Cybersecurity 101

 

What's the difference between a threat and a risk?

 

This workshop is a basic introduction to key vocabulary and concepts that drive cybersecurity. After discussing the foundations, we'll also work together to use our new vocabulary to analyze some cyber attacks that have made headlines in recent years.


About #CommunityTech Workshops

 

Color Coded Community Technology Workshops are every fourth Thursday of the month. We facilitate ***BIPOC only*** workshops covering a range of topics from digital privacy to DJing to GIF making. Workshops are free, but donations are always welcomed.

 

Streaming Justice Workshop

Josephine Shetty (Kohinoorgasm) presents

@ our September #CommunityTech workshop! 

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Most popular streaming services are covertly designed to repress the work and value of grassroots artists and to manipulate user data for corporate profit. Artists, music lovers, and listeners, join artist and activist Josephine Shetty as they present their research, done in tandem with South Carolina-based artist and activist Anjali Naik, on algorithmic streaming biases, royalty compensation injustices, corporate manipulation of user data, and the struggles of working musicians in the streaming era. The floor will be open after the presentation for artists and listeners alike to share their streaming-related stories and for the group to brainstorm more ethical listening and compensation cultures for grassroots musicians.


~*About our Facilitators*~
Josephine Shetty is most frequently identified as Kohinoorgasm (one word: ko-hee-noor-gasm), a lo-fi experimental pop musician known for minimal dance beats and susurrate vocals. Kohinoorgasm creates hypnotic sonic environments in which they hope listeners can reflect and replenish. Between one album and two EPs, their released songs address topics ranging from war crimes and transformative justice to emotional exhaustion and body autonomy. As a self-teaching, self-managing, self-producing, and self-releasing solo artist, critical elements of Kohinoorgasm's ethos also include uplifting marginalized artists and advancing grassroots efforts to abolish systems that terrorize and criminalize migrants and poor people, decolonize our social and economic structures, and heal the emotional and psychological wounds of living in an unjust society. As Kohinoorgasm, Shetty has performed at festivals, universities, museums, music venues, and art spaces across the US and Europe. Additionally, a strong commitment to community and collaboration has drawn Shetty to other roles and disciplines, such as workshop facilitator, organizer, audio engineer, composer, dancer, curator, and model. Shetty is born and based in Los Angeles, CA, and their music is streaming everywhere.

(All Images by Paradise Khanmalek)

A People's History of Science

Color Coded is excited to host Free Radicals for our next #CommunityTech workshop! 

Join Free Radicals in unpacking the complicated history of science and its relationship to imperialism. We will be giving an account of science from communities that have been omitted from its histories. Our teach-in will consist of a short interactive presentation on the history of science’s oppression along with a reflection on non-Western sciences. We will connect this history with our lived experiences as people of color, women, queer, and gender non conforming people in the sciences. 

Join us in learning our histories in knowledge-building and shaping a science in which we can thrive!


~*About our Facilitators*~
Mario De Leon loves math. He was born and raised in Guatemala until the age of 9, and has lived in Los Angeles as an undocumented immigrant ever since. While he was not formally ‘trained’ in math, this topic has been of interest to him since the age of 3 when he first questioned (the concept of) God. Mario believes that math is beautiful and that we are simply out of love with math due to modern formal education systems, colonialism, and capitalism. One of his goals in life is to make people fall in love with math again. When he’s not contemplating the meaning of life, Mario likes to hang out with his cat, Pi. Mario believes in the power of math and science in the hands of the working class to radically reimagine what math education can look like for the benefit of all beings.

~*About Free Radicals*~
Free Radicals is an activist collective dedicated to creating a more socially just, equitable, and accountable science. We create accessible resources for political education on the intersection of science and social justice and collaborate with local progressive organizing efforts on issues related to science and technology. To learn more, contact us at: freeradicalsblog@gmail.com

#CryptoCurrents

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A knowledge share on cryptocurrencies & its impact on our communities.

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency created and managed through advanced encryption techniques known as cryptography. Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, was created with the idea to have a decentralized currency that is not controlled by a centralized bank or government. Bitcoin was invented by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, an unknown person or people, who also devised the first blockchain database—a database that is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography. Because this technology is open source, there are over 1,600+ cryptocurrencies in existence today. Anyone who wants to and knows how to can create a cryptocurrency.

Our #CommunityTech Workshop #CryptoCurrents is a knowledge share where we explored:

  • What is cryptocurrency?

  • What is the blockchain technology?

