Leaders of the media justice movement and the United Church of Christ gathered Thursday to honor the legacy of the late Rev. Everett Parker and re-inspire another generation of advocates working for a media landscape that is just, equitable and inclusive. Delivering the 43rd annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture, Dr. Safiya U. Noble described a media and technology landscape that she said was “controlled by technology billionaires” and artificial chatbots. “The time is still dark,” she said, “but we are speaking truth to power.”
Noble, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), delivered her remarks in a pre-recorded video. “The list of problems is long,” she asserted, “but we needn’t be paralyzed.” She stressed the importance of continuing to build relationships and remain in community. “We are the change we need.” That theme was sounded throughout the emotional event, as the UCC’s Media Justice Ministry honored two media justice advocates, one posthumously and one who had spoken out forcefully just two days before.
Brandi Collins-Dexter was recognized posthumously with the Everett Parker Award for a lifetime of work dedicated to pursuing the public interest in media. Federal Communications Commissioner Anna M. Gomez received the Newton N. Minow Award, honoring a high-ranking government official for their commitment to media justice.
Collins-Dexter’s work was recalled by her former colleague, Steven Renderos, executive director of MediaJustice. Collins-Dexter, he said, had always reminded him that “you couldn’t just sue.” Legal work “had to be paired with organizing.” The sanctuary of First Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington echoed with audio recordings of Collins-Dexter’s words, describing her preference for Marvin Gaye’s 1983 rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” and using Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” as a metaphor for efforts to “bury” the history of racism in the United States. Renderos said he hoped that the memory of Collins-Dexter’s work would “usher in a revival of media justice” work for researchers, lawyers and organizers–activists “who will exist because Brandi existed.”
David Dexter accepted the award in his wife’s memory. He said while she believed that “leadership had a shelf life” and that it was important to train others, “in reality, she was just getting started.” He highlighted her work to launch The Revival Lab (www.therevivallab.org) to continue to promote media justice advocacy and research after she died. Dexter noted, “When something seems unprecedented, it can also seem hopeless.” But he reminded his audience to follow the example of those who came before them when they needed inspiration.
Gomez, currently the lone Democratic commissioner at the FCC, was recognized for her work at the agency, including traveling across the country to listen to the concerns of low-income and marginalized persons as they seek access to technology and media. Two days before the Parker Lecture, Gomez was the sole dissenting vote when the commission moved to lift caps on the telecommunications rates that the families and friends of incarcerated persons must pay to stay in touch with their loved ones. Gomez told her audience that the current attacks on the First Amendment “go beyond censoring content.” She recalled that when the Republicans took over control of her agency in January, their first step was to eliminate all programs seeking to address concerns about diversity, equity and inclusion. But, she said, “over the past nine months, I’ve learned the power of dissent.” Speaking out, she said, “give us hope.” She said she was heartened by postcard-writing campaigns that had showered her with supportive postcards as she did her work.
This year’s lecture was attended by about 20 of the UCC’s conference ministers, the denomination’s regional leaders, who scheduled a meeting in Washington this week to lobby members of Congress and hold a prayer vigil that sought to remind federal leaders that “Love Knows No Borders.” They were joined by the Rev. Shari Prestemon, associate general minister and co-executive of global ministries of the United Church of Christ, who stressed the importance of media justice advocacy, reminding her audience, “how can we work for racial justice economic justice, or environmental justice if we don’t have the tools to publicize and explain these struggles.”