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Fredric is a web developer based in Chicago who hopes to one day start a foundation to support young, Black males in programming and computer science.

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politics 2.0

February 16th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

politics 2.0the last 5 years have seen the word ‘google’ virtually insert itself into the dictionary as a verb, facebook become a way of life, and many get their daily information from not only cnn.com, but blogs from around the world.

it is fitting that this next presidential race will revolve around the web 2.0 world.

web 2.0 is somewhat of an undefined realm of post ‘dot come bubble’ era that exists today. its best described as the social networking, youtube viewing, and ‘do everything online’ simply era that we’re in. it uses css, conformed html, ajax frameworks, and search-engine optimized elements to envelope the web user.

recent articles have examined these new web 2.0 campaigns with much fanfare and vexing questions. one that i wanted to highlight is barack obama’s new community at my.barackobama.com.

it is not a coincidence that the look and feel of the site resembles facebook. as we all our probably a part of ‘barack obama 08: the only silver lining’ or ‘1,000,000 for obama in 08′ facebook groups, the grass roots idea of organizing people through the social networking sites is not so ‘grass roots’. the internet has afforded all, and i mean ALL, immediate access to a candidate through their keyboard and lcd screen. if you visit obama’s social networking site, you’ll not only see blogs by members regarding issues, you’ll be privy to fundraisers setup by others in your area, obama’s stance on important issues, and groups (a la facebook) that you can join.

all of this leaves a very important question though: what about those not on the web 2.0 bus, particularly blacks?

the chicagotribune ran a piece today about obama’s upcoming hurdle in south carolina, not presented by white constituents, but by blacks. the majority of support is for senator clinton mainly because of her loyalty to good ol’ bill and how bill was basically ‘one of us’. in fact, one patron went as far to imply that voting for obama would be seen as a ‘waste’ because he wont win and it isnt ‘our time’ right now.

this defeatist attitude of ‘we shouldn’t vote for a black candidate because he/she wont win’ parallels the crabs-in-a-bucket mentality that plagues our community day in and day out. whether its all of us constantly using the n-word, outcasting our talented tenth as ‘uncle toms’, or not supporting our frontrunners because the ‘whites wont let us play’ is exactly the point of grass roots. can you imagine if malcolm x, dr. martin luther king, w.e.b. dubois, shirley chisholm, thurgood marshall, harriet tubman, and frederick douglass had the tools we have today?

while today isn’t february 16, 1850, i’m still amazed that the field negroes still preach that trying to escape via the underground railroad is a bad idea mainly because they believe “we’ll never make it.”

we made it. obama in 08.

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    "Within a span of six decades, there have been four revolutionary advancements in computer-based technology. Since World War II, computer technology has advanced from automation, to information technology, to the personal computer, and now to digital technologies. In each succeeding wave, companies were created, lifestyles changed, and fortunes made and lost. Ironically, when these windows of opportunity opened, African Americans could not exploit them. Blacks were shut out at the birth of digital technologies, when the most wealth was created. When they came in, they participated mainly as consumers.


    In recent years, there has been much discussion surrounding black participation in digital technology. Studies and reports have exposed the gap between blacks and whites in computer ownership and Internet access. Both are important subjects, but narrow in their scope. More recently, the discussion has advanced to digital inclusion, as well as African American participation in areas such as business development and content creation.



    Global forces in technology, research, science, and telecommunications make it clear that the future will not hold much promise for generations of blacks if the trends that limit African American participation in the global digital technology economy are not reversed. Young blacks entering an information-based, technology-driven marketplace without the necessary technological skill sets will not only be unemployable, they will be irrelevant."



    - excerpt from Tyrone D. Taborn’s essay in the Covenant with Black America



    Yep, that damn digital divide. Check out http://www.digitaldividenetwork.net, the Internet's largest community for educators, activists, policy makers and concerned citizens working to bridge the digital divide.
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    Crabs in a bucket indeed. Can Obama's nonsupporters give us the perfect scenario of when it will be "our time"?
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