  • How does these affect communities of color?

  • Can we build beautiful things with it?

We will also take time to imagine how blockchain technology might support and sustain community-centered collectives, worker-owned cooperatives, autonomous systems of care, anything and everything our communities care about.

Video resources from the web

About Our Facilitators

This workshop was facilitated by Color Coded members, Aya and Danny.

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Aya has worked in Los Angeles as a program manager for after-school programs for over 10 years. Her experience in management over the years has made her realize that multigenerational POC spaces are crucial to building the future we want to see. She is a member of Color Coded and will be co-facilitating for this workshop. She is not an expert in cryptocurrencies, but is excited to introduce some ideas that she and other members of CC have been learning about.

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Danny is a student studying animation at CSULA. He has worked in South LA as an after-school program leader and supervisor. He is a member of Color Coded and has some experience buying and trading cryptocurrencies. He will share his experiences of what he has learned and how CC discussions have helped frame different possibilities of engaging with this technology.

#PoderColectivo

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Strategies & Dialogue On Collectives, Cooperatives, and Community Ownership

For communities of color, being dependent on the current economic system is dangerous and hazardous to our health and to our lives. Through decades of neoliberal policy making, capitalism has prioritized the individual over the collective and corporations over communities — oftentimes negatively impacting communities of color. This brings us to our current living conditions: a volatile job market, low-paying wages, shortages of affordable housing, and an expensive healthcare system… to name a few.

Through the need to survive, some of us have started to navigate our own way choosing instead to collaborate with one another. We seek to uplift our own lives and to build up collective security, wealth, and power—right here and right now. So, how do we protect our efforts from being co-opted, exploited, and destroyed? How do we begin to amplify them so that many more can take part? What are the strategies we will use to sustainably thrive together in today’s world — instead of only surviving in it?

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On February 22, for our first Community Technology Workshop of 2018, Color Coded organized and facilitated a dialogue on collectives, cooperatives, and community ownership with folks within our network. The conversation was moderated by Color Coded member Cesia Dominguez. Our guests included Blanca Diaz from Flor y Tierra and LB Birth Workers of Color (Long Beach); Miguel Ramos from Casita del Barrio (East LA); Kateri Gutierrez from Collective Avenue Coffee (Lynwood); artist Irina Contreras (Los Angeles); and Marco Lopez from Condina Records (Boyle Heights). Each of our guests shared their stories and strategies on collectives, cooperatives, and community ownership.

Into the future

In a breakout session following the dialogue, we asked: How can we amplify, sustain, and protect each other and our work? This is our starting point for #PoderColectivo into the future.

Color Coded intends to develop relationships with all collectives of color in Los Angeles. We envision a federation of collectives working autonomously yet collaboratively to meet each of our communities needs. If you and your collective are interested in joining this effort, please fill out the #PoderColectivo Interest Form to get connected.


#AncestralTech

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Plant and flower bundles can assist in healing for emotional, spiritual, and psychological bodies.

Flower and plant bundles are an invitation to practice reciprocity with our Mother Earth and each other. In our first #AncestralTech workshop, facilitated by Agua Dulce Healing, we explored how the Spirit of the flowers and herbs can heal us through bundle making. Workshop participants learned about the Spirit properties of each plant, as well as how we can call upon the plants to assist us in activating our intentions. Participants were also invited to create their own bundle to take home.


About Agua Dulce Healing
Agua Dulce is a medicine grower/maker, Earth & Spirit-based therapist, and momma to a beautiful 4 year old fairy. Her healing practice is closely connected to Healing Justice and Liberation Movements. Agua Dulce has been studying flower & plant medicine since her work study began with her Elder and friend Queen Hollins at the Earthlodge Center for Healing and Transformation in Long Beach. Agua Dulce is committed to bringing her private practice to individuals and communities healing at the intersections of oppression. Her vision is to assist others in connecting to Pachamama's Abundance; becoming more in touch with their intuition and healing path. Sessions with Agua Dulce consist of platica's (1-1 conversations), flower card readings, and various medicine making practices. You can follow her on Instagram @aguadulce3 and Facebook @Agua Dulce Healing for workshops, events, and therapy sessions.

#WeaponsOfMassDisplacement

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“What kind of tech can we make to defend our hoods, strengthen our communities and stop displacement?”

Our #WeaponsOfMassDisplacement workshop looked at how consumer and enterprise tech platforms enable and accelerate mass displacement and gentrification. This workshop was facilitated by Color Coded collective members Chris and Aya.