10th Annual Broadband and Social Justice Address
Derived from MMTC President and CEO Maurita Coley’s Remarks Delivered at MMTC’s 10th Annual Broadband and Social Justice Summit on March 6, 2019
Thank you for joining us again at MMTC’s 10th Annual Broadband and Social Justice Summit, and for your continued support in our fight for social justice in the face of new technology and new ways to communicate.
When I think of why social justice is still just as important as it was in the 1950s and 1960s, I can’t help but think of how I was led here, and why I’m so proud to be a part of this fight.
Like most in my generation, when I think of social justice, I think of Selma…The Edmund Pettus Bridge…Bloody Sunday…Malcolm…Martin… Rosa…Gandhi…Rev. Barber… Cesar Chavez…Russell Means…John Lewis.
But I must admit that, as a communications attorney for most of my career, I never thought of myself as a social justice lawyer. I went from a boutique communications law firm where I helped clients license superstations at the Federal Communications Commission, to working for the Black Entertainment Television Network, owned by the first black-owned media company on the New York Stock Exchange.
My choice was intentional with regard to the practice of law; and I specifically chose not to practice criminal justice. I recently confessed that my first glimpse of the inside of a prison was on the set of T.D. Jakes’ film “Woman Thou Art Loosed.”
But my second experience inside a jail was up-close and personal: a teenaged loved one got ensnared in the U.S. criminal justice system, and I didn’t have the criminal justice legal skills to represent him. It forced me to see the predatory prison phone system for what it was—I spent $200 in just a few days, and I decided flying was cheaper than making phone calls to someone in jail.[1] I learned first-hand that there are many innocent people behind bars, because they can’t afford bail, or they can’t afford a top law firm like the ones represented here today.
But that harrowing experience inside a prison also confirmed for me that while I was not trained as a criminal lawyer, my training could make a difference for someone whose voice was muffled behind walls and bars.
And when I joined MMTC, I realized that, through MMTC, I could partner with dozens of other like-minded individuals and organizations—like the ones in this room—who fight to ensure that communications policy issues line up with overall societal reforms.
I realized that I could use my voice through MMTC to amplify support for multicultural entrepreneurs, to help them access capital and share their stories, through the broadcast outlets and internet platforms that they own and operate.
I could use my voice through MMTC to help bridge the homework gap by guaranteeing access to the internet for kids who don’t have internet at home.
We could all use our voices to help end predatory prison phone rates, or to help someone to get a Lifeline phone to help them stay connected during a tough period in their lives.
And I have seen this happen in real-time in the years that I’ve been at MMTC, such as the FCC finally agreeing to impose a cap on predatory prison phone rates, thanks to years of advocacy by Commissioner Clyburn, who, along with MMTC, had honored Mrs. Martha Wright-Reed, Ava DuVernay, the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice, and many others.
I also watched things unfold as we successfully petitioned the FCC to expand the Lifeline phone program for low-income households to include broadband. This changed came about as a result of many voices; years of public comments in FCC proceedings; coalition-building with partners like the National Urban League and LULAC; and translating esoteric telecom policy into plain language through white papers and op-eds that addressed misconceptions about a program that helps millions of low-income households make the vital connections they need.
We continue this work today, fighting to keep the Lifeline program from being gutted; to keep costs of internet access low; to give communities of color a voice through media ownership; to train the next generation of communications and social justice leaders; and to do so much more.
Understand this: the core of all the work we do here at MMTC is to help bridge a persistent wealth and opportunity gap that keeps many individuals, families, and communities marginalized and locked out of opportunity.
MMTC’S PAST:
To help bridge these gaps, in 1997, longtime MMTC advisor and former FCC Chairman Dick Wiley (1974-1977) urged MMTC’s co-founder David Honig to do something about the lack of minority and women ownership in broadcasting and cable in the face of longtime inaction by the FCC. So MMTC formed MMTC Media and Telecom Brokers, a full-service media brokerage firm that specifically sought opportunities for minorities and women to become broadcast owners. We used our voice so that others could have a voice.
This morning at BBSJ, and tomorrow at the FCC, you’ll hear the stories of entrepreneurs like our keynote speaker Raul Alarcon, Chairman and CEO of the Spanish Broadcasting System, and Pedro Zamora, the first Latino owner of a full-power radio station in my hometown of Detroit.
On the education and training side, MMTC has trained over 80 diverse media and communications fellows, and over the past year alone, we’ve stepped up our game by training over 40 next generation leaders through our education and outreach training programs.
MMTC’S PRESENT:
Today, MMTC remains firm in our determination to do something about the problem.
Through our partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Urban League, and the Wireless Infrastructure Association, over 600 new apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeship were created, and over 1700 existing telecom workers’ jobs were converted to a career-track apprenticeship model, in just two years. That’s right, look around – people right here in this room helped thousands of unemployed and under-employed workers gain the skills in the telecommunications industries that they need to compete in this new economy. There is no limit to what we can accomplish, starting right here, right now. These are companies like our sponsors – Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, Charter, T-Mobile – and other sponsors who have invested in diverse workforces and in up-skilling their workers in an age where technology skills matter if you want to have a decent quality of life.
Our board member Leo Hindery, one of the architects of the famous “FCC Tax Certificate,” along with broadcast mogul Frank Washington and former FCC Commissioner Tyrone Brown, used their voices to develop a tax policy that quintupled minority ownership of radio and tv stations.
But in this digitized, over-the-top world, I often hear, “Why are you still talking about ownership? This isn’t the Bob Johnson/Syncom era; the good old days are gone.”
But like Leo, I choose to think the good new days that are just ahead of us, as evidenced by the launch of CLEO TV and AFRO TV—linear channels launched by Comcast pursuant to an MOU in which they agreed to launch, and did launch, 10 new diverse channels.
And anything is possible if we use our voice to speak them into existence. Curtis Symonds, who will launch the HBCU Network on some-body’s platform, by any means necessary. Maybe he’ll launch on cable, or maybe he’ll launch on George Simmons’ BingeNow digital platform, maybe on Kelvin Boston’s MoneywiseTV, or maybe on Keith Jacobs’ innovative, life-affirming broadband platform that will transform us all.
Anything is possible. The good new days are now if we use our voices like those who came before us used theirs.
MMTC’s FUTURE:
We all know that that Bob Johnson launched BET over thirty years ago. I worked for him when he employed about 500 people. Ultimately, he sold BET to Viacom for three billion dollars. But not many know that Bob Johnson now owns, in collaboration with AMC Networks, AcornTV, which distributes British dramas and employs 10,000 people. Today, Frank Washington, an African American entrepreneur, has launched Crossings TV, which successfully distributes Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean programming.
Anything is possible…if we all do our part to make sure that DIVERSE VOICES MATTER, in whatever role we play in the ecosystem.
So wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, you can be Malcolm [X], or Marie [Johns]; Martin [Luther King], or Maureen [Lewis]; use your platform, your access, your influence to lift up the diverse voices around you who might need your voice, your access, your seat at the table to help them get a seat at the table too.
[1] Last week on Twitter, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson shared his grief about the untimely death of his brother who died in prison while serving a 30-year sentence; but he also shared his gratitude for having the financial means to make phone calls to his brother while he was incarcerated. Available at: https://twitter.com/MichaelEDyson/status/1098361632135278593
