John Sonmez

Those who are not marginalized are often so blinded by their position of privilege that they are unable or unwilling to accept that there truly are those who are marginalized and diminished by the very system in which they thrive. That's what's happening here.

My mother was an immigrant, from the ruins of WW II. On my father's side, I have ancestors from Ireland who were treated as less than human by the British. Professionally, I have colleagues from war-torn areas, female developers who were sexually abused, and...

...persons of color who have been systematically diminished as they try to rise. I care about anyone on the margins because they too deserve their humanity...

I have a certain level of reputation and visibility in the industry. And I view it a responsibility to use that platform to celebrate and uplift the humanity in all, especially those who are on the margins via institutional racism and misogynn.

When will you speak up for oppressed women in Dubai and Saudi Arabia? When will openly criticize IBM's CEO for working with Saudi Arabia? It's easy to punch down. Can you speak truth to power?

I do, Adam, all the time. As a Fellow at IBM you have no idea of what I do to try and be an agent of change. There is much wrong in the world. But I can’t take on the whole world. I can however influence part of the world and that’s precisely what I’m doing. What are you doing?

Oh, I forgot to mention. I literally just returned from almost three weeks in the Middle East. Guess what topic I discussed in one of my lectures there? Again, I’ll ask you: what are you and John doing to make a difference?