Broadband, Social Justice Summit Set For DC

WASHINGTON - The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) has been a staunch and very vocal advocate for social justice in mass media, especially in the broadband and telecom industries since 1986. The organization has represented civil rights organizations and minority businesses in over 80 proceedings before the FCC. MMTC’s fight for such issues as 'net equality' and broadband adoption, as well as a strong legal staff, has truly made MMTC the leading advocate for minority participation in the media, telecom and broadband industries. To create a forum around broadband and telecom inequities, begin action on proposed policy, and to give a voice to the popular MMTC Broadband & Social Justice Blog, MMTC launched the first Broadband and Social Justice Summit in January of 2010. Featuring keynote speaker FCC Commissioner  Mignon Clyburn, former FCC Commissioner Tyrone Brown, actor and director Robert Townsend, Congressman Bobby Rush, Blogger Angela Benton of Black Web 2.0, Navarrow Wright and a host of other notables, the Summit would set a standard in social justice reform.

This year’s Summit takes place at the Westin Grand Hotel In Washington DC on January 20th & 21st., and will feature many of its original participants, as well as FCC Commissioners Michael Copps, Meredith Baker and Robert , White House Senior Advisor Philip Weiser, Congressman Cliff Stearns, NTIA Deputy Administrator Anna Gomez and Kristal High of Politic365, presenting such workshops as ‘The Obama Administration’s Broadband Policy Priorities’ and ‘Civic Engagement And Social Justice In The Wake Of The 2010 Election,’ and networking with participants during the annual ‘Social Justice Reception.’

A highlight of the conference is the workshop ‘Blogging for Social Justice: How To Use Social Media To Transform Society.’ This workshop is just one example of how the Summit will integrate web 2.0 technologies to further this year’s Summit. An event/ social media aggregator page will feature the Summit’s social streams. Events are being streamed live via Ustream, participants are being urged to voice their opinions through a tweetcast, a ‘Bloggers Table’ will feature the nation’s top bloggers blogging, and photo and video tagging. Evernote will host the Official MMTC BBSJ Policy Summit Resource Notebook, Scribd, the leading online content distributor, will feature press content, Summit activities will feature Microsoft Tag technology and the DUB app will host ‘digital networking‘ throughout the Summit. The Broadband Social Justice Summit is open to all.