In the article, Malkia talks about the role media justice advocates played in shutting down AT&T’s attempted takeover of T-Mobile and in establishing FCC’s net-neutrality rules.

In addition to Malkia, other leaders featured include: Eva Patterson, president of Equal Justice Society, Nikki Fortunato Bas, executive director of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, EBASE, Tim Silard, president of the Rosenberg Foundation, and James Bell Jr., founder and executive director of the W. Haywood Burns Institute.

Read more about the Bay Area Change Makers here.

Read the Malkia’s full profile here.  A note about the full profile – we are proud and excited to be included in the SF Chronicle’s Change Maker series. Unfortunately the profile of CMJ’s Executive Director got some facts wrong:

• the Universal Service Fund was established by the 1996 Telecommunications Act, not the other way around
• the Media Action Grassroots Network is a national alliance of community groups working together for media rights and access, not a leadership or training program
• Net Neutrality is a policy to protect all Internet users from censorship and protect their right to free speech online, not just those from poor or rural communities- though they are disproportionately impacted by threats to free speech.

How Net Neutrality Helped Occupy Wall Street

By: Betty Yu, National Organizer

As evictions and raids of Occupy encampments take place through out major cities this country, one thing is evident “You can’t evict an idea who’s time has come”.  Despite the corporate media’s black out, the 99 percent is still organized and if anything the movement has grown even bigger. The Occupy movement is Occupying the Open Internet.  The 99 percent is using social media to organize thousands to the streets and communities most affected by the economic downturn, such as the new Occupy the Homes movement, to reclaim vacant homes that are in foreclosure and were seized by the banks.

As we move into the next phase of the Occupy Movement for the 99 Percent, the need for an Open Internet is essential to the movement building.  We are moving from occupying physical space to occupying the “electronic” green space.  But if the the 1%, like the telecommunication and media corporations had it their way this would not be the case.  Find out what you can do to make sure the Internet stay open and democratic for the 99%.

Originally posted at www.commondreams.org on December 9th, 2011

It all started with one message posted on a blog on July 13, 2011. The magazine Adbusters, a not-for-profit, reader-supported, 120,000-circulation magazine that combats corporate consumerism, issued a call: “On September 17, we want to see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street for a few months. Once there, we shall incessantly repeat one simple demand in a plurality of voices.”

On September 17, a thousand people marched to Wall Street, and then hundreds stayed to occupy Liberty Plaza in New York’s Financial District.

Even after a solid two weeks of this Occupation, corporate media largely blacked it out. What coverage there was depicted protesters as drug-abusing hippies (the Fox News spin—Hannity, 10/10/11), or, in the “liberal” version, as directionless naifs with no message (New York Times, 9/23/11). As the OWS Declaration in New York City put it, the 1 percent “purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.”

But grassroots, independent media outlets like Democracy Now!, Pacifica Radio, the Independent newspapers and public access TV channels, with a combined audience of millions, covered the Occupation from the perspective of the people—the 99 percent. These independent outlets provided a platform for protesters to talk about why they were supporting the Occupation—speaking out about rising unemployment, declining wages, diminishing quality of life, foreclosures, education budget cuts, lack of healthcare and unjust wars, just to name a few.

What elevated the activism to a national and global movement, though, was the sophisticated and widespread use of social media. Independent mediamakers, citizen journalists, everyday people with camera phones were capturing the voices and faces of this burgeoning movement and uploading them to YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, mostly within minutes of being captured. Group text-messaging was used to share information and media quickly.

These tools for instant communication not only helped to mobilize thousands to marches and events, but also captured police brutality toward the protesters. It was only when images were disseminated of a senior New York City police official pepper-spraying peaceful women protesters, temporarily blinding them, that corporate media began paying attention. The pepper-spraying incident was documented by fellow protesters and uploaded to YouTube—where it was viewed more than 2 million times—then posted on Facebook and tweeted to be shared with the world.

Read the rest of the story here.

As the 2011 holiday shopping season geared up, the country’s leading mobile wireless carrier, Verizon, announced a special deal. For a limited time only, customers could get the popular HTC Droid Incredible 2 smartphone for free, if they signed up for a two-year data plan. Since the phone’s full retail price is usually more than $430, the deal meant a savings of more than $200 with a new contract. It features a four-inch touchscreen and eight mega-pixel rear camera, along with top-of-the-line video and one of the industry’s fastest processors. It’s everything you need to feel like you’ve got the Internet in your pocket, and for a fraction of the price of a computer. That’s a compelling selling point for many buyers, but particularly so among the black and Latino consumers who are so key to the now-massive smartphone market.

