The Internet and Community Change in a Chicago Slum. Implications for Andalusia

Abstract

The widespread use of technology is evident in Modern Society and it has become a central theme in different areas of life in the 21st Century. Although access to and use of the Internet has increased in all racial groups, African Americans and other ethnic minorities in the United States and marginalized populations all over the world, continue to have the lowest access to the Internet. This paper describes the implementation of an Internet-based intervention in a low- income African American urban neighborhood. Forty-two Citizen Leaders, members of a grassroots group, actively participated in the different phases of the community initiative. We discuss different aspects of the planning of the intervention, its implementation, documentation of impact, maintenance and sustainability. Overall, leaders used the Internet as a tool to access health information and information about community resources. Researchers documented 450 narrative stories of successful use of the information obtained. Leaders also used the Internet as a tool to facilitate community action. With the introduction of technology also come lessons and challenges discussed in this article. Despite the challenges, technology became a rewarding tool for many Citizen Leaders and residents. We also discuss the applicability of access to the Internet in marginalized communities in Spain.