Many thanks to Alonzo Young for sending these photos. As you can see in the following images, ODIS engaged a spectrum of community voices on technology access and community internet issues in Oakland. Youth, elders, women, and communities of color diversified discussions and plenary sessions – making for an innovative day that inspired new audiences to become involved in digital inclusion programs and advocacy efforts in Oakland and beyond. To learn more about Media Alliance’s broadband work in Oakland, call Eloise, Broadband Access Project Director at 510-832-9000, or visit the Media Alliance website.

Davey D.’s number one fan and mother, Peggy D., takes a moment to catch up with ODIS 2008 Coordinator and Media Alliance Broadband Access Project Director Eloise S. Lee (left) before the opening festivities.

Kiana, the daughter of First Voice Co-Director Rainjita Yang-Gessler, finds a quiet corner amidst all the networking.

Dancing Feathers, a Native American Youth Pow-wow dance troupe, welcomes participants with their energy and spirit.

A visual from the morning plenary, “Bridging the Gap: How Communities Attack the Digital Divide”.

Cynthia Mackey, consultant and member of the Mayor Dellums Citizen Task Force on Universal Access, listens to comments from ODIS participants.

David Glover, the Executive Director of the Oakland Citizens Committee for Urban Renewal, discusses their approach to bridging the digital divide in East Oakland through the development of Eastmont Computing Center and Lion Creek Crossings – a technology access hub in the heart of what was notoriously known as 6-9 Village. Depicted in the film New Jack City, 6-9 Village is now home to Lion Creek Corssings, a mixed income housing community featuring a state of the art technology center that welcomes community residents, youth, and seniors to use their facility free of charge.

Laura Valdez, Executive Director of Caminos Pathways in San Francisco’s Mission District, describes their innovative approach in engaging Latino immigrant women in digital inclusion programs as both users and content creators.

Dr. Faye McNair-Knox, Executive Director of One East Palo Alto, sheds insight on the need to build value for technology in historically marginalized neighborhoods.

Solomon Hill, Technology Director at One East Palo Alto, describes their approach to building a sustainable and community driven wireless network in East Palo Alto, CA.

Xavier Leonard, Executive Director of Heads on Fire in San Diego, speaks passionately on approaches that stimulate under represented voices to create their own content through emerging media and internet technologies.

Esme Vos, Founder of Muniwireless(dot)com describes the municipal wireless networks that are underway in European countries – proving that, comparatively, the U.S. has still a ways to go in creating a business model that is sustainable and community driven.

Greg Epler Wood from Vermont’s tri-play ownership project offers a refreshing approach to broadband access in the U.S.

In between plenary and break out sessions, ODIS participants gathered around tables and info booths showcasing the programs and projects of Bay Area media and digital inclusion advocacy groups, including the National Radio Project, OTX-West, Eastmont Computing Center, Media Action Marin, ZeroDivide, Community Technology Network and the First Voice Apprenticeship Program at KPFA.

Laura Flynn from the Women of Color Resource Center, answers questions.

Lisa Rudman from the National Radio Project, prepares for the next wave of visitors.

Marnie De Guzman from One Economy and Rene De Guzman from the Oakland Museum discuss points covered in Davey D.’s keynote presentation (far right).

Martha Wallner, Media Alliance and ODIS 2008 volunteer, greets participants at the registration table.

Many thanks to Nathaniel James from the Media and Democracy Coalition (MDC) for featuring ODIS in their weekly media newsletter. ODIS was a success! Both the program and participants mirrored the richness and diversity of Oakland. Representatives from Center for Digital Storytelling, Women of Color Resource Center, East Bay Asian Youth Center and other community based groups in Oakland complemented panel sessions focused on grassroots solutions to bridging the digital divide, as well as policy making strategies that support the creation of broadband, tech access, and community internet networks. Media Alliance, the primary coordinators of ODIS, would like to thank all the speakers, panelists, performers…and most of all, the participants for making ODIS 2008 an engaging, inspiring and powerful event.

Pleases check digi-I regularly for ODIS wrap ups, media from ODIS and other resources to help with digital inclusion efforts in your area.

ODIS is thrilled to launch our main events on Friday with a keynote speech by Bay Area hip hop authority Davey D.