There are 234 million cell phone subscribers in the United States, 45.5 million of whom own smartphones. By the end of 2011, the consumer electronics industry is expected to bring in more than $190 billion. The industry’s trade group, Consumer Electronics Association, noted in June that smartphone sales are the market’s primary driver. They’re expected to bring in more than $23 billion in industry revenue this year.

A remarkable share of that revenue is coming from people of color, who are adopting smartphones at faster rates than white consumers and are doing far more with them. Research shows people of color are more likely to surf the Internet, send and receive messages, engage social media and produce or publish media on their phones. The reason for that, many say, is simple: It’s the most affordable way to get onto the information superhighway. A couple hundred dollars for an Android and a data plan is much less than $1,000 for a laptop computer and broadband connection. Read the full article here.

OR you could watch the five minute video below. . .or all of the above.  Your pick.

Join us online or in person

Time: 1:00–2:30 p.m. (et)

Watch Online:

blacknetfreedom.org

latinonetlibre.com

Join us in-person

New America Foundation

1899 L St. NW, Suite 400

Washington, DC 20036

Help us live tweet:

#mediajustice

#netfreedom

PARTICIPANTS

Welcome

Sascha Meinrath - Open Technology Initiative, New America Foundation

Opening Remarks

Joseph Torres - Author, News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media

Panelists

amalia deloney - Center for Media Justice & Open Technology Initiative, New America Foundation

Jessica Gonzalez - National Hispanic Media Coalition

Rev. James Patterson - Partnership of African American Churches

Elandria Williams - Highlander Research and Education Center

Moderator

Chancellar Williams - Free Press

amalia deloney, Center for Media Justice – 2011 Knowledge Exchange

Representatives from several social justice and community-based organizations across the country are in Washington D.C. for the 2011 Knowledge Exchange.  These leaders are putting their heads together and digging into the issues of Internet freedom and mobile communications.  For some organizations Internet freedom and mobile communication issues are ones that they instinctively recognized as being deeply connected to their work and the communities they serve.

But for many community-based organizations, and people in general, this is a radically new conversation.  Many people are used to thinking of “essential” social justice issues being issues such as education, food, and housing.  On the other hand, technology, Internet, Broadband and mobile phones are viewed negatively and seen as luxuries as opposed to necessities or tools for building power.

But the reality is that we live in a world increasingly dependent on Internet broadband, and mobile communications.  Beyond a means to connect with loved ones or contact people in case of emergencies, it’s how people pay bills, apply and respond to jobs, access critical information, dispense important information.  It’s incorporated into every aspect of human life – 87% percent of blacks and Latinos own a cell phone as of 2010, and nearly two thirds of blacks and Latinos are wireless Internet users.

It’s also a powerful tool for advocating change.

Recent political uprisings, the use of mobile technology in Tunisia and Egypt, and the attempted shutdown of such technology by corrupt governments prompted the United Nations to declare Internet access a “human right.”   The UN further called the Internet “one of the most powerful instruments of the 21st century for increasing transparency in the conduct of the powerful, access to information, and for facilitating active citizen participation in building democratic societies.”

Though media access and Internet freedom for all remains a struggle and civil human rights issue, with advancements in technology we have also been presented with an amazing opportunity.  Social justice advocates are able to galvanize within and across their respective regions in the United States. We’re able to come together and develop messaging that embodies a shared vision and collective movement that ultimately moves all of our struggles forward.  The information we capture in this week’s Knowledge Exchange will add to a blueprint for creating and forwarding an exciting new vision in social justice movement building.

“The media reform movement is born out of civil rights struggles – from abolitionist newspapers that told the stories of the disenfranchised, to challenges to broadcast licenses. There is a long history of using media to impact the way the world sees our communities and to leverage opportunities for social sustainable change.“

Chancellar Williams, FreePress – Internet Freedom Strategy Meeting

This week social justice advocates from around the country are gathering for the fifth annual Knowledge Exchange.  Knowledge Exchange was created to strengthen the effectiveness and impact of media justice and reform movements through presentations, working groups, and meetings with government officials.

This also marks the official launch of Black Voices for Internet Freedom, the sister organization to Latinos for Internet Freedom. In anticipation of the launch, Freepress and the Center for Media Justice hosted an Internet Freedom Strategy Meeting in Washington DC with black and Latino leaders. All of the organizations come to the table with varying levels of engagement and experience within the Internet freedom and equity movement. The conversation started with one question:

What does Internet freedom mean to you?

Answers included:

“Being free to be included – being able to participate in the decisions that directly impact me and my community.”

“Believing in what was once seen as impossible – opening up access that may not have been there before.”

“Expanding our vision of how we see the world.”

“Transformation to a more human and just society”

“A Different concept of communication.”

