Today marks 14 years since the deadly Oak Creek shooting in Wisconsin — the worst act of hate violence ever committed against a Sikh house of worship in the United States. We #RememberOakCreek by honoring those who were killed and standing with the Sikh community in grief and solidarity.

Remember Oak Creek

Ten years ago, on August 5, 2012, a white nationalist entered a Sikh gurdwara. Our story can show America how to stand in solidarity, bravery, and love.

rememberoakcreek.org

BIG NEWS: We're proud to announce the Rev. Dr. D. Amina B. Butts as our inaugural Media Justice Fellow!

We joined @democracyforward.org, @publicknowledge.bsky.social, @mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social, @newsguild.org, & Locals 41 & 51 of the NABET-@cwaunion.bsky.social to tell the FCC: you can’t use broadcast licenses to punish a network for its editorial decisions. That violates the First Amendment.

Public Interest and Labor Organizations Challenge FCC’s Unprecedented Effort to Target ABC Stations Over Broadcast Content

Washington, D.C. — A coalition of labor unions, media advocates, and public interest organizations today filed a brief urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to end its unprecedented early...

democracyforward.org

@princeeditor.bsky.social has spent decades forcing the news industry to confront the conversations about race and media it keeps avoiding. That’s why he’s receiving this year’s Parker Award. Get your tickets today: buff.ly/LItVkE8

Why Journos Should Learn About Race and Health - journal-isms.com

Sometimes We Don't Know What We Don't Know

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Virginia’s data center footprint has doubled over the past five years. Residents are dealing with noise, pollution, and rising energy costs. The AI boom has real costs for real communities. Who benefits and who pays matters.

In the data center capital of the world, residents ask who the AI boom is helping

The data center footprint in Loudoun County has more than doubled in the last five years, covering over 53 million square feet.

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This year’s Parker Lecture brings together @ruha9.bsky.social, whose writing on race and AI has shaped the national conversation, and @princeeditor.bsky.social, who has been tracking diversity in American media through Journal-isms for decades. Join us on 9/10 in D.C. or virtually: buff.ly/LItVkE8

AI legislation without civil rights protections isn’t innovation. We joined @civilrightsorg.bsky.social and 29 organizations to tell the House Democratic AI Commission: mandatory bias testing, disparate impact liability, and no preemption of state AI laws.

Civil Rights Letter to House Democratic AI Commission

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73% of Americans want to prevent AI discrimination. 66% want mandatory bias testing before AI makes decisions about jobs, housing, and loans. This isn't partisan.

New Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Policies Preventing AI Discrimination and Bias

Survey of 1,000 adults nationwide finds that the vast majority support policy protections against AI bias and discrimination.

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This is what media consolidation costs: $1.1 billion a year in extra borrowing costs for communities that lost their local news. No reporters at city hall means more corruption and higher taxes. More from Rebuild Local News:

Local News Shortage Leads to $1.1 Billion in Extra Borrowing Costs for Local Governments and Taxpayers

Building on a landmark municipal bond market study, new analysis puts a price tag on the costs of news deserts to local governments.

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Georgia Power is forcing families to sell their homes to build transmission lines for AI data centers. One family calls it theft. When a billion-dollar utility can take your land for the AI industry, who does technology serve?

Georgia family says they're forced to sell home to help power AI data centers: "It's theft"

Georgia Power says building a new transmission line will require acquiring more than 300 parcels of land, including residential properties.

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More than 200 economists and 16 Nobel laureates warn that AI could drive job displacement larger than the Industrial Revolution. We've been saying AI needs public accountability. The economists agree.

Nearly 200 Economists and Tech Leaders Warn of A.I. Threats

A letter calls for policymakers to do more to understand and respond to potential disruptions from artificial intelligence.

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On July 15, a federal judge issued a mixed ruling in National Digital Inclusion Alliance v. Trump, the case we supported with an amicus brief joined by 22 organizations.

A win for digital equity, a loss for racial justice

On July 15, a federal judge issued a mixed ruling in National Digital Inclusion Alliance v. Trump, the case we supported with an amicus brief joined by 22 organizations.

uccmediajustice.org

A must-read: @unitedchurch.bsky.social General Minister and President Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson on why the church must resist Christian Nationalism and the global anti-gender movement. Christian identity should be synonymous with justice and love.

Journey For Justice

Church is complex. The same word used for the place where Christians worship, is used for a local congregation, for a denomination and for the universal

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Today's announcement from the #FCC about relaxing the National TV Ownership cap is a blatant grab at more untrammeled power for the FCC.

Today, the FCC announced it wants to eliminate the 39% national television ownership cap, the same law we’ve been fighting to enforce in filings at the FCC and in our case against the Nexstar/TEGNA merger. We will fight this.

The FCC wants to decide who gets to own your local TV station, with no limits

The FCC announced it wants to eliminate the 39% national television ownership cap, the same law we’ve been fighting to enforce in filings at the FCC and in our case against the Nexstar/TEGNA merger.

uccmediajustice.org

New from our friends at @civilrightsorg.bsky.social: AI systems are deciding who gets hired, housed, and funded, and people of color are bearing the cost. “AI in the Racial Wealth Gap” centers their voices. Without safeguards, this technology deepens inequality.

AI in the Racial Wealth Gap

Explore how AI in the racial wealth gap influences economic disparities and helps promote equity in financial systems.

civilrights.org

At a moment when the FCC wants to label LGBTQ+ people as a content warning, Rev. Mike Schuenemeyer of Northwest Community Church UCC writes in The Advocate about why faith communities cannot stay silent. Welcome is not enough. Our faith calls us to protect and act.

