Bridging The Digital Divide In Black Communities

As the digital age continues to expand rapidly, so does the demand for digital skills. From education to job opportunities, technology is shaping nearly every aspect of life in the 21st century. But what does this mean in terms of digital equity in underserved communities?

In today’s digital age, true internet equity means more than just internet access, it’s also ensuring everyone has the skills and support to thrive online.

Addressing digital equity in Black neighborhoods is a number one priority for Executive Vice President of Public Policy and Executive Vice President of Digital Equity at Comcast, Broderick Johnson. Growing up in a lower income family in Baltimore, Johnson’s family would make sure to keep the bookshelves in his house filled with encyclopedias, allowing him to constantly learn about the world.

“I learned about the power early on of being able to expand your mind by using encyclopedias and other things,” Johnson told NewsOne. “Well, you know, the Internet and information on the Internet today are the encyclopedias of today.”

Broderick Johnson oversees Comcast’s Public Policy team and holds overall responsibility for Comcast’s role in the digital equity space. Working closely with organizations around the country, Johnson has made it his mission to not only connect as many Americans as possible to the Internet but also create a better understanding of the reasons for the digital equity disparities in the Black community.

“A lot of people are intimidated by a laptop or by using the Internet because they don’t have the skills,” Johnson said.

NewsOne sat down with VP Johnson to discuss the essential concept of digital equity and the need to empower individuals through resources and training in the digital space

During the interview, Johnson touched on initiatives such as the Internet Essentials program and the establishment of over 1,250 Lift Zones. According to Comcast, Lift Zones help students who, for a variety of reasons (including homelessness, or housing insecurity issues), need somewhere to go during the day to participate in distance learning.

Johnson also discussed how Comcast supports low-cost Internet access and digital literacy training, respectively. Although the work of uplifting Black communities through digital equity isn’t easy, Broderick is optimistic and excited about the future. Check out our exclusive interview below.

Source: Terence Rushin / Getty

Bilal Morris: How does Comcast define “internet equity,” and what are your biggest challenges in achieving this in underserved Black communities?

Broderick Johnson: At Comcast, we have a single definition of digital equity, and it’s about empowerment. Our definition goes like this, “empowering people in all communities to have the resources, the training, and the opportunities to participate and excel in an increasingly digital world.” That’s how we define digital equity at Comcast regarding the challenges. Oftentimes, people talk about the challenges having to do with one thing only, and that’s affordability. We recognize that affordability is an issue for some people and that the cost of Internet is a concern.

But there are a whole lot of other factors, too, that have to do with things like trust, whether people trust that a business or a government will help them get the Internet. Lack of digital skills. A lot of people are intimidated by a laptop or by using the Internet because they don’t have the skills. Relevance. A lot of people don’t understand the relevance of broadband. Why should I have broadband? What difference is it going to make in my life? Those are some of the big challenges, and we work on those with a variety of nonprofit organizations and governments around the country, recognizing that they are really close to the people that we’re trying to make sure achieve digital equity.

Access to the internet is crucial for education. How has Comcast ensured that Black students in underserved areas have reliable access?

Well, you know, one of the things that we emphasize a lot is that so much of the country has access to the Internet. Ninety-four percent of the households in the country have access to the Internet. So access in many parts of the country is not the big issue. It really has to do with adoption. There are so many people in this country who don’t know, again, how to sign up for Internet access or how to get a computer or another device and how to use it. So access is, again, not the biggest barrier. It really has to do with adoption. And by that, I mean people signing up and then using it and knowing how to use it.

The digital divide isn’t just about access to technology but also about the quality of that access. How is Comcast working to ensure that Black communities receive high-quality internet services?

Something we have always taken very seriously, too, is the quality of the Internet. And everywhere we build all of our franchise areas, we offer the same level of Internet access that we offer, whether it’s this community over here or that community over there. We don’t discriminate, we don’t redline. We make sure that people have, again, access to different tiers and different levels of services, because we recognize, of course, the importance that everyone has the same kind of access to the Internet.

Let’s talk about some of the initiatives you guys have been working on. What are some specific initiatives that have led to addressing the digital divide?

