Join MMTC for Black Churches Leading
Digital Equity Conversations
on March 14th at 7-8 PM ET
|
|
Long before the pandemic highlighted and expanded the gulf in internet access between served and unserved or underserved communities, churches diligently worked to identify the need to connect members of their communities to the internet and sought to provide that connection. For instance, churches have long provided educational opportunities for adults, and with the advent of the digital era, they quickly realized that computers were necessary to serve this goal. Indeed, churches were among the vanguard in establishing community-directed computer labs for parishioners and members of the public. They are also now needed to ensure racial and ethnic communities are connected to the internet and have integrated it into their daily lives.
Black Churches 4 Digital Equity builds a movement of Black church leaders advocating for digital equity and how their communities can get connected with the Affordable Connectivity Program, Emergency Connectivity Fund, and low-cost internet options. Learn more about the Affordable Connectivity Program here.
Join us for Black Churches Leading Digital Conversations panel on March 14, 2022, at 7-8 p.m. ET via Facebook Live. Register here.
Panelists include:
- Rev. Dr. Renita Weems, Co-Pastor, Ray of Hope Community Church;
- Rev. Dr. Leslie Callahan, Pastor, St. Paul's Baptist Church;
- Rev. William Lamar, Pastor, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church;
- Scott Woods, Senior Broadband Program Specialist, National Telecommunications and Information Administration
- Dr. Nicol Turner Lee, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies and Director, Center for Technology Innovation, The Brookings Institution.
|
|
MMTC Discusses Black Churches Uniting For Digital Equity with Comcast Newsmakers
|
|
Comcast Newsmakers host Tetiana Anderson interviewed MMTC President and CEO Robert E. Branson about Black Churches uniting for digital equity on January 30, 2022. Go here to watch the video.
|
|
MMTC, ALLvanza & OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates Convene
From EBB to ACP: Let's Get Our
Communities Connected Panel
|
|
On February 22, 2022, MMTC, ALLvanza, and OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates and other policy experts discussed the Emergency Broadband Benefit, the newly funded Affordable Connectivity Program, and what the transition means for vulnerable communities. Go here to learn more about the ACP. Watch the replay video here.
Speakers included: Rep. Grace Meng (NY-6); Rep. Tony Cárdenas (CA-29); FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel; Rosa Mendoza, President and CEO, ALLvanza; Robert Branson, MMTC President and CEO; and Michael Nguyen, Associate Manager of Policy & Advocacy, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates.
Panelists include Sandra Caraveo, National Programs Manager, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC); Joi Chaney, Executive Director of the Washington Bureau and Senior Vice President, Policy and Advocacy, National Urban League (NUL); Emily Chi, Director, Telecommunications, Technology and Media, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC); and Lyle Ishida, Chief, FCC Office of Consumer Affairs and Outreach Division. Danielle Davis, MMTC Tech and Telecom Policy Counsel, moderated the panel.
|
|
MMTC Vice President Dr. Fallon Wilson Moderates Connecting Black
Communities Panel Convened by
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks
|
|
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks hosted a conversation on "Connecting Black Communities: Federal, State, & Local Strategies for Closing the Digital Divide" on February 22, 2022. Watch the video here.
Speakers included House Majority Whip James Clyburn, U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, and FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington.
MMTC Vice President Dr. Fallon Wilson moderated the panel. Panelists include Hon. Mandela Barnes, Lieutenant Governor, State of Wisconsin; Hon. Brian Benjamin, Lieutenant Governor, State of New York; Hon. Lori Lightfoot, Mayor, City of Chicago, Illinois; Hon. Hardie Davis Jr., Mayor, City of Augusta, Georgia; and Scott Woods, Director of the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives, NTIA.
|
|
MMTC Law and Policy Initiatives |
|
Learn About MMTC's Recent Law and Policy Efforts |
|
-
MMTC congratulated Alan Davidson on becoming Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator. Read more here.
-
MMTC and a coalition of multicultural organizations filed comments about NTIA's implementation of broadband grant programs pursuant to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 here.
