Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Wired Less: Disconnected in Urban America
Bill Quigley
15 Apr 2009
🖨️ Print Article

by InternetForEveryone.org

Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and other telco giants have spent mad public relations money spreading the myth that the digital divide is a thing of the past.  Some heedless and lazy black bloggers have helped spread this lie, but it's still a lie.  Redlining of and denial of service to poor and minority communities has been a core feature of the business models of the cable industry since its start decades ago, and of the phone companies for more than a century.  But in the 21st century, cheap, available broadband internet is as necessary to economic development as paved streets and roads.  Communities without it will become or remain economic, educational, business and social backwaters.

See, hear and read more stories about the digital divide and what it costs communities, families and lives....

 

America Offline

InternetforEveryone.org is working to shed light on the millions of Americans who live without regular Internet access or lack the training or equipment to get online. A small reporting team is traveling to communities across the country to tell people's stories. Free Press' Megan Tady interviewed residents of Los Angeles, Calif., and Washington, D.C. On this site, you can follow our trek and get an up-close view of America’s urban digital divide

Wired Less: Disconnected in Urban America

A report on life without the Internet in urban Americ.  Five stories, each with video. »

  • Introduction
  • Story One: Offline in L.A.
  • Story Two: A Connection Changes Family’s World
  • Story Three: In Desperate Need of the Net in El Monte
  • Story Four: D.C. Kids Want Internet
  • Story Five: Left Out in the Cold in D.C.

 

The web site of Internet For Everyone contains much more information, and is a frequently updated source of information on the campaign to bring high speed broadband to all our communities.  Do check it out.  If you have a web site or blog, link to it at http://www.internetforeveryone.org/.

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Aby L. Sène
    Drones, Elephants and Imperialist Interests in Africa
    04 Jun 2025
    Conservation in Africa has long been a smokescreen for imperial power. Veiled behind the cause of environmentalism and stopping poachers, western governments, intelligence agencies, and billionaire-…
  • Abdirahman M. Ahmed
    Using Lessons from the Horn of Africa to Protect the Alliance of Sahelian States
    04 Jun 2025
    The Horn of Africa was filled with hope in 2018, when Somali President Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed an agreement…
  • Black Alliance for Peace US Out of Africa Network
    AFRICOM Watch Bulletin #56
    04 Jun 2025
    The Congo remains ground zero for Africa’s resource wars, where Rwanda and Uganda act as looters for the West. While international scrutiny has largely focused on Rwanda’s aggression, Uganda’s…
  • Alina Selyukh
    Skulls Once Subject to Racist Study in Germany are Laid to Rest in New Orleans
    04 Jun 2025
    Looted African skulls come home after a century in German labs, exposing colonialism's history of dehumanizing "race science."
  • The Cradle News Desk
    US Greenlights Syrian Plan to Integrate Foreign Extremists Into New Army
    04 Jun 2025
    After 2011, tens of thousands of foreign extremists flooded into Syria with the backing of western intelligence agencies to help topple the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us