Click here and check out the rest of our memes on Flickr
A week after the Washington Post published an article on Free Wi-Fi, the Wall Street Journal published an article connecting education, technology, and health. In response, the Media Action Grassroots Network and the Praxis Project launched the #NotLovinIt campaign – a week of creative, online action to highlight the relationship between public broadband access and health indicators in communities of color, low-income communities, and rural communities.
This included blogs from organizations in the MAG-Net community, memes and social media activities. The actions culminated in a Valentine's Day "Twitter Party" where groups using the #NotLovinIt and #MediaJustice hashtags targeted reporters and encouraged them to investigate more how expanding public Wi-Fi would best serve the needs of communities.
As we know (and have learned this week) – the reality is that too many students, particularly those in rural, tribal, and low-income communities of color, have to go to fast food restaurants like McDonald's in order to do their homework. This is because they don't have access at their schools or public libraries (or these places close early) and they can not afford Internet in their homes – assuming it's even available in their area.
Thanks to you we were able to raise awareness on these intersecting community issues and had a great Twitter party on Thursday. Today we sent a letter to the FCC signed by over 150 organizations and individuals. Here’s what else we were able to accomplish together:
Articles:
Colorlines – Not Loving It: Young Students Forced to Go to McDonald's for WiFi After Libraries Close
Take Part – Kids Shouldn’t Have to Buy A Big Mac to Do Their Homework
Mother Nature Network – #NotLovinIt: Students head to McDonald's for free WiFi
Blogs from the MAG-Net Community:
Christopher Mitchell: We Need Spectrum for Our Communities
Bryan Mercer: #NotLovinIt – Expand Free Public WiFi Now!
Simran Noor: Community-Scale Solutions Are Critical
Erick Boustead: Bada bop bah Bridge the Divide, Without the Fries
Loris Taylor: The Growing Digital Divide in Indian Country
Michelle Lozano: Internet Hunt
Twitter Party
We engaged in a back and forth conversation with journalists from the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Mother Jones and Mashable. Here are some additional graphics:
Some of your Tweets:
Thank you to everyone – your voices, stories and art are crucial to moving forward the conversation of a #healthyWiFi
