In honor of Black History Month, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) will celebrate past and present African Americans FCC Chairs and Commissioners across February.
It is doing so via online honors of seven individuals who have made their respective marks inside the Beltway.
The MMTC is singling out the senior Democratic Commissioner on the current FCC, Geoffrey Starks. He was appointed to his role in 2019 and has served as “a champion for the millions of Americans who lack access to or cannot afford a home internet connection.”
Prior to Starks, the Commission was home to Democratic-aligned Commissioner and acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn. She served at the FCC from 2009 through 2018, and was the interim head of the agency for six months in 2013. Clyburn’s tenure included the promotion of diversity in media ownership, and efforts tied to “an Open Internet.”
Others being honored across Black History Month by the FCC include civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks, who in 1972 became the first Black Commissioner on the FCC. While seated on the Commission, Hooks addressed the lack of minority ownership of television and radio stations, the lack of minority employment in the broadcasting industry, and the image of African Americans in the mass media. After the FCC, he became the executive director of the NAACP. Hooks died in 2010.
The MMTC is also saluting Michael Powell, who presently serves as President of the NCTA- Internet & Television Association and was FCC Chairman from 2001 to 2005 after serving as a Commissioner between 1997 and 2001.
And, there is Bill Kennard, who served as the FCC Chairman from 1997 to 2001 and was previously General Counsel, from 1993 to 1997. Kennard later served as the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, from 2009 to 2013.
Lastly, the MMTC is honoring Andrew Barrett, a Commissioner from 1989 to 1996; and Tyrone Brown, an FCC Commissioner from 1977 to 1981 and a leader in the development of the FCC Minority Tax Certificate policy — an effort that some believe should return.
