Black Churches’ National ACP Day
of Enrollment Connects Community
Members to Low-Cost Internet
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On September 24, 2022, the Black Churches 4 Digital Equity (BC4DE) Coalition kicked off its National ACP Day of Enrollment with a virtual event featuring remarks by FCC Commissioner Gregory Starks who spoke about the FCC's "Your Home, Your Internet" pilot program that was designed to increase awareness and encourage participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) for households receiving federal housing assistance. MMTC President and CEO Robert Branson, and MMTC Vice President Dr. Fallon Wilson discussed MMTC's digital equity work with the BC4DE Coalition over the past two years.
Andres Chong-Qui Torres, Director, Office of Faith Based & Neighborhood Partnerships, U.S. Department of Commerce, shared why faith-based institutions should be seen as anchor institutions in connecting communities to the internet. Kevin Hughes, Director of the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives, NTIA, gave an overview of the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program and how HBCUs and Black churches are anchor institutions for digital equity work. Angela Thí Bennett, Digital Equity Director, NTIA, discussed her office's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Bennett explained the scope of Digital Equity Act and Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program funding and how it can support Black churches as being anchors in their cities to help with the planning and execution of the planning.
Church leaders, Pastor William H. Lamar, IV, of Metropolitan A.M.E. Church, Bishop Charles H. Ellis, III, of Greater Grace Temple, and Sabrina Short of Thomas United Methodist Church spoke about their National ACP Day of Enrollment events.
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Eight Black churches and their partners hosted events that helped congregants and community members sign up for the ACP. Their events drew an estimated 1,000 attendees. See the list of churches and partner organizations below.
- California: City of Refuge, United Church of Christ and The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries
- DC: Metropolitan A.M.E. Church; Martha's Table; Center for Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation; Blacks in Technology; Moten Elementary; WHUR-FM 96.3 DJ EZ Street; and G&V Snacks
- Illinois: The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, South Shore United Methodist Church, Covenant United Church of Christ, and Lincoln Memorial Congregational United Church of Christ
- Louisiana: Thomas United Methodist Church, New Birth Cathedral of Glory, Jefferson Parish, Jefferson Parish Schools, and the City of Kenner, Louisiana
- Michigan: Greater Grace Temple
The BC4DE Coalition’s organizing efforts to encourage ACP enrollment will continue with additional Day of Action events in October hosted by churches in Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. Click on the button below for information about the upcoming church events.
Special thanks to the churches, partner organizations and businesses, FCC, U.S. Department of Commerce, NTIA, state agencies, volunteers, and attendees that helped to make the events a success. Many thanks to Comcast and Microsoft for supporting the BC4DE Coalition.
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Upcoming BC4DE Coalition Events |
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October 8
Georgia
- Feed Center Outreach Ministry, Fort Valley United Method Church (313 Carver Drive, Fort Valley)
- First Born Church of the Living God Tabernacle (1120 H J Echols Drive, Waycross)
Maryland
- Pleasant Hope Baptist Church (430 E Belvedere Ave, Baltimore)
Mississippi
- The Bean Path (451 N Gallatin Street, Jackson)
South Carolina
- Ebenezer A.M.E. Church (124 E Pinckney Street, Lincolnville)
Virginia
- St. Paul A.M.E. Zion Church (1483 Brunswick Drive, Alberta)
- Friendship Baptist Church (1305 Arlington Road, Hopewell)
- Mount Calvary Baptist Church (3806 Courthouse Road, Hopewell)
- First Baptist Church, Martinsville (1043 E. Church Street, Martinsville)
- Tabernacle Baptist Church (418 Halifax Street, Petersburg)
- Pleasant Grove Baptist Church (4405 Prince George Drive, Prince George)
October 15
Texas
- Cleft of the Rock Church (6041 WT Montgomery Road, San Antonio)
- The Message Church (503 Corliss, San Antonio)
- New Creation Christian Fellowship (8700 Fourwinds Drive, Windcrest)
October 22
New York
- Zoe Ministries (Harlem State Building,163 West 125th Street, New York)
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BC4DE Coalition Media
Coverage & Photo Gallery
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Click on the buttons below for to read the National ACP Day of Enrollment media coverage. See photos of Metropolitan A.M.E. Church and Greater Grace Temple's events below. |
