Hondurans get online despite gov’t media ban

July 9, 2009 in Americas, Blogs, Twitter, Video | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Photo by Claudia Sevilla

Photo by Claudia Sevilla

Last week’s coup in Honduras is the latest incident where a government shut down radio and television stations during a political crisis, which has yet again outraged the international community. Just in the last month, China and Iran have made all efforts to create media blackouts in their respective countries. Digital activism has now made its way to the Central American country and making an impact in citizen journalism.

Discussions and protests about the coup lit up the Internet over the last week. People from around the world have been debating each other on Twitter at #Honduras and #crisisHN in both English and Spanish. There have been many videos shared also shared on Twitter relating to the coup, including this one. Since Honduras is not usually a country that makes international headlines, some folks are taking over the role of traditional media and have started up their own blogs with the sole purpose of educating the world about the issues that led up to the crisis. One blog compared the ousting of President Manual Zelaya to the 1974 pending impeachment and resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon. Another blog was started up by a group of academics and writers to address “the confusion encouraged by lack of basic knowledge about Honduras.”

The Latin Americanist hosted spirited discussions on its blog on the mixed Honduran reaction to the overthrow. Many anonymous comments left on the blog posts relating to the topic have been deemed suspicious by others, like this blogger.

These comments are typical. Clearly from right-wing Hondurans, probably in
the United States – as Tegucigalpa has no internet with the military blocking
access.

I posted on my blog a short update immediately as I heard of it. Just to
update readers. Within hours I got two posts (similar, huh?), and have seen this
elsewhere, of what appears to be trollers commenting:

“we hondurans are proud of this day in which we defended our constitutional
system viva honduras!”

and

“WE DON’T WANT MEL ZELAYA HERE!!! TRAITOR!!! OUR COUNTRY IS NOT FOR SALE! LISTEN VERY WELL CHAVEZ, OUR COUNTRY IS NOT FOR SALE!!!”
The top above me are more wordy but express the same sentiments. Curfews, murder, running over protesters are freedom-loving expressions. The military is
“defending” the constitution – which these people have not yet read.

 

It is still too early to determine the impact of social media used during this crisis, as Zelaya is now demanding his rivals to give up power, and met with U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton yesterday in Washington. However, whatever happens, Hondurans are determined to make sure their voices are hear.
“The silent majority of Honduras offers you our support and personal testimonies,” said one blogger. “We are here to defend our democracy and constitution, and will help the international community in anything that may be needed to provide them with authentic facts and eventualities. We will be silent no more.”

BWB bloggers on digital activism’s past, present and future

June 21, 2009 in Americas, Blogs, Tech Disparities, Text Mesaging, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

bloggingwhilebrownThe second annual Blogging While Brown conference concluded yesterday in Chicago, presenting a recharged enthusiasm for the potentials social media tools can present for digital activism. In what was possibly the largest gathering of African American bloggers and web content users since the election of the “Internet President” Barack Obama, there is a call from many in the black community to use Web 2.0 to actively campaign more on behalf of issues of most concern.

The online organizing and fundraising around Jena 6, led by Web-based activist group Color of Change, to date is still considered the most successful Internet campaign among African Americans. However, the ongoing protests and digital activism in the aftermath of Iran’s presidential election last week have brought up some new thoughts on how the African Diaspora could handle social movements – past, present and in the near future. Some conference attendees wondered if the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the Rwandan Genocide and the start of violence in Darfur could have had different outcomes if today’s communications tools were around at the time of these events.

“What if black bloggers protested the Bush administration after [Hurricane] Katrina, like the Iranian protesters are doing now with their government,” said one attendee. “We can learn a lot from the Iranians.”

There was also discussion about how the black blogosphere will hold the first African American commander-in-chief and other politicians accountable on various domestic and international issues, such as health care, education, the war on terror, environmental justice, drug and criminal reform, unemployment and AFRICOM.

However, many agreed that possibly the next digital battle should be to make sure that the Internet is accessible to all. According to Megan Tady of the media reform group, Free Press, only 40 percent of Americans have access to broadband. When that number is broken down by ethnicity, Emarketer statistics show that African Americans make up 13.4 percent of the U.S. population, but only 48.7 percent are online. Mobile technology is a widely used tool in this demographic, and text messaging was used by Katrina survivors after the storm.

