>Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 05:49:00 -0500 >From: Art McGee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: New Media Heroes; The Village Voice > >----------------------------------------------------------------- >This is a Press Release/Statement from the Black Radical Congress >----------------------------------------------------------------- > >Warning! Shameless Self-Promotion Alert! ;-) > >Hi Folks, > >We're interrupting the normal flow of news and information >to let you know about a couple of items, both of which are >specifically about the Internet. > >First, the Black Radical Congress has been nominated for an >AlterNet "New Media Heroes" award. This is an award given >out by the Independent Media Institute/AlterNet, to honor >those who have made a significant impact using New Media >(The Internet, etc.) to foster social change. > >Second, the Black Radical Congress was recently featured >in an article in the Village Voice, written by freelance >journalist Donna Ladd. As with the New Media Heroes >nomination, the article focuses on the BRC's use of >the Internet. > >Attached below is the announcement from AlterNet about the >New Media Heroes award, and following that is the article >from the Village Voice. > >If you think the Black Radical Congress is doing a good job >online, please vote for us. :-) > >If you're not already on our BRC-NEWS mailing list (the list >described in the Village Voice article), just send us a note >at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "subscribe brc-news" >on the subject line, and we'll add you. > >Take care. > >Art McGee >Internet Communications Coordinator, >Black Radical Congress > >-------------------------------------------------------------- > >Vote for "New Media" Heroes > >http://www.alternet.org/heroes > >Dear Friend, > >The staff of AlterNet.org invites you to cast your vote for >"New Media" Heroes -- for those media activists and issue >advocates who are best using new technologies to make the >world a better place. > >Since 1991, AlterNet has been presenting Media Hero awards, >recognizing people who are combating the negative effects >of media concentration and distorted media images. After a >brief hiatus, we are presenting the awards again, but now >for "new media" heroes. > >The award is based on the proposition that the Internet >offers many creative and efficient ways of overcoming the >incredibly high costs of producing traditional media, and >also offers new models for reaching people with ideas and >ways to organize around important issues. Some nominees are >producers of new media content; others advocate policies to >ensure the democratic potential of the Internet. > >Media activists who participated in AlterNet's portal beta >test or who read the AlterNet column Media Mash selected >most of the nominees. Based on our experience, the AlterNet >staff also made several nominations. The final award winners >will be chosen by you. In February, we will announce these >top five New Media Heroes, and a number of runners-up, on >AlterNet.org. > >Go to http://www.alternet.org/heroes to read a description >of each nominee and get directions for casting your vote. > >Nominees > >John Aravosis, StopDrLaura.com >Becky Bond, WorkingForChange.com >Jeffrey Chester, Center for Media Education >Farai Chideya, Pop and Politics >James Garcia, Politico: The Magazine for Latino Politics and Culture >Chip Giller and Lisa Hymas, Grist >David Irons and Tom Schmitz, Ascribe the Public Interest Newswire >Josh Karliner, CorpWatch >Matt King, OpenVoice >Josh Knauer, EnvironLink Network and Greenmarketplace.com >Andrew Levy, Mediachannel.org >Art McGee, Black Radical Congress >Carrie McLaren, Stay Free! Magazine >Nipun Mehta, CharityFocus >Dan Merkle, Independent Media Centers >John Moyers, TomPaine.com >Bill Pease, Scorecard.org >Amy Richards, Ask Amy @ Feminism.com >Mark Ritchie, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy >Mark Rotenberg, Electronic Privacy Information Center (E.P.I.C.) >Don Rojas, The Black World Today >Sam Smith, Progressive Review >Leif Utne, Utne Web Watch Daily >Sasa Vucinic, New Media Development Fund > >-------------------------------------------------------------- > >http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0102/ladd.shtml > >Village Voice > >January 10-16, 2001 > >The Black Radical Congress Calls for Action > >Forty Acres and One Big Digital Mule > >By Donna Ladd <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >African American intellectual Frederick Douglass said in >1857 that power will concede nothing without a fight: 'those >who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, >are men who want crops without plowing up the ground, >they want rain without thunder and lightning.' > >Since the Election Day assault on the rights of minority >voters, the Black Radical Congress has been working overtime >to plow the fields of online agitation, sending out an average >of eight to 10 e-mails a day on its listserv. Make