The answers showed all of us that Internet freedom can mean similar or radically different things to different people and organizations. But by the end of the day one thing was apparent: we all gathered here in DC because we value Internet freedom and what that does and could potentially mean for our respective organizations and social justice platforms.

This week and beyond as we craft a new vision for movement building and Internet freedom, we are taking the next step forward in a long history of utilizing multimedia communications for long-term transformative social change.

-Cesar Chavez

It’s been a long time since I walked into an all brown space to talk about net neutrality—a long time.   Given the fact that I work at the Center for Media Justice–with a nearly all ‘POC’ staff, and a deep commitment to racial justice—this statement speaks much more to the racial makeup of the media policy world, than it does to my own politics or CMJ’s movement building strategy.   Nevertheless, its true—more often than not, I’m in policy discussions that are overwhelmingly white.

Given this, it was both powerful and refreshing to be in a completely different environment this weekend at the National Latino Congreso in Austin, Texas. Members of Latinos for Internet Freedom (including Center for Media Justice, Free Press, Presente.Org and Colectivo Flatlander) were present to host a panel on the Fight for Internet Freedom and participate in the Congreso’s policy agenda setting process, which includes bringing together as many delegates as possible to vote on Latino policy priorities for the coming year through a resolution process.  By our count, over 300 people (nearly 100% Latino) were present.

Our panel was up against some stiff competition–real bread and butter justice issues for Latinos– like ICE raids, the mortgage crisis and Obama’s Latin American foreign policy.  Yet, over 20 people came to our session for a long and lively 2-hour conversation on Internet Freedom.   With the exception of a Power Point presentation by LULAC, the panel was, in truth, much more of an entre nos conversation, with Latinos speaking honestly and directly to other Latinos.  Words like ‘transparency,’ ‘profiteering’  ‘values’ and ‘corporate power’ were used as people from across the country voiced their concerns with the AT&T and T-Mobile Merger, the lack of protections for wireless devices and the disconnect they felt with several national Civil Rights organizations (and the level of corporate support they receive)

Click to watch our Latino Congreso Slideshow

It didn’t take long to realize we were in a room full of community scholars.  Sure some of the lingo like “throttle, bytes, torrent and paid prioritization” was new (as it should be, since no normal person should talk like that).  However, when it came to corporate profit making—at our community’s expense—we were in a room of experts!  Monsanto, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart and Cargill were just some of the names invoked.  Strip mining, genetic modification, hydroelectricity and free trade were the examples that were shared.  Throughout the Americas, the story was the same—example-after-example of how corporations chose their bottom line over our survival.   People get that it’s the same fight, the Internet is just the latest incarnation.

Something physiological happens when you move these policy conversations out of the beltway and into ‘community-spaces.’ A power-shift takes place as the ‘real experts’ in the room are revealed, and a discussion vs. presentation takes place.  Personal experience—rather than telecommunications wonkery—allows the stories of community struggle to emerge and connect to larger societal problems.  Soon, you have a room full of participants who are empowered to effect change on the problems that affect them.

This is what I experienced at the National Latino Congreso.  People left our panel with new information on Internet Freedom to add to pre-exisiting wisdom on legacy fights with predatory corporations.  New challenges, old enemies–we had all been down this road before. Joaquin Guerra (paraphrasing Cesar Chavez) put it best, “The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.”

People know this!  They know it’s not about protecting the Internet, its about their lives.

This is the work of movement building vs. ‘conferencing.’  It’s about creating the space for people to declare what we want our world to look like and collectively planning the path to get there.  And, its about understanding that our role is to provide spaces:

• where we can learn from each others experiences and struggles,
• share analysis of the problems our communities face,
• build relationships,
• and strategize collectively on how to reclaim the world we want

It means a different prioritization of knowledge and leadership–placing the highest priority on groups that are actually doing grassroots organizing, who are training organizers, building long-term structures of resistance, and who can work well with others.  It means investing in groups who understand their participation in the process is to build the whole, not just their part.  It means centering your work on groups willing to speak truth to power—instead of playing an ‘insiders game.’

“The most beautiful thing
for those who have fought a whole life
is to come to the end and say;
we believed in people and life,
and life and the people
never let us down.”

-Otto Rene Castillo

And the people didn’t let us down, our weekend at the Congreso ended with the unanimous adoption of our Internet Freedom for Wireless Users resolution. Drafted by members of Latinos for Internet Freedom it was endorsed with cheers from many of our new allies.  Would we have gotten there on our own?  Maybe.  But it feels a lot better to know that it was a a shared victory–one that started with a discussion that was community-based, and ended with policy advocacy that was truly people-centered.