Technology

HUD Chief Seeks Broadband Access for the Poor

Published

12 years ago

February 17, 2015

Julián Castro, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development talks about the importance of homeownership in the African American community. (Freddie Allen/NNPA Photo)

By Freddie Allen
NNPA Senior Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Julián Castro, the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, wants to provide broadband access to public housing residents in an effort to increase socioeconomic mobility among poor and low-income families.

“We think [broadband access] is important because the world requires a connection to the Internet now,” said Castro.

He said that HUD wants to launch the program, which is still in its early planning stages, in 20 major metropolitan areas working with private sector telecommunication companies to wire the communities or provide wireless in a free or very low-cost way.

Castro said that in the vast majority of public housing communities, there is no connectivity.

According to a 2014 report by the Pew Research Center, most households with incomes below $20,000, “do not have an internet subscription for a computer, cell phone or other device, though they may have free access at a local library or elsewhere.” Roughly 25 million American households, “have no regular internet access at all, either at home or elsewhere.”

Sixty-two percent of Black adults have broadband access at home compared to 74 percent of White adults. A gap of 12 percent. The digital divide between Black and White adults 65 and older leaps to 21 percent (30 percent vs. 51 percent who have broadband at home).

A 2010 Pew survey revealed that Americans feel that people that don’t have broadband access at home “are at a major disadvantage when it comes to finding out about job opportunities or learning career skills, or when getting health information, learning new things for personal enrichment, and using government services.”

Castro said that a respectable number of people have Internet connection through their cell phone, but it’s not the same as having that access in your home where it’s more stable and you can do homework and other things that people generally don’t do on their phones.

Castro attended junior high school with a lot of kids that lived in public housing and his father also lived in public housing at different periods in his life.

“I know that the folks who live in public housing have the same aspirations and the same potential as anybody else,” said Castro. “And here at HUD we’re going to do every single thing that we can to make sure that they can be a part of our American success story.”

That American success story includes increasing homeownership to build wealth from one generation to the next and to increase upward mobility, and that’s a part of HUD’s long-term mission.

The department’s most immediate challenge, however, is addressing disparities in the rental market.

Blacks not only face discrimination in the rental market, but they also are treated differently than Whites when they look to become homeowners.

According to a 2013 report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Black renters who contact agents about recently advertised housing units learn about 11.4 percent fewer available units than equally qualified whites and are shown 4.2 percent fewer units.”

Blacks are also offered shorter leases and told that background checks are required more often than White renters.

Blacks faced even greater discrimination when attempting to buy a home. When Blacks contacted agents about recently advertised homes they were shown roughly 18 percent fewer homes than White homebuyers. During the housing crisis, minorities were often offered subprime loans products, even when they qualified for better loan conditions.

“Too many times African American families don’t get the same opportunities to evaluate potential homes or rental properties just because of the color of their skin and we want to root that out,” said Castro.

The United States Census Bureau reported that the homeownership rate for Blacks was 42.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014, the lowest of all racial groups. Whites had the highest homeownership rate at 72.3 percent. The homeownership rates for both groups were down from the same period in 2013.

Castro said that the bulk of wealth of African Americans and Latinos is tied up in their homes.

Biniam Gebre, the acting commissioner for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), said that even though homeownership rates have fallen, people are still creating families and having babies and that’s creating pressure on the rental market which, in turn, is causing the rise in rental costs.

“The rental market and the homeownership market are inextricably linked,” said Gebre. “You have to deal with both problems you just can’t deal with one.”

In an effort to make homeownership more affordable, Castro said that the administration is working to reduce mortgage insurance premiums, a fee that skyrocketed 145 percent ($1,600 more annually), since the housing crisis began in 2007.

“That has a significant negative impact on the ability of folks with modest means in particular communities of color to be able to afford to buy a home,” said Castro.

Castro said that reducing the premium would allow 250,000 more borrowers to afford a home through the FHA and the average borrower will save about $900 every year.

“The [Federal Housing Administration] FHA continues to play a vital role in creating a ticket to middle class and wealth creation through homeownership,” said Castro.

