Joie Chen

Larry Irving

Hector Barreto

Angela Glover Blackwell

Benjamin Sun

Bruce Brooks

Patty Talahongva

Anthony Wilson

Building a Bridge to the Information Superhighway
Solutions for Closing the Digital Divide

During the Summer of 2002, UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc., held a national town hall meeting in Washington, D.C. to answer one question: What specific actions, if any, should government and the private sector undertake to ensure that both young people and entrepreneurs of color can bridge the digital divide?

Titled, “Building a Bridge to the Information Superhighway: Solutions for Closing the Digital Divide,” Town Hall 2002 was sponsored by the Microsoft Corporation and presented with the National Press Club. The event, which was held on Wednesday, May 22, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Ballroom of the National Press Club, attracted approximately 250 journalists, community & business leaders, and residents from the Greater Washington, D.C. area.

The event featured a number of highly regarded industry leaders and journalists. The program was moderated by Joie Chen of CBS Evening News. Panelists included Larry Irving, President, Irving Information Group; former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information; the Honorable Hector V. Barreto, Administrator, Small Business Administration and former Vice Chairman of the Board, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Angela Glover Blackwell, President, PolicyLink and former Senior Vice President, The Rockefeller Foundation; Benjamin Sun, Founder / President & CEO, Community Connect (parent company of AsianAvenue.com, BlackPlanet.com and MiGente.com); and Bruce Brooks, Director of Community Affairs, Microsoft Corporation. Patty Talahongva, Co-host, VillageAmerica on PBS, President of NAJA, and owner, White Spider Communications, and Anthony Wilson, Anchor / Reporter, WTVD / ABC-11, Raleigh-Durham, NC, served as media commentators / audience interviewers.

A one hour television program based on this Town Hall was originally scheduled to air on the groundbreaking PBS multicultural news program, VillageAmerica. Produced in cooperation with UNITY: Journalists of Color, Inc., the VillageAmerica / UNITY Special: VillageAmerica and the Digital Divide, was placed on hold following internal changes to the VillageAmerica series.

Amtrak provided complimentary travel for Town Hall panelists located in the company’s northeast zone and also offered discounts on rail fares to those traveling to Town Hall. Following the event, UNITY held a reception that was co-sponsored by Microsoft for 100 journalists, corporate executives and numerous UNITY supporters. Despite the generosity of these major contributors, UNITY Town Hall 2002 would not have been possible without the participation of dozens of community, private-sector and non-profit leaders from businesses and organizations including:

Asian American LEAD; Black PR Wire; Business Development Group, Arlington Economic Development; Business Wire; Computers 4 Students; DC Chamber of Commerce; District of Columbia Library System; e-Council, Arlington Chamber of Commerce; Hispanic Link News Service; Hispanic PR Wire; LIFE Skills Workshop, Inc.; Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; National Congress of American Indians (NCAI); Republican National Committee; The Caraway Group; Woodrow Wilson Senior High School; and 615 Music Library, LLC.