Black Software

Black Software, for the first time, chronicles the long relationship between African Americans, computing technology, and the Internet. Through new archival sources and the voices of many of those who lived and made this history, this book centralizes African Americans' role in the Internet's creation and evolution, illuminating both the limits and possibilities for using digital technology to push for racial justice in the United States and across the globe.

Charlton D. McIlwain is Vice Provost of Faculty Engagement & Development at New York University, and Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU's Steinhardt School. He is also the Founder of the Center for Critical Race & Digital Studies, and the co-author of Race Appeal: How Candidates Invoke Race in U.S. Political Campaigns, winner of the 2012 APSA Ralph Bunche Award.

- Prologue
- Chapter One: The Great Equalizer
- Chapter Two: Different Strokes
- Chapter Three: The Roxbury Shake
- Chapter Four: The Vanguard
- Chapter Five: Black Software Comes to Cambridge
- Chapter Six: The Electronic Village Needs an Organizer
- Chapter Seven: Want Ad for a Revolution
- Chapter Eight: The Battle for (Black) Cyberspace
- Chapter Nine: 100 Years Black: A Cautionary Tale
- Chapter 10: Taking IT to the Streets
- Chapter Eleven: Collision Course
- Chapter Twelve: The Revolution, Brought to You by IBM
- Chapter Thirteen: The Committeemen
- Chapter Fourteen: What Happened at the Homestead
- Chapter Fifteen: Kansas City Burning
- Chapter Sixteen: The Man's Best Friend
- Chapter Seventeen: Digital Technology: Our Past Is Prologue
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index