Castro said that HUD has also made significant investments in presale counseling, homeowner counseling, and financial literacy to help homebuyers understand the real cost of homeownership.

That real cost was a burden that many homeowners in Prince George’s County were ill-prepared for when the housing bubble burst.

Two years after the recession officially ended, more than 50 percent of housing sales in Prince George’s County, known as the wealthiest majority Black county in the nation, were in foreclosure properties, according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), a multiple listing service for real estate professionals. Bankrate.com, an online aggregator of financial rate information said that Maryland was second in the nation for housing units receiving foreclosure filings in December 2014.

Through a national mortgage settlement agreement, Maryland’s former Attorney General Doug Gansler secured $10 million in aid for Prince George’s County homeowners and residents seeking affordable housing.

The distressed assets sale program (DASP), launched in 2012 also encouraged lenders to work with borrowers to avoid foreclosure and help residents stay in their homes.

Gebre said that for places like Prince George’s County where neighborhoods are plagued by high foreclosure rates and many homeowners are underwater on their loans, “the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) can provide significant reduction in the debt that they owe.”

Through HUD’s streamlined refinancing program, Gebre added that borrowers who are not in delinquency can benefit from lower rates in the marketplace without having to do a lot of paperwork.

Castro said that it’s the combination of providing housing and providing the opportunity that excited him the most about his role as secretary of HUD, a post he’s held since July 2014. The San Antonio, Texas native said that the investments that are made across HUD make a difference in creating more opportunity for all Americans and those opportunities are particularly significant in the African American community.

“We can’t truly have a nation of opportunity until everyone, no matter their background or the color of their skin, has the chance to fully enjoy the same opportunity,” said Castro. “And we’re not there yet.”

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AG Bonta Announces Action on Cryptocurrency, Sextortion Fraud – Increasingly Targeting Gen-Z

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is warning residents about a surge in cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion schemes that increasingly target Gen Z through social media platforms. With internet-based scams costing Americans nearly $21 billion in 2023, Bonta highlighted how artificial intelligence and deepfakes allow criminals to impersonate loved ones and promote fraudulent investment groups. The Attorney General’s Office has already shut down over 100 fraudulent websites and is now utilizing new legislative tools to recover assets for victims. Read more.

Published

1 week ago

November 3, 2026

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned residents about rising cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion scams, urging Californians to recognize warning signs and protect themselves as scammers increasingly target younger people through social media.

Speaking at a news conference on Oct. 19, Bonta said Americans lost $20.9 billion to internet-based scams in 2025, including $11.4 billion to cryptocurrency scams. He said artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and malicious smart contracts have made fraud easier to carry out and more difficult to detect and prevent.

While older Californians remain targets, Bonta said his office has seen a sharp rise in reports of Gen Z consumers being targeted on platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, and Instagram.

One growing scheme involves so-called rug-pull scams, in which fraudsters promote low-priced stocks or volatile cryptocurrencies through online investment groups and streaming communities. After generating interest and driving up prices, scammers sell their holdings, causing values to collapse and leaving investors with losses.

Bonta also warned about sextortion, in which scammers trick or coerce victims into sharing explicit images before threatening to distribute them to friends and family unless they pay. He advised victims not to give in to demands, saying scammers often do not release the images when victims refuse to pay. Instead, he recommended ignoring and blocking the perpetrators.

Another scheme, known as recovery fraud, targets people who have already lost money to cryptocurrency scams. Fraudsters impersonate blockchain recovery specialists or law enforcement officials and demand additional payments while promising to recover stolen assets.

Bonta urged Californians to be skeptical of promises of large returns on small investments, fake cryptocurrencies resembling established ones, and celebrity endorsements that may have been generated using artificial intelligence. He also warned that scammers can use AI to impersonate loved ones through manipulated video and audio.

“Never use a crypto ATM,” Bonta said, emphasizing that transactions can be difficult to trace and reverse and that the machines lack adequate consumer protections.

His office has shut down more than 100 fraudulent websites over the past two years that collectively scammed victims out of at least $8.3 million, he said.