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The Black Churches 4 Digital Equity Coalition has created a campaign toolkit to help Black church leaders spread the word in their communities about the Affordable Connectivity Program, encourage members of their congregations to sign up, and effectively advocate for digital equity. This tool kit includes newsletter blurbs and announcement slides for church leaders, social media images and messaging to help spread the word, and a handbook to help empower ACP enrollment campaigns in your community. Click the button below to download the resources. |
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Take Action to Demand
Digital Equity in Your State
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Join the Black Churches 4 Digital Equity movement and and take action today to demand your State Broadband Office includes Black churches and Black church nonprofit organizations in its digital equity plan. Click the button below to make your voice heard. |
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MMTC President Robert Branson Speaks at CTIA’s Connecting Us Webinar and Wireless
for Good Panel at Mobile World Congress
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On August 9, 2022, MMTC President and CEO Robert Branson joined CTIA President & CEO Meredith Attwell Baker for a conversation about wireless in communities of color during the Connecting Us: The Wireless Industry Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion webinar. The referenced MMTC and CTIA's new paper, Wireless in Communities of Color: Bridging the Digital Divide that presents a history of the digital divide, major steps in closing it, and how we can continue expanding access to transform lives for communities of color. The paper was written by Branson, MMTC Tech and Telecom Policy Counsel Danielle A. Davis, and CTIA Communications and Policy Manager Marcella Gadson (MMTC alumna).
Branson participated in the Wireless for Good panel discussion that was held on September 28, 2022, during CTIA’s Everything Policy Regulatory Program at Mobile World Congress. The panel focused on how the wireless industry is promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion and achieving environmental objectives, as well as the myriad ways our connected world can serve as a catalyst for good across a variety of societal vectors. During the panel, he commented, "It is really clear that wireless is a valuable solution for closing the digital divide."
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MMTC Welcomes 2022 Fall Fellows |
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Meet MMTC's Fall fellows Brittany Brown, a second-year student at the University of Florida Levin College of Law; Alexandra Cohen, a third-year student at American University Washington College of Law; Jori Opara, a third-year student at the Florida A&M University College of Law; and Maya Sav'age, a second-year student at the Southern University Law Center.
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MMTC Law and Policy Initiatives |
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Learn About MMTC's Recent Law and Policy Efforts |
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- On August 23, 2022, MMTC Vice President Fallon Wilson gave a presentation on how HBCUs can use broadband infrastructure dollars to build Black tech ecosystems in their cities during the NTIA HBCU Anchor Institutions and their Surrounding Communities: Inclusion in State Broadband Planning and Digital Equity Capacities webinar.
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As a member of the FCC Communications Equity and Diversity Council (CEDC), MMTC supported the CEDC and Media Bureau's Digital Skills Gap Symposium & Town Hall (virtual) on September 22, 2022. Pamela Price, Deputy Director, The Balm in Gilead, a Black Churches 4 Digital Equity Coalition partner, participated in the Town Hall. Watch the replay video here.
- MMTC Vice President Dr. Fallon Wilson participated in the Microsoft and Connect Americans Now Virtual Faith Leaders Town Hall on September 23, 2022.
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MMTC and a coalition of organizations endorsed the bipartisan Home Internet Accessibility Act that was introduced by Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) and Congressman William Timmons (SC-04). The Home Internet Accessibility Act will gather information on all federally assisted housing that lacks the capacity to support broadband service and will task the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with producing an action plan, including retrofitting, to close Internet service gaps across our country. Learn more here.
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Go here to read MMTC's Letter of Support for Expanded Band Waiver Request of Inspiration Media, Inc.
