October 19, 2023 | Issue 11
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
DIGITAL EQUITY ART CONTEST WINNERS
 Dear community partners of Dallas,
The City has concluded its third participation in the annual Digital Inclusion Week hosted by NDIA. This year's theme - Building Connected Communities - sought to increase public knowledge of the importance of digital equity, encourage digital inclusion efforts across our City to improve broadband access, foster adoption, and promote digital literacy.
As part of this year's programming, we hosted our first Digital Equity Art Contest in partnership with the Office of Arts & Culture. Our judging panel included Rosalinda Luna, Cultural Programs Coordinator for the Latino Cultural Center - Heather Lowe, Assistant Director of Technology & Strategic Direction - Armando Cantu, CEO of CARDBoard Project, and Stephanie Ramirez, Digital Equity Coordinator for the City. We received nine submissions, with the top three selected winners addressing digital equity and inclusion awareness in their art. And addressed at least one digital equity theme, including the four digital inclusion pillars: affordability, access, devices, and digital skills training – necessities that millions of Americans live without.
We are excited to announce our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners with you, along with their digital equity art pieces and descriptions below. Art pieces will be available for viewing at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library on the 6th Floor.
To learn more about the City’s efforts to bridge the digital divide, visit bit.ly/dallasdigitaldivide.
We encourage you to stay connected, share this newsletter with community partners, and submit any digital equity events/resources you would like to publicize by emailing Estefania.ramirez@dallas.gov. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Genesis Gavino, Chief of Staff & Resilience Officer
1st Place
 Artist: Nguyen Tran
Artist statement:
The historic snowstorm of 2021 taught me the importance of neighborly compassion and caring, and how technology plays a pivotal role in our survival. On top of the pandemic, 2021 saw Texas facing never-before-seen snowstorms that crippled our infrastructure and power supply. I experienced this first-hand, as I trembled under six layers of blankets while our power went out. Sitting in the dark, I prayed for my phone's data to not give out like the wifi in the house. While surfing Facebook to let my family in Vietnam know that I was okay, I came across a post by an elderly couple that my mom used to go to the Buddhist temple with: Grace and Nick. Nick was a Viet War Veteran, and Grace used to be a high school teacher before immigrating to the US with her husband, Nick. Neither of them knew technology very well. Their post on facebook was a cry for help: their food supply ran out, and they got snowed in! Their power had been out for almost a week, and through some incomprehensible miracle, they managed to catch a faint wifi signal from a nearby hospital in Garland. With their laptop at 5% battery, they sent out a signal for help. The responses from the neighbors and city were heartwarming and overwhelmingly supportive. People drove thirty miles in the snow to give them food. Neighbors volunteered to take them in. Young folks like myself donated electronic devices such as hot spots, radio transmitters, external batteries (for their phones), while they were waiting for the power to go back up. It was a beautiful moment of how technology and community came together in the victorious moment of humanity and love, the triumph over natural disaster. It gave me hope. And this artwork illustrates how people from all walks of life are connected by technology. The help you need might just be one mouse-click away. Because technology is a two-edged sword. While it has the power to "digitally divide" if we allowed inequity to continue, it also has the power to unite and mobilize, as we saw through the snowstorm of 2021. This artpiece shows the power of technology to elevate and operationalize the Racial Equity Plan of the city of Dallas by bridging the Digital Divide. ~ By Nguyen Tran, Savannah College of Arts and Design Graduate, Dallas resident
2nd Place
 Artist: Hai Tran
Artist statement:
One of the happiest memories I have with my Mom was when she taught me how to use Microsoft Word 97. Patiently putting her hand over mine as I dragged the stubborn mouse to create tables and put beautiful colors in the headers, my mom would make me flan cake with condensed milk and caramelized sugar crust with coffee sprinkles every time I successfully completed an assignment. No wonder I grew up to have a sweet tooth! As a child, I thought we were playing some computer game. Little did I know that the skill she taught me continues to help me in my job even to this day. Her inspiration of technology later led me to tutor my little sister in using Wacom as her digital coloring book to color Japanese anime characters such as Sakura the Card-Captor. I guess my sister never stops drawing because she graduated from SCAD and became a digital artist for one of the Korean media companies that produced Squid Game storyboarding. The torch was passed down from generation to generation. And I would never forget the sparkle of pride in my mom's eyes as I learned how to put my thoughts into a neat table format in MS Word. A habit that continues to help me until this day, as I have learned to become a structured thinker and analyst. Now my Mom is in her sixties, with blurred vision and battling chemo. I remember sitting on her hospital bed, teaching her the latest technology of the 2020s and her struggling to keep up because of old age. I told her: "Mom, I'm going to slow down so you can understand, and that's okay because that's what you did for me. If you manage to learn this, I have a flan cake waiting for you in the fridge!"
3rd Place
Artist: Joey Myers
Artist statement:
Wanted to create a simple infographic like illustration using one of my favorite stained glass styles. This shows an entire community connected to the basic knowledge, capital, and resources, so they can reach their goals in business, education, creativity, healthcare and more.
WAYS TO GET IN TOUCH
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