resource/african-american-women-and-breast-cancer/\"\u003eBlack women have a 31% breast cancer mortality\u003c/a\u003e — the highest of any U.S. racial or ethnic group. Among women younger than 45, breast cancer incidence is higher among Black women than white women.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe disproportionate numbers for Black women are startling and the gap continues to grow, despite the universal drop in mortality rates over the past 20 years. These numbers are personal for me, as there is a long history of breast cancer in my family, starting with my mother — who is a [two time] breast cancer survivor and was diagnosed in her early 30s. There is a lot to be said regarding practices primarily associated with (and marketed to) Black women — including hair straighteners, hair relaxers, and skin lighteners — and the increased risks. In 2019, a study was published in the International Journal of Cancer that looked at hair dye, chemical straighteners, and breast cancer risks. The study highlighted the rising rates of breast cancer in Black women, as well as our tendency towards more aggressive subtypes, such as the triple-negative subtype, and death. There were obvious links between the products commonly used by Black women and the ingredients that could pose a higher risk of the disease.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e — \u003cstrong\u003eTeneshia Miller\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003c/article\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTTS applies modern methodologies and technologies to improve the lives of the public and public servants. We have a vision for a government that is trusted, modern, and provides services for all. Ultimately, TTS seeks to focus on equity through community-driven design and engaging with historically-marginalized communities to make sure we are delivering tangible value for them.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe highlight this during Black History Month, but we work to improve the experience for the public with government services, especially those who have been traditionally discriminated against or marginalized, all year long.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
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