As a result of the recent protests, MMTC is using our platform to bring awareness to racial justice issues including the Black Lives Matter movement and their impact on the tech, media, and telecom industries. The new MMTC Social Justice Newsletter will give a diverse group of seasoned and next-generation thought leaders and professionals an opportunity to express their opinions on racial justice. It will also include information and resources that support racial justice, diversity, and inclusion efforts.
We encourage you to share our newsletter and become a part of the solution in your workplace and community.
Sincerely.
Maurita K. Coley
President and CEO, MMTC
Former FCC Commissioner Tyrone Brown's
Message to America on Police Brutality
America must face up to - African Americans must face up to - our history. It will not do now to get caught up in the overwhelming, big picture of slavery as legacy. We need to focus on this specific part of it. This is a part that America can change now.
For 400 years, the principal assignment of law enforcement in places inhabited by large numbers of Blacks has been to keep the Blacks underfoot. In the slave-holding South, it was a job performed by men who did not themselves own slaves. That assignment, keeping Blacks down, came North in earnest with the mass migration of African Americans to northern cities in the first half of the 20th Century. This particular element of slavery infected police forces all over. And criminal justice professionals - district attorneys, even judges - manipulated "justice" to support oppressive police action.
Policemen, in the institutional - not the individual - sense, are not alone at fault. They have been doing what America for four hundred years has told them to do. That ill-guided woman in Central Park, calling the police to put down a Black man who merely disagreed with her, revealed the face of what America has told the police it expects from them in dealing with Black men and youths. 400 years of history has become all but instinctive.
America has to tell the police that keeping their knees on Black men's necks is no longer their assignment. Until America delivers that message, and district attorneys and judges enforce it, elements in police departments who set the standards will carry forward the 400-year tradition.
How about an online circular, that a large majority of Americans can subscribe to, affirming the proposition that all men and women really are created equal? After 400 years, the police no longer have the assignment of keeping Black people down by harassing, intimidating and killing Black men - for having broken Black men, they think, they now can move on to harassing, intimidating, and killing strong Black women and youths.
About the Author: Tyrone Brown is a former
Federal Communications Commission Commissioner and the first African American law clerk to a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Earl Warren.
George Floyd and the Fight for Racial Justice,
by Former MMTC Earle K. Moore Fellow
Danielle A. Davis
After one of the most chaotic weeks in American history, I can say that I am extremely proud of Black people. The diligence, the resilience, the unity, and the overall outcry of support for the life of George Floyd has been so humbling, overwhelming, and satisfying to watch.
This step toward justice was the result of a perfect storm. With COVID-19, a good amount of the country being under shelter-in-place orders, and the states that have lifted orders, things aren't completely back to normal. We're facing the first pandemic in over 100 years, the country is on the brink of economic collapse, over 42.6 million Americans have lost their jobs, with 1.9 million filing for unemployment in the last week alone.
About the Author: Danielle A. Davis, a former MMTC 2018 Earle K. Moore fellow, currently serves as the Tech and Telecom Policy Fellow at the National Urban League. Previously, Davis served as the Tech and Telecom Fellow at the National Council of Negro Women, Inc.
It's Not Just About George Floyd,
by Sanford Williams
I smile every time I look at this picture of my family. It was taken 20 years ago. That picture shows two physicians - Dr. Anastasia Williams and Dr. Sanford J.S. Williams, two attorneys- Kiara Imani Williams, Esq. and me, bracketing a phenomenal singer/songwriter/activist/entrepreneur, Nia C.C. Williams, a rising 4th year undergraduate student at the University of Virginia. (check out her song about the protests -
Home here). I think about the hard work it takes to raise children, how lucky I am that they all have compassion and faith, and the hopes and dreams Anastasia and I had for our family.
[...]
I can't breathe. I am angry. My wife is angry. My family and many of my close friends are angry. And we have been angry for over a week. Our patience left with George Floyd's last breath. And it's not just about George Floyd. George Floyd's murder is horrific. It is brutal, it is visceral, and it is disgusting. He should not be dead. But it's not just about him - it's about Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tamir Rice, and Sandra Bland.
Go
here to read the full blog post that
was originally published on Sanford Williams' Medium blog.
About the Author: Sanford Williams is an e
xperienced Attorney with a demonstrated history of working in the telecommunications industry, education, andhealthcare industry.
MMTC CEO Reflects on Recent Black Lives Matter March in Washington, DC
I am so proud of the next generation of leaders who boldly risked their lives and defied curfews - in the midst of a pandemic - to state unequivocally that "enough is enough." A few weeks ago, I joined them at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC, and for the first time in a many months: I felt hope.
Like the video of Mr. Floyd's life being taken before our very eyes, the COVID-19 pandemic ripped the sheet off the injustices and inhumanities that have existed in our country and in everything we say and do - in healthcare, in education, in wealth creation, in employment, and in technology and communications.
Thanks to technology and communications, we know about George Floyd's death. Thanks to technology and communications, we know about the continued excessive use of force by law enforcement officers against peaceful protesters and members of the press. Thanks to technology and communications, we can mobilize and spread important public safety and health information. Thanks to technology and communications, we can advocate for change in ways unlike any other time in history.
