The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy
Join us for a timely MCF Book Club conversation with author Gil Durán, alongside Safiya Umoja Noble (professor of gender studies, African American studies, and information studies at the University of California, Los Angeles) and Jacinta González (head of programs at MediaJustice) to discuss the rise of technofacism, the antidemocratic aims of Big Tech, and how communities across the country are organizing (and winning!) against Big Tech’s authoritarian power.
Join the MCF Book Club
RSVP today and we’ll send you all the info you need to join us on Thursday, August 27. The first 400 people to register will receive a free copy of the book mailed to your door after the event—while supplies last.
Meet the Speakers
Dr. Carmen Rojas
Moderator | MCF president and CEO
Dr. Carmen Rojas is the president and CEO of Marguerite Casey Foundation. Under her leadership, which started in 2020, MCF has granted more than $273 million in funding to dozens of organizations doing the hard work of shifting power to those people who have long been excluded from having it, and launched the prestigious Freedom Scholar award. Prior to MCF, Dr. Rojas was the cofounder and CEO of the Workers Lab, an innovation lab that partners with workers to develop new ideas that help them succeed and flourish.
Gil Durán
Author
Gil Durán is the grandson of Mexican immigrant farmworkers. He got his first taste of work in the fields but became interested in journalism after winning the local newspaper’s “My Mom Is the Best” contest in the fifth grade. He graduated from DePauw University in 1998 and started his journalism career at San Jose Mercury News. As the newspaper industry hit turbulence, he pivoted to politics and spent 15 years as an advisor to politicians. In 2018, he returned to journalism as California opinion editor of The Sacramento Bee and then became editorial page editor of the San Francisco Examiner. Now an independent journalist, he publishes two newsletters: The Nerd Reich, focused on extremist tech politics, and FrameLab, focused on political language.
Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble
UCLA Professor
Dr. Safiya U. Noble is the David O. Sears Presidential Endowed Chair of Social Sciences and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Professor Noble is the author of the bestselling book on algorithmic harm in commercial search engines, titled Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism (NYU Press). In 2021, she was recognized as a MacArthur Foundation Fellow for her groundbreaking work on algorithmic discrimination. Dr. Noble is a board member of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, serving those who are vulnerable to online harassment, and provides expertise to a number of civil and human rights organizations. In 2022, she was recognized as the inaugural NAACP–Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award recipient.
Jacinta González
Head of Programs at MediaJustice
Jacinta González is an organizer and strategist at MediaJustice. Prior, she served as policy director for Mijente, where she held leadership roles since the organization's founding. Through Mijente’s immigration work and groundbreaking #NoTechforICE campaign that she started and led, González organized against the tech and data companies fueling the US detention and deportation system. Previously, she worked at PODER in Mexico, organizing to combat water contamination by the mining industry. She was the lead organizer for the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice Congress of Day Laborers, where she helped establish a base of undocumented families dedicated to building worker power, advancing racial justice, and organizing against deportations. González has received multiple fellowships, including the Galaxy Leadership Fellowship, the Soros Justice Fellowship, and the New Voices Fellowship.
The MCF Book Club creates a space for authors, scholars, and organizers to examine the most pressing issues of our time and imagine how we can radically transform our world.