Bonta also highlighted Senate Bill 1208, which he said was recently signed into law. The measure allows law enforcement to petition a court to return seized cryptocurrency to victims, including when alleged perpetrators are outside U.S. jurisdiction.

Residents who have fallen victim to scams can report them to the California Department of Justice at oag.ca.gov/report.

Bonta also urged victims not to feel embarrassed, stressing that scammers are responsible for the harm they cause.

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Black History

OP-ED: The Black Church Writes AI’s Next Chapter

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — I implore my fellow faith leaders to use these tools. Start now and use them with wisdom. We count on each and every one of you to make sure our communities help write the next chapter of this story. This rapid change is not as unfamiliar as it may sound. My first understanding of AI came from using a calculator for the first time in grade school. We did not call it AI, but it was a tool that helped me work through mathematical equations hours more efficiently.

Published

4 weeks ago

October 18, 2026

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For generations, the Black church has stood strong in our communities through every historical change this country has experienced. During the civil rights movement and in recent times, faith leaders have helped uplift Black sanctuaries to register voters, keep food pantries open for people in need, and sit with families in hospital rooms in their most desperate moments. When our people faced new trials, they could always look to our faith leaders and the church to lean in to help us be included in these transformative changes.

Artificial intelligence is the latest revolutionary change to impact our society, and much like other transformations before us, underserved communities often get left behind.

I was recently featured in a report entitled “Faith, Community & AI” and it found that people send ChatGPT more than 70 million messages a week about religion. Nearly 22 million involve studying sacred texts, and 16 million ask about religious practices and holy days. Our members make up part of those numbers. They bring questions of faith to these tools every day.

Pastors have noticed, and according to a September 2025 Lifeway Research survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors, 42 percent said they use or experiment with AI in ministry. I count myself among them.

I write my sermons by hand, through prayer and study. When I finish a draft, I ask ChatGPT this question: “Where might this sermon become unclear or difficult to follow for someone early in their walk of faith?” It shows me gaps in my preparation, like where I incorrectly assumed everyone would know the context of who the Pharisees were. Then, change comes from my own pen, not the robot. The tool helps me reach the person in the back pew while the message still comes from me.

If I could have my wish, our whole community would take a similar posture. We must use these tools, understand them, and most importantly be present to help shape them if we want to be included in the coming change.

I implore my fellow faith leaders to use these tools. Start now and use them with wisdom. We count on each and every one of you to make sure our communities help write the next chapter of this story. This rapid change is not as unfamiliar as it may sound. My first understanding of AI came from using a calculator for the first time in grade school. We did not call it AI, but it was a tool that helped me work through mathematical equations hours more efficiently.

It starts with training; there is no involvement without understanding. Free AI trainings have begun in our churches and community centers across the nation. Every faith leader should sign up and, when possible, encourage members of your congregations to join you. By learning how to use AI, we can better understand what it can do, make up our own minds about its impact, and have a say in how it shapes our communities.”

Next, we must be at the tables where the builders of these tools make decisions. Presence is the first step toward understanding, and that gap is only bridged through a coordinated effort. How can any tool serve a community well if that community is not part of the conversation? Our traditions, needs, and concerns must be accounted for, and Black faith leaders are already making that happen. OpenAI’s recent Faith report states plainly that AI should never become an arbiter of religious truth. I fully intend to hold the company to its word, and the most effective way I can do that is from inside.

I will close with this––we must diligently protect what only the church can give. A believer in Seoul, Korea quoted in the report warned, “if you pour every struggle into a private chat, your pastor and your friends may never learn you need help.” A chatbot will not sit with a grieving family or pray with you at two in the morning. As we adopt this technology, it is up to us to ensure it keeps people connected to each other and to their church.

Rev. Dr. Adolphus Lacey is senior pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York.

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Black History

OP-ED: The Black Church Writes AI’s Next Chapter

Published

4 weeks ago

October 18, 2026

Post News Group

Artificial intelligence is the latest revolutionary change to impact our society, and much like other transformations before us, underserved communities often get left behind.

Pastors have noticed, and according to a September 2025 Lifeway Research survey of 1,003 Protestant pastors, 42 percent said they use or experiment with AI in ministry. I count myself among them.