Some say this moment marks the beginning of the end of "the American experiment." I believe it marks transformative moment in which we can address the root causes of systemic inequities that prevent us from being truly great.
What we at MMTC do every day as advocates and builders of the next generation of communications leaders, professionals, and workers is critical to healing the nation.
And in order to heal, it is morally imperative that we use our voices and resources to uplift the people we are assigned to serve. We must commit to building a society where everyone has full, first-class access to, proficiency with, and diverse representation at all levels of leadership in technology and communications.
In the words of civil rights leader and activist, Ella Baker: "Until the death of a Black woman's son is as important as the death of a White woman's son, we who believe in freedom cannot rest."
Previously published June 8, 2020.
About the Author: Maurita Coley is the President and CEO of the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC)
.
FCC
Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment Issues Statement on the
Civil Rights Demonstrations and the Racial Divide
Earlier this month, the FCC Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) released a statement about the recent civil rights demonstrations and the racial divide. Read an excerpt of the statement below.
"As a body of diverse professionals, we proudly serve on the ACDDE to assist the Commission's effort to expand digital equity and empower diverse communities to spur educational, economic, and civic development. We believe that the protection of constitutional rights and access to full empowerment under the Constitution are necessary and fundamental to a true United States. Our work to develop and implement policies, practices, and processes for universal broadband, diverse workforce and suppliers, and meaningful ownership opportunities for people of color in the communications, media, and technology sectors is more critical than ever. We believe our work gives voice to the voiceless and projects the possibilities offered by a 'more perfect Union.' It is our goal to support inclusive and smart solutions that enable all Americans to thrive in a digital world. We look forward to continuing this work with the Commission on these critically important shared goals."
The NAACP DC Branch's COVID-19 Black Business Directory is the most up-to-date listing of Washington, DC's black-owned businesses. This special Directory was produced through one-on-one talks between the NAACP DC Branch and over fifty black-owned business representatives from all over the District. Open it to learn about each business and how they have adapted to safely serve you despite the pandemic. From hand-made Fathers Day cards and socially-distant dance lessons, to law firms and dental services, this Directory has every good and service you need; all black-owned and black made.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, MMTC created a COVID-19 Portal on our website to track our response, the FCC's response, and the
efforts of the cable, telecommunications, media, and entertainment industries including our partners, AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, CTIA, Motion Picture Association, NCTA - Internet & Television Association, T-Mobile, US Telecom, and Verizon to expand broadband access to and inform Americans.
The Portal also includes resources created by MMTC, partner organizations, and other groups that address the needs of communities of color, families, and small businesses.
Over the past several weeks, MMTC Media & Telecom Brokers has reached out to radio and television station owners to provide helpful information about small business loan programs and advice on how to apply for the loans to keep their stations on-the-air and serve the public.
This year, MMTC is continuing our commitment to close the digital divide by helping communities of color prepare for, understand, and participate in the first-ever digital 2020 Decennial Census, with resources published on our website.
MMTC and more than 275 organizations and civic leaders have taken the Census Confidentiality Protection Pledge to work together during the 2020 Census: 1) to monitor for any breach of census data confidentiality; 2) to use our collective power and influence to prevent, block, and/or bring an end to any breach of the currently-established guarantee and understanding of the confidentiality of data collected as part of the 2020 Census; and 3) to emphasize publicly the critical importance of continued Census safety and security. Learn more about the Pledge here.
MMTC also joined several other groups to launch the Census Pledge social media campaign, led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, and MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund).
Watch the PSA video here to learn why you should participate in the 2020 Census.
With our nonpartisan values of diversity and inclusion, MMTC continues to pursue our work with great determination notwithstanding our modest resources. We offer our sincere appreciation for support in helping us deliver our world-class advocacy, convenings, and policy leadership in industries regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.
TO SUPPORT MMTC, YOU CAN DONATE IN TWO WAYS:
Fellowship:Help the next generation of media and telecom lawyers and policy professionals to advocate on behalf of our nation's multicultural, women, and underserved communities by investing in the new Henry M. Rivera Fellowship. Other fellowships you are invited to support are the Cathy Hughes and Earle K. Moore fellowships.
MMTC is recognized by the IRS under 26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3). All contributions are tax-deductible.
Your support makes it possible for MMTC to serve as an advocate for diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity in the nation's most important industries.
Thank You!
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 industries, and closing the digital divide. 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
As the nation's only nonprofit media and telecom brokerage, we invest time and effort in training a new generation of media and telecom entrepreneurs. Our brokerage services have expanded to include consulting. So please think of us if you have a client or a friend looking to enter the broadcast business that needs a seasoned brokerage firm. We are dedicated to our cause of promoting diverse broadcast ownership in media, telecom, and tech.
Want to learn more about MMTC Media & Telecom Brokers? Contact Suzanne Gougherty at
sgougherty@mmtconline.org or David Honig at dhonig@mmtconline.org.
