
Introducing the Cultural Leadership Fund - runesoerensen
https://a16z.com/2018/08/22/introducing-the-cultural-leadership-fund/
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aphextron
>To accomplish this, we created a new fund with Limited Partners who are
exclusively cultural leaders including Sean “Diddy” Combs, Shonda Rhimes, Will
and Jada Smith, Quincy Jones, Kevin Durant, Chance the Rapper, Nasir Jones,
Charles Phillips, Edith Cooper, John Thompson, Robin Washington, Richelieu
Dennis, Shellye Archambeau, and more. The fund was raised by our partner Chris
Lyons.

This just depresses the hell out of me. This is the list of pre-eminent
African Americans they could come up with to lead a Technology initiative.
That's right black kids, you should look up to entertainers, business moguls,
and basketball players. Those are your only role models. That is the heights
to which you are capable of achieving. There's no such thing as black
scientists, engineers, or mathematicians; that stuff is for white folk.

It's always the same. Every single "diversity" measure needs to be chaired by
a hip-hop producer or a fashion designer. This is why blacks will never be
seen as true equals in our society. We are a sideshow to these people, whose
place in the world is to shuck and jive for their entertainment and mutual
guilt appeasement.

~~~
40acres
This is a ridiculous view. Growing up people like Nas & Quincy Jones were
idols even if I was never interested in making a career in music, simply
because they made it. Representation in culture matters and to see these
people held up as icons is not only inspiring to other minorities but often
times these people give back; just look at LeBron James school that he opened
in Ohio [0]. Chance The Rapper has also done lots of great work for youth in
Chicago. [1]

This is an extremely short cited view and I think you're projecting your own
insecurities as an African American onto A16z's initiative.

0: [http://time.com/money/5354265/lebron-james-i-promise-
school-...](http://time.com/money/5354265/lebron-james-i-promise-school-
akron/) 1: [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/watch-
chance-t...](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/watch-chance-the-
rapper-announce-2-2-million-fund-for-chicago-schools-126511/)

~~~
aphextron
>Growing up people like Nas & Quincy Jones were idols even if I was never
interested in making a career in music, simply because they made it.

My intention wasn't to denigrate the achievements of black entertainers. My
point is that these people are constantly held up as the model of "making it",
reinforcing the idea that "making it" in life is equivalent to "earning lots
of money", regardless of what you spend your life actually doing.

Combine that with the astronomical odds of actually succeeding in those fields
versus, say, just encouraging people to stay in school and strive for decent
careers (as white parents/society teaches white kids), and this attitude
becomes a huge contributing factor to African American poverty in my opinion.

~~~
darawk
> My point is that these people are constantly held up as the model of "making
> it", reinforcing the idea that "making it" in life is equivalent to "earning
> lots of money".

I agree broadly, though I think 'earning lots of money' is held up as 'making
it' for white kids too. It's that all of the examples are people who made
money through celebrity, sports, or some other similarly non-intellectual
activity.

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fmitchell0
Why does this seem like the VC version of "...but I have Black friends"?

On a less cynical note, I guess it has to start somewhere and these folks have
demonstrated how to build a business and a brand. Well, maybe not Durant, but
we'll see.

~~~
allenu
The language used in the post just feels so mechanical, like "black people are
great because they've contributed to culture a lot, and we want to get
involved with more culture, so it's a good reason to get together with black
people".

Maybe I'm alone in reading it this way, but it comes across as treating black
people as this "other" that can only be approached through "culture" and not
as neighbors, friends, and people you know and work with.

~~~
fastball
I read it in the same way, and it just felt really off to me.

Also just factually incorrect. I'm fairly certain "most fashion" in the US has
_not_ come from the Black American community. A lot, sure. Most? Name me a top
10 fashion brand that is run / was started by a person of color.

~~~
sincerely
I think the idea is that fashion is innovated by black people and then
commercialized by the (white) fashion industry? Not really sure myself

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DoreenMichele
FYI for folks interested in diversity in VC, there is also Backstage Capital.
I posted a few things about them to HN a few months ago and it didn't get
serious traction. But it has been covered in such big name publications as
Forbes.

[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=backstage%20capital&sort=byPop...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=backstage%20capital&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story)

[http://backstagecapital.com](http://backstagecapital.com)

The founder is on Twitter under the handle @ArlanWasHere. She appears to use
the same handle elsewhere, like Instagram.

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erubin
> all of the fees and carry associated with the fund will be donated to non-
> profit organizations that enable African Americans to enter the technology
> industry.

if i were a founder, why wouldn't i be bothered by this? if i'm going to be
working monomaniacally to make the a16z LPs rich, i want to be making the GPs
rich too. if they're funding me out of the CLF, they won't be getting rich so
they won't want to help out as much.

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matiasb
It would be great if the fund collaborates with Latin America too.

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greenburg
"Lock my body can't trap my mind, easily Explain why we adapt to crime. I'd
rather die enormous than live dormant that's how we on it. Live at the main
event, I bet a trip to Maui on it" Jay Z.

