Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, From the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter by Charlton D. McIlwain

Author:Charlton D. McIlwain [McIlwain, Charlton D.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi
Tags: Technology & Engineering, Central, Social Science, African American & Black Studies, African American & Black, American, Americas (North, Ethnic Studies, West Indies), South, History
ISBN: 9780190863869
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2019-10-01T03:13:43.033273+00:00

Chapter Ten

Taking “IT” to the Streets

By 1998, Derrick had finally found his footing. It had been no easy road, and he had struggled to lead and build the UBP single-handedly. But focusing on Knowledge Base led him back to his true identity, an identity more consistent with his name, his conscience. Now his path forward became clear, and he made it known to all those whose online path led them across UBP.com.

November 27, 1998

To Our Loyal Supporters:

Since 1994, The Universal Black Pages (UBP) has sought to present the most comprehensive catalog of the African Diaspora’s Internet/World Wide Web offerings to our audience. As many of you have undoubtedly noticed, the quality and timeliness of our publication has slipped greatly over the past two years. Many administrative and technical shortcomings led to our being suffocated by our own success.

Our once-mighty editorial team has been reduced to a staff of one (me), and since I am now actively involved in the day-to-day operations of my nonprofit organization, KnowledgeBase, Inc., I have been forced to streamline The UBP’s operations so that we can once again produce a quality publication. The first step in that operation is to completely edit and update the current version of The UBP (which will take quite some time), after which I will begin to edit and add the nearly 50,000 links we have received over the past year.

You may ask—what can I do to help? Well, you can help by continuing to visit us regularly, and indulging us with patience as we handle our business. As you use the page, you may encounter dead links, or errors of other types—if you do, please let us know. We want to provide a quality information service to you, and your continued support can help us to reach our goals.

Once again, thank you for your patience, understanding, and—most of all—your past, present, and future support.

Sincerely,

Derrick Brown

Editor, The UBP

Executive Director, KnowledgeBase, Inc.

Even as Derrick began to let go, the Vanguard had been summoned, yet again, to Washington, DC.

This time, Bill Clinton’s White House called. They called it a briefing. There was little room for discussion, debate, and making plans. Those days ended with the CBCF meeting in ’96. Regardless, this was the moment when Derrick believed he had—finally—found his people. There was no drama. No one was killed. There were no conspiratorial bombshells. No one jockeying for position. It was just a time for Derrick to take it all in, converse with his friends, take stock of where he was, and reflect on where we stood as a people. He contemplated what our relationship was, what it could and should be to the Internet, and to computing technology in general.

And, after the meeting was over, Derrick received an invitation to publicly reflect. He offered what he saw as our way forward.

10 September 1999

Andrew Glass

Senior Correspondent

Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau

400 North Capitol Street NW, Suite 750

Washington, DC 20001-1536

202.887.8318, 202.331.1055 (FAX)

[email protected]

Dear Andrew,

I just wanted to share some thoughts with you about the two-day briefing after

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