With all the above discussed topics, clearly there is a yearning to take advantage of the new digital era. Gina McCauley, BWB founder, said she will make efforts at future conferences to make sure attendees will have all the available training to stay on top of their social media skills.

“Now is the time for us to stay ahead of the curve on this technology so we can make a difference in our community,” she said.

BWB: The Entrepreneurial Blogger

June 21, 2009 in Americas, Uncategorized | Tags: | Leave a comment

bloggingwhilebrownThe business of social media was the overarching theme for this year’s Blogging While Brown.

Blacks Gone Geek’s founder Milt Haynes gave some tips to conference attendees on Internet marketing. He uses blogs, podcasts, RSS Feeds, Facebook groups, Groupsite.com, Yahoogroups and his web site to network with an online community of African American IT professionals.

“Not only do you need a blog and a website, but you also need a good Internet strategy to be successful,” he said. “Fish where your buyers swim.”

Personal branding strategist Hajj Flemings shared his knowledge on how to stand out from the cyberspace pack. He argues that one’s online presence can make or break anyone’s career today. Consistency in how a person presents themselves in various social media tools is key to success.

“You personal brand is everything,” Flemings said. “It is about producing quality content that has supporting data is important.”

On a panel discussion on “Bloggerpreneurs,” bloggers who have made significant money off of their social media discussed their secrets to success.

Fredric Mitchell is a Chicago-based web developer who is proof of who you know and networking can help anyone become successful. He also said that complimenting others when they do good can work in your favor in the future. He is a strong advocate of African Americans becoming leaders in the tech world.

“The IT world is predominately white,” he said. Not only should we be using new technologies, we should also be building it.”

Blogging While Brown this weekend!

June 18, 2009 in Americas, Tech Disparities, Tech Life | Tags: | Leave a comment

bloggingwhilebrownThis weekend we will be liveblogging from Blogging While Brown, the only international conference for bloggers of color, which will be held this year in Chicago. We will bring you both the triumph and drama that will occur during this most important convening. We will also be looking out for discussion on how the Obama White House has flipped the script on how African Americans engage in technology.

What if Tiananmen Square happened today?

June 5, 2009 in Asia, Blogs, Facebook, Global, Tech Life, YouTube | Tags: , | Leave a comment

This week commemorations are occurring worldwide in observance of the Tiananmen Square protests and massacres of 1989. With the rise of Flickr and Twitter used for social justice, many digital activists wonder out loud if the now famed events would have transpired differently had social media tools been around 20 years ago. Clearly, the Chinese government knows the power of cyber-activism, as they have blocked most Internet social networks and foreign newspapers in the country ahead of the anniversary. Although there is an online blackout in China, activists still find ways to get their messages of protest out.

Twitter has been blocked for the last two days, nonetheless, users worldwide have been using the hashtag #fuckGFW (Great FireWall of China) to express their outrage at the online blocking. Chinese blogger Xavier Lur said on his website TechXav that the Chinese officials created the drastic blockade to not only protect national security and prevent anti-government content from being seen, but it may have also been economics.

He says:

Without blocking Google, Baidu cannot success. Without blocking Wikipedia, Hoodong cannot success. Without blocking Blogger, Blogcn cannot success. Without blocking YouTube, Youku cannot success. These huge International Internet Companies do not pay taxes to China Government, but the Internet Companies in China do pay taxes. The Chinese government wants to make more bucks, so and to boost their GDP. Also, they want to “protect” China websites and hence blocking successful International websites.

“Ellen” (she asked to not have her real name used) is a Chinese college student and blogger who was only a toddler twenty years ago. She says that as much as the Chinese government tries to block the Internet, they will eventually realize that censorship will increasingly be hard to regulate as more people get connected.

“The revolution is happening in cyberspace,” she said. “If Tiananmen happened today, the government wouldn’t be able to suppress anger towards them around the globe. I might not see YouTube or read blogs in Beijing, but someone else can in Singapore, in Cairo, in Nairobi, in Rio, in London, in New York. My country is fighting an uphill battle, and it needs to put up their white flag.”