# STEM workers strike today for black lives **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 10, 2020, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355 "2020-06-10T12:25:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/1 "2020-06-10T12:25:43Z")
Anyone doing this? I am STEM but working. > **[Across the Globe, Scientists Are Striking for Black Lives](https://www.wired.com/story/across-the-globe-scientists-are-striking-for-black-lives/)** > > On June 10, thousands of academics are stopping research activities to educate themselves about disparities and take action against systemic racism in science. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/2 "2020-06-10T14:17:05Z")
My employer is participating in #ShutDownAcademia We aren’t striking exactly, but our services are suspended and we have been asked to use the time for reading, reflection, whatever makes sense to us. We have a meeting of my department later today to discuss and plan direct action. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/3 "2020-06-10T14:27:23Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > My employer is participating in #ShutDownAcademia > > We aren’t striking exactly, but our services are suspended and we have been asked to use the time for reading, reflection, whatever makes sense to us. We have a meeting of my department later today to discuss and plan direct action. I haven’t heard of it but that’s great that your employer is participating! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/4 "2020-06-10T14:54:04Z")
Hadn’t heard about this until opening this forum just now. I’m already halfway through my work day, so it’s kinda silly for me to go on strike now. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/5 "2020-06-10T14:59:43Z")
I hadn’t heard of this either, and I’m nearly halfway through my workday about to host a meeting. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/6 "2020-06-10T17:40:28Z")
they should have done it in a few weeks to get the word out more ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/7 "2020-06-10T18:17:50Z")
It seems to me that academia isn’t an essential service and shouldn’t be operating anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/8 "2020-06-10T18:22:25Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > It seems to me that academia isn’t an essential service and shouldn’t be operating anyway. Some of the work I’m involved with involves people running simulations on computers. They’re barely affected. Others are analyzing old data. Everyone is planning new work. So while in-person experiments have been delayed, there’s still work getting done. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/9 "2020-06-10T18:26:55Z")
Also, many states have reopened by now. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/10 "2020-06-10T19:32:09Z")
Not a STEM employee, but follow at least 500 on Twitter. It’s definitely not a thing ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/11 "2020-06-10T19:35:47Z")
Yeah this thread is the only place I’ve heard of it. I don’t twit, but I see nothing on LinkedIn or fbook. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/12 "2020-06-10T19:50:08Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > It seems to me that academia isn’t an essential service and shouldn’t be operating anyway. ??? Colleges and universities never shut down – they just switched to online instruction, with a few on-campus services still running for students who had nowhere else to go (often the case for international students, for example) or who were depending on their college for stuff like computer / wifi access. And academic research and service work would be going on regardless of whether the campus is officially “open” or not, at least for people who do not need access to specialized places or equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/13 "2020-06-10T23:33:46Z")
It is on twitter but not sure how many people tweeted it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/14 "2020-06-11T01:37:26Z")
[American Mathematical Society](https://web.archive.org/web/20200611013429/http://ams.org/index.html) and [American Physical Society](https://web.archive.org/save/https://aps.org/) have closed their websites for today. Hope those links work, it’s my first time trying to capture a temporally specific webpage appearance with Wayback Machine, since I imagine after today the websites will be up and running as usual. Kinda weird to go to a scientific society website and just see some text on a black page! No links, no pix, no activity today. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/15 "2020-06-11T03:57:22Z")
I fully support BLM. But I hope the scientists researching Covid19 vaccines didn’t go on strike for a day. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/16 "2020-06-11T05:22:01Z")
I’m in STEM but worked today. The company I work for is having a full day next week with no meetings, and encouraging employees to do whatever they think is the right thing to do that day. Be it protest, be educated, or just pull up the covers and sleep. A lot of good dialogue and soul searching going on at my company. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2020, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stem-workers-strike-today-for-black-lives/855355/17 "2020-06-11T15:07:25Z")
I just saw it posted for the first time on Twitter, a day late. >