All too often, this dark side gets our attention while positive aspects of the Internet are overlooked. The Countering White Supremacy Workshop and the Nitrogen Project are Web sites that bring light and hope to cyberspace. Each One Teach One San Francisco activist Sharon Martinas has dedicated her life to fighting racism. The Workshop's organizing strategy was inspired by the work of African American organizers in the southern-based freedom movements of the 1950's and 1960's. The Workshop will be offered via an E-mail list later this year.
Grassroots organizing in cyberspace takes many forms.
The Challenging White Supremacy site is simple in comparison, consisting mostly of a digitized version of Sharon's written materials. But as a tool for grassroots organizing, it can be just as effective. And it's a powerful reminder that the most important tool for a Virtual Activist is not a computer, but the information that it can store and transmit to others. We Will Remember All sorts of hate mongers are using the Internet to spread racism, anti-Semitism, and bigotry. As a Jew, I feel a particularly strong sense of outrage over the Holocaust denial movement, which seeks to erase this ugly chapter from history.