Davey D is a Hip Hop historian, journalist, deejay and community activist. He’s been down with Hip Hop since 1977 in the Bronx where he started out as an emcee for two crews: TDK [Total Def Krew] out of Co-op City and the Avengers out of the Marble Hill Section of the Bronx. Later Davey D came out to Cali to go to school at UC Berkeley and started deejaying in the Bay Area. His mobile deejay work and community activism eventually lead him to deejaying at radio stations including KALX, KPFA and later KMEL. Davey D is a proud member of The PROs Record Pool where he served as director for several years in the late 80s -early 90s. He is also a co-founder of the Bay Area Hip Hop Coalition [BAHHC]. Davey D is also a member of the Bay Area Black Journalist Association [BABJA]. Currently he’s the webmaster for what is considered one of the oldest and largest Hip Hop sites on the web Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner– which can be found at www.daveyd.com. The writings on his website are frequently referenced and quoted by journalists, scholars and professors and fans from all around the world. He writes for numerous publications and magazines and puts out a popular Internet newsletter called the FNV Newsletter, which has a subscriber base of 100 thousand people. His newsletter, like his website, is frequently referenced and quoted. In early 2002, Davey D launched another newsletter called HHPN [Hip Hop Political Newsletter].

Davey D’s been featured in documentaries, magazines, newspapers, videos and TV news shows like Rap City Rhapsody, CNN’s Talk Back Live, ABC’s Nightline, Australia’s Lateline, BBC Radio, Internet Cafe, Computer Chronicles, BET Television, VH1 Television, Soul Beat TV, KRON TV, KTVU TV, Bay TV, KPIX TV, KBHK TV, The Tavis Smiley Show, The Laura Flounders Show, E-40’s Charlie Hustle the Blueprint of a Self-Made Millionaire, 2Pac’sThug Angel documentary, Straight From The Streets documentary, Jahi’s Redefinition documentary, Impact Magazine, Radio Facts Magazine, Rollingstone Magazine, Washington Post, The NY Times, The NY Post, Oakland Tribune, USA Today, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Guardian Magazine [London], The Vallejo Times Herald, The SF Bay Guardian, Vibe Magazine, Stress Magazine, Redeye Magazine and The Source Magazine to name a few. He was profiled in the January 2003 edition of The Source Magazine as being one of the Top 10 most Influential people in the country when it comes to dealing with Hip Hop and politics. In 2000 Davey D was nominated by the Bay Area’s City Flight magazine as one of the Bay Area’s Most Influential African Americans. In 2001, Davey D was voted by the East Bay Express Newspaper as the Best On Air Personality in the Bay Area. The daily radio show he co-hosts, Hard Knock Radio, was voted Best Radio Show in the Bay Area. Davey D is originally from the Bronx and now a native of California. He graduated from UC Berkeley. Davey D also pens a Hip Hop/Political column for the San Jose Mercury News. Davey D also hosts a weekly Hip Hop/Political TV talk show on Oakland’s Soul Beat television. Davey D sits on the advisory board for civic organizations like Black Youth Vote as well as Rock the Vote. Davey D was also the guest curator for the Rock N-Roll Hall of Fame Hip Hop Nation Exhibit when it came to San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center in June of 2001. Davey D has been a featured speaker at high schools, universities and community centers throughout the country. He speaks on topics ranging from Hip Hop to Politics to bridging the Digital Divide.

Get to Laney College early on Friday – you do not want to miss a beat!

The Oakland Digital Inclusion Summit is this Friday, February 15th! Be sure to register if you haven’t already. For more information, check out the following links:

- Digital Inclusion Advocacy Toolkit

- ODIS Press Release

- ODIS Flyer (also available in Spanish)

- Other ODIS Materials

You can also now view the ODIS Program Overview here .

Eloise Lee spoke with Be the Media and Media Action Marin about digital inclusion and the upcoming ODIS in January. Check out the video here. Entitled Community Internet for All: Internet Access as a Public Utility, this show was the first part of a two-part series on community-driven Internet initiatives. The second part of the show, covering various community Internet solutions around the US, will be taped at ODIS on February 15th.

Eloise Rose-Lee, Broadband Project Manager and ODIS Organizer from Media Alliance, visited the KPFA offices on January 18th to spread the word about ODIS. You can listen to her discussion here.

Eloise spoke with First Voice, a co-sponsor of ODIS, about the use of digital technology in community empowerment. First Voice is a program of KPFA. The mission of First Voice is “to facilitate community building and creative empowerment through healing, creative expression, and the adaptation of information technology. The ‘First Voice’ exists deep within ourselves, it is the consciousness or intuition that leads the way.”