Rising Voices note: Our monthly newsletter provides a summary of our recent blog posts about all aspects of digital inclusion including access to and adoption of digital tools, as well as different ways and opportunities for communities to fully participate online. Read here for previous editions of this newsletter.

Dear readers, how are you doing?

So here we are in April and we would like to introduce you to a great podcast series called Whose Voices? by Whose Knowledge?, a group of people who are campaigning to “center the knowledge of marginalized communities (the majority of the world) on the internet.” In this podcast series, you are going to hear interviews with language activists from around the world, in which they discuss language justice in the digital context.

We’d encourage that you try and catch up, while the team behind Whose Voices? is taking a break after 15 episodes of interesting conversations. All episodes can be found here. Enjoy listening!

Interested in learning first hand about how the internet and technology play a role in the promotion and revitalization of indigenous, minority, endangered, or under-resourced languages? Rising Voices and partners are now bringing to you a new round of our rotating Twitter campaigns for 2023, featuring language digital activists around the world each week. Come follow us and hear what they have to share!

@ActLenguas (Latin America)

• Yajaira Martínez [es]: a doctor dedicated to disseminating much needed info of preventive medicine through her mother tongue — on her own initiative as well as revitalization efforts made by many other teachers in keeping the Mazatec language and its culture alive
• Rodrigo Petatillo Chan [es]: a Mayan speaker from Quintana Roo, Mexico— on his field work around Yucatec Maya revitalization

Have you ever wondered: What does it take to revitalize a dying language? In this article, we invite you to sit down with Uday Raj Aaley — researcher and writer — and to hear his Kusunda story about the meaning of keeping a language from extinction, what’s involved, and what remains to be done.

Do you work for/in collaboration with an organization or the academia based in the Asia-Pacific area that strives to make the internet more accessible in terms of inclusion, infrastructure, and knowledge? ISIF Asia is now accepting applications for its multiple 2023 Internet Access Grants; further information is available here. Application due: April 30, 2023 at 11:59am (UTC +10)

For filmmakers aspiring to bring unheard voices from underrepresented/marginalized communities around the world to a wider audience: The CrossCurrents International Doc Fund shares the same vision and would like to support you in your projects. Eligibility requirements and application details can be found here. Application due: June 2, 2023 at 11:59pm (EDT)

The Yoruba Wikimedians User Group recognized that internet access is not always affordable to their contributors based in Africa and tends to become a major barrier for them to partake in Yoruba Wikipedia as well as related projects. Now, the Internet Support microgrant program is the User Group’s answer to this particular challenge at hand (details here). Application open: April 1, 2023 through April 30, 2024

Are you an Indigenous innovator based in the US and Canada who thinks that you have a solution that’ll benefit your community in the realms of sustainable energy, business, education, or health and wellness? MIT Solve wishes to support you in your agenda through its 2023 Indigenous Communities Fellowship. Further details can be found here on their official site. Submission due: May 9, 2023

Submissions to the 2023 Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism are now open. This award looks to honor those who dedicated themselves to courageous reporting from across the world, in the roles of freelance journalists, local reporters, and news fixers — details available on their own pages for each category. Submission due: May 31, 2023 at midnight (GMT)

The Global Digital Development Forum 2023 is here! Curious about how emerging technology (such as AI and 5G) may play a role in areas concerning climate change and digital development? This is your chance in joining like-minded people from around the world to get in the know and to share your own insights. Date: April 26–27, 2023 / RSVP by April 15th, 2023

• WhatsApp becomes the only app to rank “highly accessible” for persons with disabilities via TimesNow
• “We’ve always been here”: Women in the video game community via Folklife
• A new knowledge base about civic tech in the African context as presented by the Civic Tech Innovation Network (CTIN) via Spotify

 

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