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by Tim Farrell
George Hofstetter has always had a vision for the future shaped by Afro-Futurism and his own dreams. Now the founder of George Hofstetter Technologies (GH Tech, Inc.) has combined his vision with political education and a fellowship at the Stanford University Institute of Design (abbreviated as d.) to further those discussions in a wider arena.
The 22-year-old Oakland, Calif., native, who was recently featured in the newly released documentary narrated and co-produced by Chuck D., “Use of Force: The Policing of Black America,” is leading the (in)Visible Designers workshop series at the d. school. The series is designed to build community between Black and Brown founders of radically inclusive organizations focused on disrupting traditional inequitable forms of education, technology creation and the digital divide.
Focusing on the themes of radical inclusivity, community development and hacktivism, the interviews Hofstetter leads at Stanford University’s d. school challenge attendees to incorporate their new hacktivism frameworks into their problem-solving, encouraging the community to create and build. The kick off to the (in)Visible Design series began on Jan. 28, with special guest and longtime activist, Dr. Angela Y. Davis.
Getting politicized
“I started getting involved with People’s Programs in Oakland in 2021, after having listened to the Hella Black podcast for two years.” Hofstetter remarked. “The Hella Black Podcast and the brothers – co-hosts Abbas Muntaqim and Delency Parham – were talking about real stuff. They and the guests they interview are really connected to the community and what is actually going on.”
There turned out to be a connection between Hofstetter’s foray into the podcast and an impactful experience in the past. “When I met Trayvon Martin’s mom at Colin Kaepernick’s ‘Know Your Rights Camp,’ Dr. Ameer Loggins told me that although my work was powerful, I had to stop trying to fix the micro-agressions and discrimination at PWIs – Predominantly white institutions,” Hofstetter recalled.
“He told me to ‘imagine how many young folks from your own community I could impact and provide resources for.’ It hurt my ego a little bit, but I immediately shifted focus when I returned to college after that.”
As Hofstetter later discovered, it was Loggins – also known as LEFT – who helped inspire the Hella Black Podcast idea when Muntaqim was a student in his class at UC Berkeley. “I ran into LEFT at a gala at Berkeley and let him know that he was one of the main folks who helped me shift my thinking and be more self-aware of damaging rhetoric,” he said.
influence critical thinking with technology creation and recognizing the embedded racism in tech
“The podcast had an episode where they critiqued AfroTech and the dualities of that with the Black bourgeoisie class. Then, two years later, AfroTech published an article where they edited out where I spoke to the duality and how it disproportionately affects the houseless community and any mention of political prisoners. I once heard that presidents will do presidential shit, just as most media outlets will do what media outlets do.”
When Hofstetter made his first trip to New York City in 2021, he felt another call to the work in Oakland when he saw a poster of Black Panther and Black Liberation Army veteran Jalil Muntaqim, who was born in Oakland and grew up in San Francisco.
He is also the cousin of Hella Black Podcast co-host Abbas Muntaqim. “I was in Brooklyn and saw the poster. What are the odds?” Hofstetter asked.
He returned to Oakland and began getting involved with People’s Programs, which is a Black/New Afrikan organization dedicated to the liberation and unification of all Afrikan people through scientific socialism. In keeping with the traditional work of the Black Panther Party founded by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, the group runs numerous community-based programs, including People’s Breakfast Oakland, People’s Garden and a grocery program. People’s Programs also runs a community health clinic, political education and legal support.
“Ever since I stepped in, I saw how important their work was. A lot of the work I do impacts the Black and Brown community in a positive way in terms of access to resources and curriculum designed to influence critical thinking with technology creation and recognizing the embedded racism in tech. I had talked about this work and built tech for my community to fight back against white supremacy; but what about my people that don’t have access to technology at all?
“From the Sunday breakfast program to the grocery program to hearing members of the community speak truth to power during their poetry nights really inspired me,” he continued.
“There are a lot of people close to my age that continue to motivate me to go harder and work more in the education space. When I am teaching code and radical inclusivity, I start talking about their [students] relationship to the community and how it all intersects. That combination helps pinpoint what you are fighting against and what you are trying to dismantle.”
All the work and study through People’s Programs has had a profound impact on him. “I won’t do anything if I can’t be 110 percent myself. This work requires that level of authenticity,” he pointed out. “It has been instrumental in raising my awareness, in understanding capitalism and the socio-economic structure of the U.S. and gave me a better definition of neocolonialism.”
Stanford University
When Hofstetter was 15, he met Milan Drake at a Super Bowl event in San Francisco for the Hidden Genius Project. “I was presenting a very early-stage Cop Stop app and he was impressed. We chopped it up and kept in touch. When I became a fellow at Stanford, I saw his name pop up that he was teaching there. We grabbed lunch and when he told me what he was doing on campus, I said, “What do you mean, d. school?” Hofstetter laughed.
It is not that they don’t have questions or don’t feel the racism, but I believe they fear ‘biting the hand that feeds them’
Drake, who designs curriculum and programs to serve youth in at-risk environments through multimedia, critical thinking and hip-hop, introduced Hofstetter to the executive staff at the d. school.
“I had worked as a software engineer fully remote during the pandemic. The timing of me reaching out to him at this time and the work he was doing was in perfect alignment with my work at GH Tech,” Hofstetter explained. “When I said I wanted to teach, he responded, ‘Let’s do it’ and we built out the (in)Visible Designers series.”
After reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Outliers,” Hofstetter made an important connection between social classes and the educational system, particularly at a high-academic, predominantly white institution like Stanford. “There is a lot of discrimination in education, some in ways we don’t examine closely enough. For example, middle to upper class students are much more comfortable with asking questions, while lower-class students simply get in and out of class,” he spelled out.
“A lot of Black and Brown students don’t know how to talk about the discrimination they face or what they ‘should’ say about it. It is not that they don’t have questions or don’t feel the racism, but I believe they fear ‘biting the hand that feeds them,’ and when you live in that bubble everyday, it’s understandable.”
Hofstetter is using the (in)Visible Design series to engage students of color in important discussions about the future and their place in it. “We have incredibly brilliant Afrikan minds. The conversations we have and the concepts we talk about are quite literally conceptualizing what is currently not there.
“We talk about how to envision spaces and ecosystems that incorporate different socio-economic themes. It is not just me talking or Dr. Davis talking, it is other people in the room. Everyone is constantly learning.”
Hofstetter recognizes, and relishes, the challenges with his work on the campus. “Stanford is a billion-dollar institution that encourages whatever it wants to. The d. school is the most beautifully unconventional place on campus. It is a place where ‘hood genius’ is celebrated and lifted up, where curiosity is uplifted and not persecuted. I want to continue to help folks step out of their own echo chambers,” he formulated.
“We want to inspire a rising of consciousness on campus, and I know it makes people feel a lil funky. We want to address why they feel that way and how we can break it down, which means hearing from people who look like us and who are actively doing the work.
“The series comes out of community design for marginalized people and how different the experience of life is for everyone. I have been blessed to be in way too many situations where I realize my life is bigger than me. My life is not only mine. I have got to stand up, stand on what I believe. If I am going to do this work, I am going to do this seriously.”
Timothy Farrell is a freelance writer and a member of the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition based in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a member of Prison Lives Matter, Spirit of Mandela and Free Kamau Sadiki. He can be reached at tpfarrell22@gmail.com.