- On January 27, 2022, MMTC Tech and Telecom Policy Counsel Danielle Davis spoke at the Federal Communications Bar Association’s CLE Perspectives on Broadcast Ownership Next Steps panel. Panelists shared their views on the state of the industry and what the FCC should do going forward with regard to media ownership and diversity.
-
Go here to Connected Nation’s podcast interview with MMTC Vice President Dr. Fallon Wilson about the Black Churches 4 Broadband Coalition and why the need for universal broadband is a civil rights issue.
- MMTC Vice President Dr. Fallon Wilson joined the Operation Black Liberation: How we leverage the digital economy to ‘get free’ panel at the Black Innovation Alliance BLADE Conference on February 23, 2022.
-
On February 24, 2022, MMTC Vice President Dr. Fallon Wilson and Blacks in Technology Executive Director Dennis Schultz participated in Prairie View A&M University’s Black Digital Futures, a virtual curated conversation on race, justice, and STEM.
- David Honig, MMTC President Emeritus and Special Advisor, participated in the Regulatory Responses and Challenges panel discussion on February 25, 2022, at the Race, Racism and American Media Virtual Conference. The conference was sponsored by the Free Press' Media 2070 initiative, Georgetown University Law Center, and the University of Houston Law Center.
|
|
MMTC Board Members Are Making Moves |
|
MMTC Board Secretary Ari Fitzgerald, a partner at Hogan Lovells and an alumnus of Yale Law School, Class of 1990, moderated the “Race and the Digital Divide: A Conversation with FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks," an alumnus of Yale Law School, Class of 2008, on February 8, 2022. The event is sponsored by the Yale Club of DC and Yale Black Alumni Association DMV.
MMTC Board member Andrew Schwartzman, Senior Counselor, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, received the James Wilson Award for Lifetime Achievement presented during the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Alumni Awards 2021-22 celebration. Watch the video here (start at at 23.37 mark).
|
|
FCBA Black History Month Recognition Features MMTC President and CEO Robert Branson and MMTC Friends |
|
The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) recognized and celebrated several Black leaders and trailblazers in the technology, media, and telecom space who have paved the way for the emerging diverse leaders. The leaders include MMTC President and CEO Robert Branson and many of MMTC's friends. Kudos to the leaders! Special thanks to the FCBA for recognizing the leaders.
Photo Credit: FCBA News, February 2022
|
|
Meet MMTC 2022 Spring Fellows |
|
In January 2022, MMTC welcomed a diverse group of law students to its fellowship program. They include:
- Natalie Alexis, University of Florida Levin College of Law
- Cassandra Brown, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University College of Law
- Cheriline Fertil, Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law
- Alexia Harkley, University of Florida Levin College of Law
- Karen Pineda, Florida International University College of Law
- Ankevia Taylor, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University College of Law
- Adaeze Uche, University of Florida Levin College of Law
- Shakina Williams, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University College of Law
|
|
Learn About Recent Initiatives of AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, CTIA, Gray Television, Inc., NCTA - The Internet &
Television Association, T-Mobile, and Verizon
|
The following internet service providers are participating in the FCC's Affordable Connectivity Program. Click on the links to get more information about their programs.
Click here to read about the CTIA Wireless Foundation's Catalyst 2022 grant program that is seeking. social entrepreneurs who have solutions that take advantage of the speed, efficiency, and versatility of 5G and leading edge wireless technologies to deepen the connection we have to one another and make our communities stronger. The application deadline is April 7, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Gray Television, Inc. announced its plans to create the Gray Media Training Center in partnership with WLBT, an NBC affiliate in Jackson, Mississippi. The Center will educate and train students who attend Mississippi colleges and universities, with a focus on HBCUs including Jackson State, Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley State, Rust College and Tougaloo College. Get more information here.
Read NCTA - The Internet & Television Association's blog, The Road to Connecting All Americans Starts with Prioritizing the Unserved here.
|
|
Support MMTC's Social Justice
and Digital Equity Policy Program
|
|
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.
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
