IPMF Glossary of Terms & Phrases

BIPOC

BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. We understand people of color to include people of the following Asian, African, Arabic, multiracial and mixed Latine/Latin@/Hispanic, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and North African, Pacific Islands, Native Hawaiian, and South Asian/West Indian diasporas. We also view people of color to include people of mixed or multiple ethnic backgrounds.

We also acknowledge that our current understanding of race is based on the rise of European imperialism forced by White Settlers and language around it continues to evolve. As Ta-Nehisi Coates asserts, “there’s no real consistent notion of race across time and geography. Any
definition of race always depends upon power.” 

We’re inspired by dozens of thinkers, activists, revolutionaries, scholars, such as: bell hooks, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Mariame Kaba, Aritana Yawalapiti, Kimberlee Crenshaw, Cedric Robinson, members of The Red Nation, Allied Media Projects, The Laundromat Project, and others.

Community Internet

Community internet refers to broadband networks that are collectively owned and managed by a local community for non-profit and community purposes. They are constituted by collectives and cooperatives, non-profit organizations and NGOs, community members and residents who work together to build and control internet infrastructure in their shared neighborhoods and regions.

Often organized in a grassroots fashion, community networks seek to empower local community members to exercise their right to communicate, under the principles of democratic participation, justice, diversity, and plurality. (source: Philly Community Wireless). Click here to watch this video from Philly Community Wireless for more information

Community Owned Media

We are particularly invested in supporting media making that is created, owned, and maintained by marginalized communities who have experienced erasure in mainstream media.

Digital Equity

Digital Equity is a condition in which all individuals and communities have access and the capacity to fully use information technology for full participation in our society, democracy and economy. Digital Equity is necessary for civic and cultural participation, employment, lifelong learning, and access to essential services. (source: digitalinclusion.org)

Media

We define media as the creation and sharing of information, ideas, and stories. The Foundation’s goals reflect an expansive definition of media, including filmmaking, journalism, digital technologies, and creative expression, as a pathway for building power with communities

Trust-Based Philanthropy

We strive to live out the values and practices of trust-based philanthropy, which prioritizes trusting relationships and collaboration with grantee partners and a real effort to uproot harmful power dynamics in the funding and nonprofit sector. We appreciate the definitions and resources at: trustbasedphilanthropy.org/.