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

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


  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    School Shooting Du Jour. War Of The Week
    17 Sep 2025
    "School Shooting Du Jour. War Of The Week" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • R.E. Wilson
    Bolsonaro and Brazil at the Edge
    17 Sep 2025
    Bolsonaro’s conviction is not a victory for democracy but a revelation of its fragility. It exposes a military that remains the armed wing of the ruling class and a fascist project dedicated to…
  • Francis Phillip
    The Imperial Contradiction Behind the 2023 Fuel Subsidy Removal in Nigeria
    17 Sep 2025
    Nigeria’s inability to refine its own oil is a legacy of British and US imperialism designed to maintain dependence. President Tinubu’s removal of the fuel subsidy was not an economic reform but an…
  • Ryan Mills
    OPINION: The National Black Radical Organizing Conference: Carrying on Tradition
    17 Sep 2025
    Organizer Ryan Mills shares his firsthand experience as one of the organizers of the 2025 National Black Radical Organizing Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. "This was truly an event that I will…
  • BettBeat
    Capitalism Hijacked the World to Keep Contributing to Genocide—BRICS Proves It
    17 Sep 2025
    We are like addicts who scream "no" while stabbing the needle into our arms. The rational mind recoils from the horror, but the economic body continues its automated motions of complicity.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us