Yeah, we have a lot of initiatives. We started really focusing on providing Internet to lower income families over 12 years ago. I joined Comcast three years ago, but the company had put a lot of resources, unprecedented resources, into making sure that we were able to help people achieve digital equity, closing the digital divide. So, through our Internet Essentials program, which is a $9.95 low-cost but high-quality Internet product, we have provided to over 10 million individuals over time. But we have worked to make sure that the innovations that we make also are available to lower income families. We also have a product called Internet Essentials Plus, which for just $30 a month, gives people high-quality access or high-quality products to be able to access the Internet.

During the pandemic, though, we really stepped it up. We made sure that, for example, in areas where school children (and this was a big problem, of course, that the pandemic exacerbated) going home and not being able to go to school because of the pandemic, what kind of access to the Internet would they have? There are places where, quite frankly, it’s a challenge because of, say, an apartment building or home insecurity issues, that a child could not get access to the Internet at home in a way that was important to how well they could be educated. We have over 1,250, what we call lift zones around the country. These are community-based centers where children and their parents and their families can go and get free Wi-Fi to be able to do their homework, focus on their online education, focus on telehealth and a variety of other things.

Comcast has been involved in various digital literacy programs. Can you share any success stories where these programs have significantly impacted Black communities?

One of the things we realized, again, because we’ve been at this for over a dozen years, is that there are a lot of barriers to whether or not someone actually uses the Internet when they have access to digital literacy. Digital training is one of those issues where there can be a barrier. So, I’m so proud of what we do in that area with thousands of partners all around the country. We use data, though, to see how well these different partnerships work with these nonprofit organizations. Because, you know, an anecdote can be nice. You know, you talk about someone who got access to the Internet, but data really helps inform, you know, how much we should partner with this organization and what we do. But I do want to cite a couple of anecdotes because I have some wonderful stories. Traveling around the country is, like, one of the most inspiring things for me to be able to do in Houston. About a year and a half ago, I went to what we call a digital navigator program.

By the way, a digital navigator is someone we work with all across the country and organizations and individuals who do this, a trusted individual in the community who can help the person, their neighbor, figure out how to get online, how to get a device, how to use a device. So, in Houston, I went to a digital navigator program where there were a dozen senior African Americans in the room with their laptops open, all doing something different.

I sat down next to this gentleman, 90 years old, who was, the smile on his face was so broad, and I said, “well, what are you doing with your laptop open?” And he said, well, I love the show Gunsmoke, right? And so I get to watch Gunsmoke reruns all the time. I’m old enough to remember Gunsmoke. And there were 19 seasons of Gunsmoke, so there’s a lot of Gunsmoke that this gentleman could watch.

But he also talked about how, especially during the pandemic, he connected with his family. They could do virtual birthday parties and almost family reunions. And, you know, it struck me in that conversation with him. That joy is one of the things that we don’t emphasize enough when we talk about what the Internet can bring. And that conversation with that gentleman really brought that out. So that’s one moment that really was incredibly inspiring to me

Looking forward, what emerging technologies or trends do you see as pivotal in advancing internet equity in Black communities, and how is Comcast preparing for these changes?

The pandemic changed everything. Whether it’s telehealth or education or job skills or online banking, and so given all of those things, all those areas where we have seen changes, we will continue working with our partners to be able to help people learn how to use the Internet, connect to the Internet, adopt the Internet in order to be able to shop online, perhaps better, to develop better.

We’ve been working with the National Skills Coalition and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Together, they put out a report about a year ago, you know, 92% of today’s jobs require one digital skill, at least 92%. That’s going to clearly accelerate even more. And yet, many people don’t even have one digital skill.

If you want to participate in today’s economy, if you want to get a job and keep a job and have mobility in that job, you need to have digital skills training, and that’s available to people through our digital navigators-related programs. Organizations like the National Urban League, for example, are working on those kinds of programs, and this is really important from an economic mobility standpoint as well.

In your opinion, what are the most critical steps that need to be taken—both by corporations like Comcast and by the government—to close the digital divide in Black communities for good?

So I’d say, first, we need partnerships between the public sector and the private sector. It’s not the government’s responsibility alone to address closing the digital divide, and never has been, nor is it the private sector’s. But we see great partnerships happening all the time. And so that’s the first thing I would mention.

Second is data-driven approaches, understanding what the real challenges are. What are the barriers to Internet access? Is it really about affordability? Or is it about, again, people not having access to devices, not knowing how to use devices and those sorts of things, and then community-based partnerships, the importance of working, you know, a company like Comcast, working with community-based organizations, meeting people where they are in order to help convince folks that they can change their lives, make their lives better as a result of having access and using the Internet

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