Computer-Literacy Advocate for Minorities to Speak Tomorrow By Betty Gabrielli
			OCTOBER 28, 1999-- Jabari Simama--one of the country’s leading advocates of computer literacy for minorities--will speak tomorrow in a program hosted jointly by the College and the Oberlin Community Technology Committee. "The Digital Divide: The African-American Community and Telecommunications in the 21st Century" is the topic of the talk, which Simama will present at 8 P.M. Friday, October 29, in the Lord Lounge of Afrikan Heritage House. The speaker also will take part in a community conversation on technology at 9:30 A.M. Saturday, October 30, at First Baptist Church of Oberlin, 44 East Lorain Street. The events--sponsored by the African Studies Department, Afrikan Heritage House, and the Oberlin Community Technology Committee--are free and open to the public. As director of the department of marketing and communications for the city of Atlanta, Simama is responsible for media relations, communications, telecommunications, cable TV, and Internet productions. He also is a visiting associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology’s School of Public Policy, where he has developed courses in race, ethnicity, and the new media. Simama has served as director of Atlanta’s Public Access and the Center for Community Television as well as Prime Cable of Georgia. He is a founding member of the National Association of Minorities in Cable. He was producer/director of the Zambia Information, Education and Communications Project--Free Market Economy and Business Development--for the Office of International Training and Development at Clark Atlanta University A former television producer, director, and talk-show host in Atlanta, Simama has interviewed Doc Rivers, Bill Cosby, and Isaac Hayes and has produced several documentaries, including a profile of poet and activist Amiri Baraka. He has written extensively on the media, culture, and Atlanta politics. He also has served on the faculties of the University of Cincinnati, Morgan State University, and Atlanta Metropolitan College. Simama received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Bridgeport, a master’s degree from Atlanta University, and his doctorate from Emory University.
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