no mistake: >This is not annoying spam. The group's e-mail collection >comprises an anthology of what is arguably the best news and >commentary about minority issues, particularly the election >morass, to be found anywhere. > >On December 1, the group - based in an office near Columbia >University - issued a statement that might have made the >freed slave Douglass smile. "This should be seen as a cause >for action in the streets, and in all facets of this society," >wrote co-chairman Bill Fletcher Jr. "Supporters of democracy >need to be agitating about this situation." > >As the January 20 inauguration of George W. Bush approaches, >the listserv has offered activists a first stop for news about >political events and looming protests. It works much like a >clipping service, with reporters and commentators submitting >their articles to Internet communications coordinator Art >McGee, who pores through dozens of submissions each day. >The resulting posts help fill the void left by sporadic and >often incomplete media coverage of minority issues. "We're >not so much trying to recruit in the traditional sense as >to educate," McGee says from Los Angeles. "We're putting the >idea of radical politics back on the table." For him, being >radical means tackling the root of the problem, not just >acquiescing to today's capitalist order, settling for a >minute change or two. > >The Black Radical Congress is less conservative than >the Nation of Islam and even the NAACP and Jesse Jackson's >Rainbow Push Coalition, McGee says. For one, the organization >- a "united front" of individuals and groups, young and old, >including academics, clerics, and laypeople - openly welcomes >gays and lesbians. Race is indeed the coalition's bottom- >line connector, but like the Green Party, the group takes >a more socialist view of reform. It advocates for seemingly >soft issues such as child care, living wages, and universal >health care; it also is waging a war of words against the >war on drugs, police brutality, and now the crippled >electoral process. > >African Americans, McGee says, have been marginalized >because the black left became weak as the original Black >Panthers self-destructed and few leaders rose to replace >them. He warns that the community must be careful: "There's >a danger we can be co-opted by more liberal forces and >satisfied with a few concessions." > >The academics who established the congress actually built >its site, www.blackradicalcongress.org, before officially >organizing the group on June 19, 1998 - a date also known >as Juneteenth, the African American holiday celebrating the >emancipation of slaves in Texas. McGee credits the founders >for realizing the Internet's power at a time when most other >minority groups had paid it scant attention. "It was >considered high-priority," he says. "It couldn't be >an afterthought." > >McGee says many African Americans came late to the Internet >- but that they are there, especially in social settings, >and just need to be organized. "There's an unevenness to >the Internet from the [black] activist standpoint," he >says. Now McGee hopes to pull the communities behind >sites like BlackPlanet.com and BlackVoices.com toward >progressive politics. > >The timing is certainly right to harness minority outrage >over the election and the Supreme Court nod to Bush, McGee >argues. "It's all out there in the open now," he says. "We >don't even have to explain what the problem is, just how we >go about changing it." > >Mr. Douglass, cue the thunder and lightning. > >-- > >To subscribe to the BRC listserv, send e-mail to: ><[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. > >Tell us what you think: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. > >Copyright (c) 2001 Village Voice Media. All Rights Reserved. > > >-30- > >Black Radical Congress >National Office >Columbia University Station >P.O. Box 250791 >New York, NY 10025-1509 >Phone: (212) 969-0348 >Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Web: http://www.blackradicalcongress.org > >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >BRC-PRESS: Black Radical Congress - Official Press Releases/Statements >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=unsubscribe%20brc-press> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Subscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=subscribe%20brc-press> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Help: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?subject=brc-press> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Archive1: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Archive2: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/brc-press> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Archive3: <http://archive.tao.ca> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------- ><www.blackradicalcongress.org> | BRC | <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >--------------------------------------------------------------------------
