The FCC will hold a February 22 discussion branded “Connecting Black Communities: Federal, State, and Local Strategies for Closing the Digital Divide” and hosted by FCC commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
Closing that digital divide is one of the key stated goals of the Biden Administration and the FCC, including a multibillion-dollar investment in broadband buildout and adoption subsidies in the Affordable Connectivity Program and Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, among others.
In addition to FCC commissioners, the discussion will include legislators, representatives of the Commerce Department, and state leaders. It will be live streamed at the FCC's website.
Moderating the discussion will be Dr. Fallon Wilson of the Multicultural Media, Telecom, & Internet Council, which advocates for policies that diversify the media.
Speakers will be FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel, commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).
Panelists will be Mandela Barnes, lieutenant governor of Wisconsin; Brian Benjamin, lieutenant governor, of New York; Lori Lightfoot, mayor of Chicago; Hardie Davis Jr., mayor of Augusta, Georgia; and Scott Woods, director of the Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives at the National Telecommunications & Information Administration. ■