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MMTC Vice President Dr. Fallon Wilson will participate in the events below.
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Congregational Delegation at the Progressive Governance Summit's Cracking the Ceiling: Driving Equal Participation in Tech and the Economy session in Berlin, Germany, on October 13, 2022
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National Collaborative for Digital Equity and FDIC's Assembling Strategic Inclusion Allies – Enhancing Resources and Measuring Impact webinar on October 17, 2022, at 10-11 AM ET
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Religious Freedom Mobile Institute's Respect session on October 28, 2022, at 3:45-5:30 PM ET
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Creating the Equity-Focused Workforce of the Future panel at the Marconi Society's Decade of Digital Inclusion Symposium on November 2, 2022, at 1:05-1:50 PM PAC
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Healthy Churches2030 Annual Conference on November 14-17, 2022
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MMTC Partner News: Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. Receives President Biden's Lifetime Achievement Award |
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National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. received the President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service and Civil Rights during a ceremony at Morehouse College in Atlanta. Go here to read more.
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Learn About Recent Initiatives by AT&T, Charter Comcast,
NCTA - The Internet & Television Association, and Verizon
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Click here to learn about AT&T's progress in placing Connectivity at the Top of This Year’s Back-to-School List.
Go here to read about Charter Spectrum's broadband expansion to connect 140,000 homes and businesses in rural Wisconsin.
Read NCTA - The Internet & Television Association's blog post here to learn how Charter Communications and Comcast have worked together to bring high-speed broadband to unserved communities, and transformed towns that previously lacked broadband service in Virginia.
Get more information about Verizon's new immersive learning content that was launched at the beginning of the school year here.
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Support MMTC's Social Justice
and Digital Equity Policy Program
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MMTC seeks your support to officially launch MMTC’s Social Justice and Digital Equity Policy Program (DE Policy Program), a think tank comprised of innovative thought leadership and tech, media, and telecommunications (TMT) advocacy to provide a greater impact on the discussion of how to support our nation’s most vulnerable communities as they face TMT issues such as the digital divide; social justice; essential communications and technology access; employment, leadership, and ownership; and more.
Through this initiative, MMTC would like to fund the development of a think tank of experienced thought leaders in three focus areas in the TMT sectors:
- Technology, Privacy, and Civil Rights
- Infrastructure, Connectivity, and Digital Inclusion
- Media Competition and Multicultural Media Content Diversity
MMTC’s DE Policy Program will provide a forum for innovative thinking, data-driven knowledge dissemination, and consensus-building among those on multiple sides of the major TMT policy issues impacting communities of color.
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About MMTC
The Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) is a non-partisan, national nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and preserving equal opportunity in the tech, media, and telecom (TMT) industries, and closing the digital divide on behalf of its members and constituents, including owners of radio and television broadcast stations, programmers, prospective station owners, and others involved in the TMT industries.
MMTC is generally recognized as the nation's leading advocate for multicultural advancement in communications. We strongly believe that the breathtaking changes in communications technology and the new global forms of media partnerships must enhance diversity in the 21st century.
About MMTC Media & Telecom Brokers
MMTC Media & Telecom Brokers was founded in 1997 by communications lawyer David Honig. He is also one of the co-founders of our parent organization, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC).
MMTC Brokers is the nation's only minority owned brokerage firm. Our goal is to open up opportunity for media ownership for all minorities. We have been working in the media brokerage space for more than 23 years and are involved in all aspects of radio, television, towers & telecom. We are widely recognized for our work on behalf of minorities and women to gain ownership. Our commitment to this cause includes every aspect of a transaction, including:
- Business planning
- Coaching new entrants
- Market research
- Assisting with due diligence
- Best practices for negotiation
We pride ourselves as being the conduit that connects the buyer and the seller. Our role is to bring two parties together, and assist each of them to view a potential transactions from a wider perspective. Our goal is to make is sure each party will come to terms to paper a deal and see it through to a successful closing.
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