Opinion: Detroit's digital divide must become digital equity

Sixty years ago this summer, Detroiters held a huge civil rights demonstration that became a dry run for the historic March on Washington two months later. The Rev. C.L. Franklin (Aretha Franklin’s father) led 125,000 people down Woodward Avenue in the Walk to Freedom, and the day’s star speaker —the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. — concluded with his soon-to-be-famous phrase: “I have a dream.”

This wasn’t the first time — and it won’t be the last — that a dream began in Detroit. Over the last century, Michigan built the cars and trucks that kept America moving, the planes and tanks that won World War II, the blue-collar middle class that propelled postwar prosperity, and a civil rights movement that is still struggling for every American to enjoy the American Dream.

Now, as our economy evolves from analog assembly lines to digital lines of code, Michigan must build a new model for progress and prosperity in the next century. Congressman John Lewis prophetically identified digital equity as “the civil rights issue of the 21st century” because gaps in broadband connectivity and digital know-how both reflect and reinforce longstanding racial and economic inequalities.

To meet this challenge, the Motor City ― and Michigan ― are developing a formula for digital equity: Affordable internet service + widely diffused digital skills = universal connectivity. Now, Michigan needs to invest in translating this roadmap into reality by mobilizing our communities.

Historic federal investments put this goal within our reach: The recently enacted Affordable Connectivity Program, together with broadband providers’ low-cost programs, makes some 48 million low-income households nationwide eligible for free internet service.

But this initiative only helps if folks know how and why to sign up. And our entire community — elected officials, educators, business people, clergy, and civic activists — needs to pitch in.

Carrying on this long tradition of civil rights activism, the Detroit National Action Network Digital Equity Tour is a prime example of how Michigan can close its digital divide. The Digital Equity Tour is organizing sign-up events in every Detroit City Council district, partnering with churches (including 180 Church, where I serve as pastor) and non-profits such as Focus:Hope and the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to get the word out to eligible families.

While the Digital Equity Tour has signed up hundreds of households for free internet service, we need to sign up tens of thousands more. And even with free internet service available, we have to clear remaining the hurdle of digital skills: helping the unconnected understand why and how to go online. Roughly one-third of adults nationwide lack basic digital skills, and filling this gap requires meeting people where they are.

At 180 Church, for example we have created a computer lab and offer classes for adult literacy, computer training and resume-writing, The lab provides free connectivity for those who, as with 25% of Detroit households, do not have a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer in their home. And we’re not alone: With support and partnership from Mayor Mike Duggan, the Connect 313 program partners with community groups all over the city to promote digital literacy, broadband adoption and access to devices. This effort is a big reason why Detroit’s “adoption gap” — the difference between having broadband on your doorstep and the internet on your device — dropped from 46% in 2019 to 33% in 2021.

Now, the Biden-Harris infrastructure bill gives Michigan an opportunity to take this model statewide. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration will soon receive hundreds of millions in federal funding for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment projects.

Community based digital equity programs ― the block-by-block, door-to-door, person-to-person evangelizing for broadband adoption and digital literacy — should be front and center in the state’s plan for these funds.

Yes, wiring rural Michigan is important. But the connectivity crisis in urban communities demands attention too. More than one in four residents statewide aren’t connected, even where fast service is universally available. This isn’t just an infrastructure challenge; we also need to invest in proven programs that develop digital confidence and competence.

From Connect 313 to the Digital Equity Tour, we have a roadmap to universal connectivity. Let’s invest to accelerate it.

Rev. Lorenzo Sewell is Senior Pastor of 180 Church in northwest Detroit.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Opinion: Detroit's digital divide must become digital equity