ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates an attempt, on a small scale, to duplicate these initiatives aimed at increasing Internet access through the development of a community Wi-Fi network in Liberty Square, a public housing development with nearly 2,000 residents in Liberty City, a historically black neighborhood deep in the heart of Miami's urban core. It examines the powerful media narratives that exist around Liberty Square, which has recently been targeted by Miami-Dade County for redevelopment as the solution to the violence and crime that has come to define daily life in the community. The role of Comcast in the first phase highlights the complex matrix of race, geography, and political-economy that confronts this and other efforts around the country attempting to create greater Internet access within an economic system that favors profits over connectivity and has led to the creation of only a few, completely dominant corporate Internet and cable providers across the country.
