Valence

Social network for black professionals

1 follower

Social network for black professionals

1 follower

Valence aims to unlock the global combined power of black professionals to create massive economic and social progress. From industry titans to up-and-comers, their members include the best Black talent in Tech, Media, Finance and Entertainment.

Launch tags:Tech

Launch Team

Framer AI AgentsDesign and publish professional sites with AI

Promoted

I'm proud of the white men on this thread trying to educate others. Race is a complicated issue but crying 'this is racist' isn't really a solution. Do you know the issue they are trying to solve? Do you have a better idea? Then do something productive. That's what this whole website is about. Producing something useful that solves an issue, not just piling on to what you think the issue is. Be solution driven and not problem focused and you might start to view the world just a little bit differently.

Report

7yr ago

@tribeeclectic Yes there are better solutions. There has been for the past few thousand years it's called double blind testing. You can Google it yourself, it's pretty neat when it comes to flattening multiple variables you are not interested in such as races or feet size, it even works with family names, whether you like to go swimming or not.

Report

7yr ago

@tribeeclectic playing devils advocate as I am not a white man and race is even more complicated for latinos. I believe that you are closing yourself to some valuable criticism because I (not a white man) am closed to this platform and could perhaps see what they are talking about. As I mentioned in other comments, we talk of inclusivity and have all of these diverse programs in tech/finance, but then I see something like this that excludes others. I believe (trust me I'm working on my startup and being as solution driven as you say) that coming together is much better than isolating every sub culture group. Also, lighten up. It's product hunt. Everyone comes here because we're all makers and get inspired from the new products and comment to provide criticisms and feedback. It's part of it.

Report

7yr ago

@tribeeclectic You summarised it all by "be solution driven and not problem focused"

Report

7yr ago

The comments on the post are baffling. It's a proven fact that tech, specifically in Silicon Valley and surrounding areas, lack African American talent. To say that this platform is racist implies that companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc., are racist as they've created the problem for why this product even needs to exist.

Report

7yr ago

@sjackson They might be. Do you have some proof that Google selects its employee using racial criteria?

Report

7yr ago

@sjackson Steve, you have to see both sides. We talk of inclusivity and wanting to be a part of the board and decisions etc but then we exclude others (me) from this platform and other people. Have you heard of "Black Twitter" ? people form their own communities on those platforms either way. Every platform is racists and excludes other's in every way.

Report

7yr ago

@soueuls absolutely not. Regardless of what there criteria is, it has created a problem of minimal ethnic diversity. Products like this and initiatives like CODE2040 are needed to bring a highlight to a large population that is looked over.

Report

7yr ago

@sjackson so you don't have any proof of Google favoring certain races over others? Then you can't claim they are racist neither voluntarily nor involuntarily.

Report

7yr ago

@edisonjoao6871 good points. I absolutely see both sides. Ultimately I think all jobs should hire with blind testing as someone else suggested in this thread. Hire on talent, not on race, gender, etc.. For anyone to feel excluded from this platform because it's targeted to black professionals just doesn't get it IMO.

Report

7yr ago

Black professionals? It's so dumb to be thinking like this. Everyday we're living changes, innovation, disruption, etc. And you take this 1800s way to see the world? You need professional help.

Report

7yr ago

Orbital

@ayalamac The black community is discriminated against on a daily basis today, in 2019. This is a great resource to help bring equity to a situation where the racism that still exists holds them back.

Report

7yr ago

Most of us live in capitalist-driven societies where money and results are the only viable outcomes. Thus discriminating is not a viable strategy. Rejecting a great talent because he is black is stupid in a capitalist driver society but it should be allowed nonetheless. In this case, a competitor is going to hire him or her and make a profit. I can't recommend this type of product who are gravitating toward racism and racial segregation. I can't recommend this type of product because they are defying science. Do you want to support racial neutrality? We have a solution! In fact, we have known this solution for thousand of years. It's called double-blind testing. Developing a platform to ease the process of double-blind interviews would be a good step towards selecting great talents without any racial biases. When I review a product, I always wonder: "Could I explain this to my 5 years old kid?" In this case, I can't. I have been thinking about it for a few minutes, I can't teach my kid about acceptance, efforts and being neutral regarding races while trying to explain the existence of a marketplace exclusively for black people. I was not able to come up with a good reason. This promotes racial segregation.

Report

7yr ago

As a minority, I respect this, but at the same time it's difficult to not see this as reverse racism. I'm a part of a latino slack group and someone that was asian joined and he's attracted and wants to learn, but they kicked him out.. All of this talk on inclusivity, but we exclude others. Also, I've seen this and several other networks come up, but will be interesting to see if this is sustainable as most niche communities don't tend to last long from what I've seen (hope I can be proven wrong)

Report

7yr ago

@edisonjoao6871 this is a valid point!

Report

7yr ago

@edisonjoao6871 reverse racism is not a thing. Racism is based on historical, systemic oppression. White people have never been persecuted for the color of their skin. A platform like this creates a safe place for black professionals who face racism in their day to day lives. Same as your latinx Slack community. How would you feel if a bunch of white people infiltrated that Slack and started talking about how your experiences as a latinx person are invalid? And if you are wondering why not just create a community for all minorites, well yes, some of those do exist. But it can also be beneficial to recognize that the intersectionality of experience is not complete between the different minorities. White women, often a minority in the tech realm, generally have a vastly different set of challenges than black women in tech, for example.

Report

7yr ago

@aachanta It is a thing and will be a thing. The minority will become the majority. I would welcome it if that were to happen. I don't close myself to opinions and discussions like most people. I encourage it. Specially in today's time. As someone said, this promotes racial segregation which as you know in the 60's is something we fought hard to erase. Look Amy, I'm probably the most experienced individual talking about this topic given that I am a minority. I've been in two industries that are dominated by whites (tech and finance) I am building my own network and know of all of these challenges you speak of, because I have lived them.

Report

7yr ago

Needed, period. I’m excited to join and participate in building the community. If your first thought is racism, grow up and read up on history. I am ashamed to see such ignorance on display.

Report

7yr ago

@dev_nikema You're so right, I can't believe people actually think this is racist, its ridiculous! I'm excited to join too! Oh wait no, gosh darn it I can't join, my skins not the right colour.

Report

7yr ago

Great product guys, can't wait to join. These threads are mostly hilarious, and I see some people are already jealous (not for you just-us). Can an app really be racist?.. not at all, its called a niche *coughs @ idiots*, and if you don't fit in the niche, you just don't fit... move along now.

Report

7yr ago

1 2 3

•••

Reviews

No reviews yetBe the first to leave a review for Valence