The Click Heard Round the World

On January 18 Yehoodi.com is going dark to Fight Web Censorship!

I couldn't be more proud of my website I help administer Yehoodi.com than I am today.  Our team has taken the decision to join hundreds of other websites around the world -- including Wikipedia , BoingBoing and Reddit -- in shutting down our site on January 18 in protest of the PIPA / SOPA bills before Congress.

I'll be taking down Rikomatic and Betterverse as well. But that won't have the same impact as Yehoodi, which is the largest community website for swing dancers in the world.  

Here's what we just posted:

Vote for Global Kids to win $1 million to help at-risk teens become global leaders!

I'm excited to announce that Global Kids , a pioneering nonprofit that transforms the lives of thousands of urban teens into global leaders, is in the running for $1 million in the American Giving Awards sponsored by Chase.  If you think that all young people deserve a chance to express themselves on important global issues, serve their communities, and expand their minds, I encourage you to vote for Global Kids now.

Voting ends in just a couple of days, October 5, so please vote now.  Right this instant.  Seriously.  And tell your friends about it. 

Thanks!

Ten Years Ago...

Ten years ago, I was lying in bed with a cold. 

I was living in a group house in lower Manhattan in a closet sized room with barely space for a twin mattress and an iMac.  I had forgotten to turn off my radio alarm clock, which went off at 7:45am.  I let the radio play ("1010WINS, you give us 10 minutes, we give you the world...") as I half dozed.

Around 8:50am, the anchorman says that some kind of accident has happened at the World Trade Center and smoke is pouring from it.  In my half-asleep stupor my mind registered that something serious bad was about to happen.

USIP Conference on Media & Peacebuilding on May 12: Watch the Webcast (updated)

 The nice folks at the US Institute of Peace send out the news that they are holding an all-day conference on "Seizing the Moment: Media & Peacebuilding" this Wednesday, May 12, at the Newseum in Washington DC.

It looks like a fantastic event, which will consider "specific recommendations on ways to harness the power of media for conflict prevention." The summit will bring together senior media and policy folks, to talk about how communications technology can prevent and reduce conflict in the world.  Speakers include:

• Patricia Harrison President and CEO, Corporation for Public Broadcasting
• Riz Khan Senior News Anchor, Al Jazeera English
• Gary Knell President and CEO, Sesame Workshop
• Rebecca MacKinnon Co-Founder, Global Voices
• Mir Ibrahim Rahman CEO, Geo TV Pakistan

For those that can not make it to DC, it will be webcast live. So tune in starting at 9am EST. See the USIP website for the full schedule.

UDPATED: Please see info after the jump on how to participate fully in the conference online...

World Bank Launches "Urgent Evoke" Online Game to Inspire Youth to Social Action

EVOKE trailer (a new online game) from Alchemy on Vimeo.

The World Bank, working with ARG master Jane McGonigal, have launched a new online game called "Urgent Evoke" that's geared toward getting young people -- particularly African young people -- to come up with creative solutions to the worst of the world's social ills. It looks like a neat combination of social media, social networking, alternative reality gaming, and real world concerns that hopefully with reach a new generation of community leaders, activists and social entrepreneurs.

The Evoke "social network game" will issue weekly "Missions" to the players that challenge them to learn about a particular "world-changing skill," practice it in their community, and then give evidence that you completed the mission by blogging, taking a video or a picture.  Complete enough "Evokes" and you might win the chance to travel to Washington DC for the Evoke Summit.

There's even a version for players who want to play via SMS on their cell phones, which will be key if they want to spur youth engagement in Africa.

Why America's youth need affordable broadband internet access

The FCC has created a website using IdeaScale to solicit ideas and opinions on the importance of broadband internet on education in America.  I just posted my own views entitled "All of America's Youth Deserve to Play a Part in the Digital Society." Here's a bit of what I wrote:

I work at Global Kids, a 20 year old youth development nonprofit that has helped tens of thousands of at-risk youth in New York City succeed scholastically, go on to college and become active civic leaders. From our perspective, all of America's young people -- whether poor or rich, Black or White, in urban centers or remote rural communities -- deserve a chance to meaningfully participate in our increasingly digital society. In order to do that, they require access to affordable, accessible broadband internet, in their schools, libraries and homes.

I recently organized a virtual fossil dig for a group of 11 New York City teenagers at Global Kids. From our headquarters, these young people were able to go online and learn about paleontology, evolution, African society and culture....

Read the whole thing here. Feel free to vote it up, if you like it, or comment on it.  Or better yet, post your own ideas there.