wrythings

Tutor Mentor Connection: “If you want peace, work for justice”

Dan Bassill writes:

My final meeting was with a senior at Northwestern University who is interviewing for a fellowship. His essay started with the statement, “If you want peace, work for justice.” (Pope Paul VI).

He wrote that at first he did not understand the meaning of this. But after doing a 2006 internship he realized that “if you really want to improve the world you need to give all people the same opportunities.” He concluded, “Denying someone justice did not mean prohibiting access to the courts, it meant not allowing them to reach their full potential given to them by God.”

The Pope’s words certainly resonate for me, but the young man’s further interpretation warranted a citation.

I’ve been writing on defining digital divides for ourselves in our own communities as opposed to thinking about them in terms of the series of solutions that have come to many communities in a top-down manner, even if partly the result of demands from the bottom or near-bottom (or those at least cognizant of a divide) for something.

I generally recite the typical aspects of the divide: equipment, training, and connectivity and deconstruct/explode them further along lines anyone can understand: technology changes more and more rapidly. So: is a given piece of equipment up to it’s task, is it equitable? is a given training regimen adequate? are there other tools and strategies we should be trying? is the connectivity on par with what others have, and at similar price point?

That’s all well for an effort to break free from other’s definitions of the divide, especially from those who would have us believe it has been bridged.

Back to the beginning: what I take to be one of the hallmarks of the divide is isolation.

I began by writing that the digital divide is not over…. I feel a compulsion to reiterate that point… and to bluntly state that perhaps those who would have us believe it is over have simply not heard, or not heard from those who are most isolated… those who are effectively voiceless because their stories don’t get told in a meaningful way and they are often without the tools to tell their own stories in the media of the connected.

In my own city there are plenty of people who do not realize the isolation of individuals and communities so proximate to them geographically.

We must advance community use of media tools, and community and individual participation with media tools to tell their own stories… to be the media (as the saying goes).

At the Harold Washington Playlot in Hyde Park we find a dedication in the form of a book on a pedestal, with the following quote:

I see a Chicago of Educational Excellence and equality of treatment in which all children can learn to function in this ever-more-complex society.

What would he do to get us there now, to a Chicago of Educational Excellence, as our society seems even more complex today? Would he settle for a Digital Inclusion plan?

Footnote: Harold Washington was Mayor of Chicago from 1983 until his passing in 1987.

Recently, the Chicago Digital Access Alliance (CDAA) issued a platform espousing 10 Principles for Digital Excellence. I’m proud to be a co-author of that statement.

Here are the headlines of the 10 Principles, I’ll offer discussion of each of them as the CDAA Campaign for a Community Benefits Agreement progresses.

1. DIGITAL EXCELLENCE IS AN INSTITUTIONALLY FUNDED PRIORITY FOR CHICAGO.

2. SOUND PLANNING, EVALUATION AND POLICY MEASURES ARE CRITICAL TO DIGITAL DIVIDE EVALUATION AND DIGITAL EXCELLENCE IMPACT.

3. UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO HIGH-SPEED CONNECTIVITY IS A PUBLIC RIGHT AND NECESSITY.

4. DIGITAL LITERACY AND FLUENCY ARE FORMS OF HUMAN CAPITAL AND REQUIRE PUBLIC INVESTMENT.

5. LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE IS NECESSARY FOR COMMUNITY-DRIVEN CONTENT DEVELOPMENT.

6. HARDWARE TOOLS MUST BE AVAILABLE TO ALL.

7. ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE BEST PRACTICES AND INNOVATIONS IMPROVE THE HEALTH AND WELL-BEING OF ALL NEIGHBORHOODS.

8. OUR FREEDOM TO CONNECT DEMANDS NETWORK NEUTRALITY AND ACTIVE MONITORING FOR EQUITABLE SERVICE.

9. THE GLOBAL ECONOMY WORKS FOR EVERYONE: ASSURE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND FIRST SOURCE HIRING.

10. IN STRONG NEIGHBORHOOD ECONOMIES, ENTREPRENEURS AND SMALL BUSINESSES THRIVE.

We drafted these principles under a frame of “Digital Excellence”, and have been working hard at moving the discourse from Inclusion to Excellence even as the term Digital Inclusion buzzes from PR-mouthpieces of the purveyors of Networks and the Politicians now showing their concern for bridging the digital divide after these many years. We want to set a higher bar. If Inclusion can be a way station en route to Excellence, we will be better off, but we need to be clear on where we want to go.

I have felt that community and technology advocates were ready to take up the phrase Digital Inclusion largely because we’ve been neglected in the trenches for so long, that we just were ecstatic at being listened to at all.

If we are being listened to, finally, let’s talk about the society we want, and about technology only in so far as it can be in service to us achieving that society. So, an inclusive society is certainly one I want to be a part of, but, let’s strive for excellence all around.

With Digital Inclusion there is danger of leaving our aim too low, and shooting ourselves in the feet. If they are listening now to community experts with experience in Digital Literacy, Access and Equity, let’s tell them where we really need to go.

We can’t settle for digital inclusion as a charity model. We’re investing alongside others in our community, in our common future. We won’t settle for a handout of a little hardware, a little connectivity, and maybe a little money to run some programs and put some sites up. We’re not going to smile, say thanks, and go away quietly. We have work to do.

Educational and Curricular Apartheid. That’s the state of Education in America.

Take an hour to listen to Jonathan Kozol on Word for Word (American Public Media).

According to Kozol, the most segregated schools by state:

1. New York
2. Michigan
3. Illinois

Does what we spend on education per child matter? Of course it does. And so does how that money is spent. What would (do) you spend on your child’s education?

I wanted to share this (found) audio clip of Marvin Bram, one of my Prof’s at HWS some years back. One of three there that I found profound and who interacted with me as an equal.