Faith leaders: Silence on LGBTQ+ rights is no longer an option

A new multi-faith declaration, Sacred Worth, Shared Freedom, urges religious leaders and communities to defend LGBTQ+ dignity, human rights, and democratic freedoms.

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We filed at the FCC last week in the proceeding over The View. Chair Carr is using the equal time rule to harass broadcasters whose on-air talent criticizes the President. The equal time rule matters, but it cannot be turned into a tool to punish speech that the government dislikes.

UCC Media Justice Filing on Disney/The View

Click to open the PDF in your browser.

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BIG NEWS: Dr. Ruha Benjamin (@ruha9.bsky.social) will deliver the 44th Annual Parker Lecture and Richard Prince (@princeeditor.bsky.social) will be honored with the Parker Award. 🎟️ Join us in D.C. or online on September 10: buff.ly/mrSp3KG #ParkerLecture2026

Dr. Ruha Benjamin, Journalist Richard Prince to Headline 44th Annual Parker Lecture on September 10

Join us on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C.!

uccmediajustice.org

Juneteenth commemorates the day enslaved people in Texas finally received freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Check out @unitedchurch.bsky.social's Racial Justice Ministries and Join the Movement toward Racial Justice's toolkit:

Juneteenth: Celebrating Intergenerational Movement-Making toward Solidarity - United Church of Christ

Racial Justice Ministries and Join the Movement toward Racial Justice invite you to encounter and engage with stories of abolition movements from the early days of enslaved peoples’ resistance, to…

ucc.org

AI companies take whatever data they want and profit from it. Sound familiar? Most models are trained on Western sources. Indigenous traditions get erased, and regional cultures get flattened. This is why AI accountability is a justice issue.

AI is ushering in a new era of colonialism

Information gathering has replaced Imperial-era land seizures.

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More than 30 states won’t let incarcerated people receive physical mail from loved ones. Contact visitation is disappearing. Our friends at @prisonpolicy.org are hosting a webinar on July 1 on how families are fighting back. #phonejustice Register here:

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Fighting for families: How advocates are resisting attacks on visitation and physical mail. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

Protecting family connections and bonds with loved ones during incarceration is one of the most important and, increasingly, one of the most difficult things advocates can do. Contact visitation, handwritten...

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42 House Democrats voted to reauthorize warrantless mass surveillance with no reforms. We joined @demandprogress.bsky.social, @freepress.bsky.social & 100+ organizations to say: reverse course.

100+ Civil Society Groups Ask Dems to Reject Trump and Support Privacy - Demand Progress

Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, more than 100 organizations—including local grassroots, state, and national groups— joined Demand Progress and Free Press Action in sending a letter to the 42 House…

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We hit the road last week for the Keystone Conference of the United Church of Christ’s Annual Meeting. Our workshop covered how big media mergers are leaving local communities behind, our current FCC campaign against TV content warnings for LGBTQ+ characters, and KnowPeaceOnline. Great group!

SIGN THE PETITION & SHARE: buff.ly/rIOpFyq FCC Chair Brendan Carr wants TV ratings to label shows that include transgender and nonbinary characters as if they are dangerous content. Trans people are our neighbors and our fellow congregants. They are not a danger to *anyone.*

If an 18-year-old can stand up and tell CBS they’re failing Mike Wallace’s legacy, the broadcast industry has no excuse. The network proved his point the same day by pushing Sharyn Alfonsi out of 60 Minutes.

Student Scholarship Winner Calls Out CBS at News Emmys: ‘The Recent Direction of the Outlet Stains the Legacy of Mike Wallace’

Student Scholarship Winner Calls Out CBS at News Emmys: ‘The Recent Direction of the Outlet Stains the Legacy of Mike Wallace’

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FCC Chair Brendan Carr has opened a proceeding asking whether the TV ratings system should create new warnings for programs that include transgender and nonbinary characters. Our faith calls us to stand beside all of God’s children. Tell the FCC: LGBTQ+ families are NOT a content warning! 👇️

Tell the FCC: LGBTQ+ families are not a content warning

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has opened a proceeding asking whether the TV ratings system should create new warnings for programs that include transgender and nonbinary characters. The proceeding treats…

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"Abandon the construction of yet another Tower of Babel." Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on AI says what we argued in our federal comments this spring: AI without accountability concentrates power and harms the most vulnerable. That's a spiritual problem.

Pope Leo's New Encyclical on AI - Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

On May 25, Pope Leo XIV released a groundbreaking new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. Across five chapters, the Holy Father...

maryknollogc.org

"Canceling these programs without congressional approval is unlawful." -@civilrightsorg.bsky.social The Digital Equity Act is a bipartisan law passed as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The president does not get to repeal it by posting about it on Truth Social.

The Digital Divide Grows Wider Unless We Take Action

Discover the Digital Equity Act's role in fostering inclusion and providing digital resources for underserved populations.

civilrights.org

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has opened a proceeding asking whether the TV ratings system should create new warnings for programs that include transgender and nonbinary characters. 🚨 We’re fighting back and need you with us:

Tell the FCC: LGBTQ+ families are not a content warning

FCC Chair Brendan Carr has opened a proceeding asking whether the TV ratings system should create new warnings for programs that include transgender and nonbinary characters. The proceeding treats the...

actionnetwork.org