by Alison Gardy

About the author: Alison Gardy is a freelance writer who writes frequently about community activism.

After Newt Gingrich suggested in 1995 that Congress tackle inequality in the information age by giving “a tax credit” for the poorest Americans to buy a “laptop” computer, he quickly backpedaled from the idea, dismissing it as “nutty.”

The episode indicated that the Speaker of the House hadn’t devoted much thought to specific ways of giving the nation’s have-nots an opportunity to participate in the information-age economy. But many people who have devoted considerable time to the topic—particularly black professionals in computing and telecommunications—aren’t so sure that Washington is the place to look for solutions, anyway.

“This technology needs to be a bridge...