The Digital Divide In Bed Stuy and Beyond

[21stcentur...@gmail.com]

One thing I definitely wanted to start a discussion about was how to
make sure this group manages to be relevant to people who can't really
deal with Usenet, particularly in Bed Stuy, where a lot of the most
active members of the community don't use email, much less participate
in groups like this.

Any good ideas for ensuring that whatever happens here moves through
the entire community you're in, whether it's Bed Stuy or another part
of Brooklyn?

Anyone have resources to post, or stories to tell?

[Run For Cover!]

I can address this topic to a certain extent, based on my experience
as a class parent and volunteer at my son's elementary school, which
is a racially and economically diverse magnet school in district 15
(The Brooklyn New School, for those who are familiar with local
public schools).

When he first started school there, it was 2002 and parents either
didn't have email accounts or had them through work only. Very few
had personal email accounts. I volunteered to be a class parent
(since I didn't know anyone, I figured that would be a good way to
meet them) and set up a mailing list on Yahoo! At all the
kindergarten events that parents attended, I went around with a
notebook and collected contact info. I also had the K teacher
distribute a sign-up sheet asking for the same information. I divided
up the group with my co-class parent and we each took the list of
parent phone numbers and called everyone whenever we were trying to
organize something for the class or making sure that parents had
important last-minute info.

I quickly learned there was not one best way to communicate with a
diverse group. As labor intensive as it was, the only way I could
make sure that everyone (or almost everyone--there was one parent I
never did manage to reach) knew what was going on was to use every
means of communication at my disposal every time. That meant sending
an email, making & distributing a flyer, and calling people. I also
learned that there were people I could skip when it came to phone
calls because they could be relied on to either read the email or
flyer. For others only a phone call would do. (I would note that who
responded quickly and reliably to communication did not seem to
divide neatly along race/class lines).

FF to 2008 and the end of 5th grade. The kids were graduating and
scattering off to middle schools all over Brooklyn (and the city). I
decided to organize a farewell picnic for parents & kids. I used
email, flyers (distributed by my son & a friend at lunchtime) for
general organization & notification. I didn't want the picnic to be
just the white families or just the middle-class families (which had
happened at non-school events before) so I made a specific outreach
effort by talking to key parents and members of the school community
and enlisting their help in getting the word out to as many people
as possible. A lot more parents attended this picnic!

So to sum it up, I would offer the following suggestions:

1. Use as many different types of communication as you can. To the
internet and email, I would add distributing and posting flyers,
talking to people in person, and use of cell-phone texting (via
twitter or by creating distribution groups on your own phone).

2. Get support from key community members and groups. Ask them how
best to communicate with their members.

3. Despite the the lamentable state of the newspaper industry, you're
still going to get more attention if a legitimate news outlet picks
up your story. I don't think the NYTimes or WNYC would have been so
interested in the meadow planting if it hadn't been for the Daily
News.

4. Look to the Obama campaign for inspiration and a model. They had
twitter and emails updates and texts, but they also got people to
knock on doors. They had the iconic Shepard Fairey stickers and
posters and they gave them out everywhere. I'm sure they did other
stuff too, but as a democrat in a blue state I kind of stopped paying
attention after he got the nomination ;-)

I think that's all I have to say.

Joanna (aka Alexa11221 of the bedstuy blog).

--
Joanna Wissinger & Paul Mann
Run for Cover!
587A Lexington Avenue
Brooklyn NY 11221 USA
http://www.runforcoverbooks.com

[Liza McConnell]

Thanks, Joanna... That was very helpful empirical insight.
Moreover, I am excited to now know about Run for Cover!

LM

[21stcentur...@gmail.com]

Yeah, Joanna, this is really comprehensive. Thanks!

This is going to help us formulate a strong outreach plan as we move
forward on the Green Roof project!