On Wednesday, August 26, education activists and organizations around the country are staging a national day of action, demanding that every student have access to broadband internet.
In DC, Ward 6 Mutual Aid Hub Serve Your City DC is participating in an action to be held from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26 at the John A. Wilson building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave NW).
When schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March, more than 50 million American schoolchildren turned to learning from home. Nearly a third, or 15 million of them, were unable to log on and do their schoolwork because they lacked a decent internet connection.
A study released in June shows that DC has the second highest gap nationally for high-speed internet access between white students and students. 27 percent of Black students and 25 percent of Latino students in the District are cut off from home internet, compared to just 5 percent of White students.
It’s not only happening in DC. Activists from all across the country—including Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta, Kentucky, Oakland, and Minneapolis/St. Paul—are coming together for a National Day of Action demanding the FCC step up and fight for every student in the U.S. to have reliable broadband access. We will be joined by national partners demanding #InternetForAll for the 15 million students who are #LoggedOut.
“This is a moment of national reckoning,” said organizers in a release, “and history will tell the story of how we lived up to the moment and ensured all Americans access to life in the 21st century, or of how we failed to seize the mantle of leadership.”
Learn more by visiting the Facebook Event Page.
