Digital Diaspora: A Race for Cyberspace (SUNY series, Cultural Studies in Cinema/Video)

Deftly interweaving history, culture, and critical theory, Anna Everett traces the rise of black participation in cyberspace, particularly during the early years of the Internet. She challenges the problematic historical view of black people as quintessential information-age outsiders or poster children for the digital divide by uncovering their early technolust and repositioning them as eager technology adopters and consumers, and thus as coconstituent elements in the information technology revolution. she offers several case studies that include lessons learned from early adoption of the Internet by the Association of Nigerians Living Abroad and their Niajanet virtual community, the grassroots organizing efforts that led to the phenomenally successful Million Woman March, the migration of several historic black presses online, and an interventionist critique of race in contemporary video games. Ultimately, Digital Diaspora shows how African Americans and African diasporic peoples developed the necessary technomastery to ride in the front of the bus on the information superhighway. Interweaving history, culture, and critical theory, Anna Everett traces the rise of black participation in cyberspace, particularly during the early years of the Internet. She challenges the problematic historical view of black people as information-age outsiders or poster children for the digital divide. She uncovers their early technolust and them as eager technology adopters and consumers, and thus as coconstituent elements in the information technology revolution. She offers several case studies that include lessons learned from early adoption of the Internet by the Association of Nigerians Living Abroad and their Niajanet virtual community, the grassroots organizing efforts that led to the phenomenally successful Million Woman March, the migration of several historic black presses online, and an interventionist critique of race in contemporary video games. The book also shows how African Americans and African diasporic peoples developed the necessary technomastery to ride in the front of the bus on the information superhighway TITLE PAGE ......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 9 ILLUSTRATIONS......Page 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 13 INTRODUCTION......Page 15 1. Toward a Theory of the Egalitarian Technosphere:How Wide Is the Digital Divide?......Page 23 2. Digital Women:The Case of the Million Woman March Online and on Television......Page 63 3. New Black Public Spheres:The Case of the Black Press in the Age of Digital Reproduction......Page 93 4. Serious Play:Playing with Race in Contemporary Gaming Culture......Page 123 5. The Revolution Will Be Digitized:Reimaging Africanity in Cyberspace......Page 161 CONCLUSION......Page 197 NOTES......Page 217 WORKS CITED......Page 237 A......Page 251 B......Page 252 C......Page 253 D......Page 254 H......Page 255 J......Page 256 M......Page 257 P......Page 258 R......Page 259 T......Page 260 W......Page 261 Z......Page 262 Traces the rise of black participation in cyberspace, particularly during the early years of the Internet. The author challenges the problematic historical view of black people as quintessential information-age outsiders or poster children for the digital divide by uncovering their early technolust and repositioning them as eager technology adopters and consumers, and thus as co-constituent elements in the information technology revolution. Offers case studies that include lessons learned from early adoption of the Internet by the Association of Nigerians Living Abroad and their Niajanet virtual community, the grassroots organizing efforts that led to the Million Woman March, the migration of several historical black presses online, and an interventionist critique of race in contemporary video games TITLE PAGE 5 CONTENTS 9 ILLUSTRATIONS 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 13 INTRODUCTION 15 1. Toward a Theory of the Egalitarian Technosphere:How Wide Is the Digital Divide? 23 2. Digital Women:The Case of the Million Woman March Online and on Television 63 3. New Black Public Spheres:The Case of the Black Press in the Age of Digital Reproduction 93 4. Serious Play:Playing with Race in Contemporary Gaming Culture 123 5. The Revolution Will Be Digitized:Reimaging Africanity in Cyberspace 161 CONCLUSION 197 NOTES 217 WORKS CITED 237 INDEX 251 A 251 B 252 C 253 D 254 E 255 F 255 G 255 H 255 I 256 J 256 K 257 L 257 M 257 N 258 O 258 P 258 R 259 S 260 T 260 U 261 V 261 W 261 Y 262 Z 262