Learning Through Building the Black Python Devs Community

What hurdles must be cleared when starting an international organization? How do you empower others in a community by sharing responsibilities? This week on the show, we speak with Jay Miller about Black Python Devs.

Jay shares how the idea of forming a community began through attending conferences. They wanted to welcome more black developers into the Python community. We discuss the introduction of Black Python Devs as part of their PyCon 2024 keynote presentation.

Jay explains working with a few key people to build the group’s foundations. They talk about the difficulty of letting other people share in the responsibilities and ownership as the membership grew. We also discuss the advantages of partnering with a non-profit organization.

This episode is sponsored by InfluxData.

Topics:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction
• 00:02:50 – PyCon 2024 Keynote
• 00:06:02 – New role at Aiven
• 00:11:32 – Nobody knows what Dev Rel is
• 00:19:43 – Podcasting about productivity
• 00:24:12 – Sponsor: InfluxData
• 00:24:57 – Starting Black Python Devs
• 00:33:11 – Distinct perspectives and problems
• 00:37:10 – Partnering with Gnome Foundation
• 00:40:31 – What were hurdles in starting Black Python Devs?
• 00:45:31 – Video Course Spotlight
• 00:47:01 – What do you wish you knew before you started?
• 00:50:56 – What’s your latest win?
• 00:53:28 – Helping people prepare for jobs and new roles
• 00:58:03 – What’s your call to action?
• 01:00:26 – What are you excited about in the world of Python?
• 01:03:48 – How do you stay motivated to keep learning Python?
• 01:06:19 – What do you want to learn next?
• 01:09:02 – How can people follow your work online?
• 01:11:02 – Thanks and goodbye

Show Links:

• Black Python Devs - Home
• PyCon 2024 Keynote Speaker - Jay Miller - YouTube
• PyCon 2024 Keynote Speaker - Sumana Harihareswara - YouTube
• Conduit - Relay FM
• Aiven - Your Trusted Data & AI Platform
• Abigail Mesrenyame Dogbe Honored with Inaugural Outstanding PyLady Award
• Episode #86: The Legacy of OLPC and Charismatic Pitfalls in Teaching Programming – The Real Python Podcast
• Black Python Devs Join the GNOME Foundation Nonprofit Umbrella – The GNOME Foundation
• Applying for a Hacker Initiative Grant With Bill Pollock of No Starch Press – The Real Python Podcast
• Jay Miller - Personal Website
• kjaymiller - Jay Miller’s GitHub
• Jay Miller (@kjaymiller@mastodon.social) - Fosstodon
• Jay Miller - LinkedIn
• Render Engine - read the docs

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