Join Ethics In Technology, Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and Veterans For Peace as we celebrate Human Rights Day!
Tickets available here on Eventbrite.
About this event
Join us as we discuss human rights, including military recruitment via online gaming platforms and autonomous weapon systems. As always, our discussion end with music and comedy.
Host:
Vahid Razavi -A technology veteran of Silicon Valley. Vahid has founded, advised and worked in senior management roles in Silicon Valley. He has published two books, The Age of Nepotism and Ethics In Tech and Lack Thereof. As a lifelong activist and humanitarian he has published hundreds of articles and videos on various social issues including the tech industry and social injustice. He has previously worked for companies such as Amazon Web Services, Fast Search, Exodus Communications, Qwest Communications, and was the founder of the cloud computing company BizCloud.
Speakers:
Chris Velazquez is the Digital Organizer for Veterans For Peace and the lead organizer for the Gamers For Peace initiative. Chris was a civil affairs operator in the United States Marine Corps from 2004 to 2010, with combat deployments to Fallujah, Iraq and Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Chris is a life-long gamer who is committed to using digital gaming and hobby spaces to engage anti-war and social justice activism while combating the predatory recruiting practices of the military.
Dr. Matthew Guariglia is an activist and historian researching state power, race, and how governments use technology. He is a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and an affiliated scholar at UC Hastings, School of Law. His bylines have appeared in NBC News, Washington Post, Slate, and VICE.
Brett Wilkins is a San Francisco-based independent writer and activist whose work focuses on issues of war and peace and human rights. His articles have recently appeared in print and online publications including Asia Times, The Jakarta Post, Common Dreams, Counterpunch, Antiwar.com, Mondoweiss, Socialist Viewpoint, TeleSur and Venezuela Analysis. Brett is a member of Collective 20 and is editor-at-large for US news at Toronto-based Digital Journal as well as a board member of the nonprofit advocacy group Ethics In Tech.
Rev. Dr. Dorsey Odell Blake, Faculty Associate, Leadership and Social Transformation, was officially installed as Presiding Minister of The Church for The Fellowship of All Peoples in October, 1994. During Dr. Blake’s installation service, Mrs. Sue Bailey Thurman presented Dr. Howard Thurman’s robe — which had not been worn since his death – to Dr. Blake as a symbol of her trust in his leading the congregation “so that there will be no past greater than our future.”
Dr. Blake served as Dean of Faculty and Visiting Professor of Spirituality and Prophetic Justice at Starr King School for the Ministry for six years. He continued to serve on the Core Faculty until his resignation January of 2015. He currently serves as Faculty Associate, Leadership and Social Transformation at Pacific School of Religion.
Comedians:
Jason Mack is having fun. His comedy, which has perhaps best been described as “dark but silly,” touches on subjects such as his disabilities, our universal fear of death, and dating, which doesn’t sound fun, but he promises it is. He’s a 9-time disabled veteran, 5-time college dropout (FUN!) and a 3-time performer in SF Sketchfest. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors awarded him a Certificate of Honor for his charity performances benefiting fellow veterans. He has performed in the Sacramento Comedy Festival and The World Series of Comedy. He also founded the popular showcase Real Live Comedians, which has run in San Francisco since 2013 and been featured all across the West Coast.
Cathy Zhao is a stand-up comedian and a sit-down entrepreneur based in San Francisco. Growing up in China, her English pronunciations and improper word usage have brought laughter and embarrassments to many people (herself included). Her unique ridiculous perspective of American culture, and her brutal honesty about Asian immigrants’ lives, also earned her the title of “insult comic”. She co-founded a non-profit organization Laugh It Out (Hub laughitouthub.org) to empower at-promise teenagers with humor through standup comedy and improvisation.
Music by:
Mokai is a roots musician based in San Francisco. His guitar echoes pre-war blues and Greenwich Village era folk, with songs the East Bay Express described as “…jazzy, jammy, bluesy structures around earthly laments, tales of ordinary folks, and the human struggle in general.”
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