June 18, 2025 – The Black Churches 4 Digital Equity Coalition meets Thursday for an annual Juneteenth Bible study. The event will center the Bible study on celebrating and empowering black communities in a growing digital world. 

The event will take place on June 19, 2025, starting at 11 a.m. ET and ending at 2 p.m. ET. In-person attendance is at the Greater Grace Temple of David, located at 23500 W. Seven Mile Road, Detroit, Michigan 48219. Online attendance requires attendance: Register here. 

The event will have breakout rooms for worship and education, and will include speeches from prominent church leaders, including Bishop Charles H. Ellis, III, the church pastor co-hosting the event in Detroit, according to the press release.

Part of the event will include resources for attendees to expand their digital literacy, and how to stay connected in respective communities to promote broadband connectivity and long-term digital skills.

The event will be co-hosted by the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council, a group focused on getting technology to minority filled communities across the United States. The MMTC aims to bring about and influence equity and inclusion in technology, media and telecom.

MMTC Vice President of Policy Dr. Fallon Wilson said, “Recognizing the critical role Black churches play in their communities and their mission to serve, Black Churches 4 Digital Equity Coalition believes they must be involved in significant initiatives such as the Juneteenth National Digital Opportunity Bible Study to empower and equip Black communities with workforce development skills for an AI-driven job market.”

The Black Churches 4 Digital Equity Coalition works nationwide to promote education on broadband internet to their communities and provides education and assistance programs to connect households to the internet. 

2024 Juneteenth event emphasized ‘tinkering’ as a digital skill

Black Pastors Praise Tinkering, Rally for Digital Equity

On Juneteenth, Rep. Rashida Tlaib scored loss of ACP, but praised potential open access network in Detroit.

From the 2024 Juneteenth event:

Digital equity means more than access to high-speed internet, but requires familiarity with skills to adapt and thrive in a modern, digital age, preachers preached and speakers spoke on Wednesday, June 19.

At the inaugural digital equity bible study here on Juneteenth, the federal holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States, Rev. Dr. Renita Weems, co-pastor of the Ray of Hope Community Church in Nashville, Tenn., delivered a rousing sermon on the virtues of “tinkering.”

Also speaking live at the in-person event was Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Michigan, who blasted Congressional leaders for letting the Affordable Connectivity Program lapse. But Tlaib praised a potential municipal open access network in Detroit, the community she serves as a member of Congress.

Virtues of tinkering as a digital skill

Weems compared people struggle to adapt to the digital age with the tinkerers of prior generations, including her father and others of her African-American ancestors.

These tinkerers made do, improved upon, and excelled in their use of mechanical and electrical technologies, she said.

As a preacher, Weems acknowledged her own technical challenges. She put a Biblical and Juneteenth frame on the struggle for digital equity by comparing the current moment to the role of Nehamiah, the Biblical prophet who supervised the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the mid-5th Century BC, after the Jews were released from the captivity of the Persian kings.

“It was during the pandemic that we had to stay in touch with our family members” though FaceTime and other video calling applications, Weems said.

That was a challenge “for those of us who are not [digital] natives,” referring to younger technology users more adept at internet connectivity.

Read more at https://broadbandbreakfast.com/black-pastors-praise-tinkering-rally-for-digital-equity/

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