Internet access is a racial justice issue

The pandemic is highlighting how serious the consequences are for those who lack reliable and affordable access to the internet. Disproportionately, the shift to remote work and online learning is hurting communities of color. According to the most recent US census, 43.4% of Black households and 38.6% of Hispanic households lack meaningful internet access, compared to 24% of white households. As our society and economy continues to digitize, those who are unconnected are going to fall further behind just by staying where they are.

Featuring Jeanine Abrams McLean, Vice President of Fair Count; Matthew Rantanen, Director of Technology at the Southern California Tribal Chairmen's Association; Brenda Victoria Castillo, President & CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition; and Raymond Pun, Librarian/VP for Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA); this panel will address critical questions including:

• How can we bring meaningful access to the internet to more communities of color?
• What have been the consequences of the lack of affordable access on communities of color, and how can we address this disparity?
• How can we best ensure that the influx of federal infrastructure funding is distributed to address racial disparities in access?

Please RSVP at: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_U6hL_aMXQm6nfCMIvIhWFg

This panel is co-sponsored by Connect Humanity (https://connecthumanity.fund), a new global fund that supports, catalyzes, and scales solutions to bring meaningful internet access to all, and Fair Count (https://faircount.org), which is committed to ensuring every person in Georgia and the nation is fairly and accurately counted in the census and to building pathways to continued civic participation, including voting and redistricting.