Hours after six Democrats helped the GOP pass a measure in the House prohibiting the FCC from regulating broadband Internet service providers, Malkia Cyril, the Executive Director and founder of the Center for Media Justice, stepped up to the podium at the 2011 National Conference for Media Reform (NCMR) in Boston and delivered a rousing call to action. “Without a powerful movement, we have nothing to sustain our vision,” Cyril said.

Like many who spoke at the 2011 NCMR, she talks about corporate power in America. She describes how CEO pay has significantly increased while the average worker’s pay has risen only two percent. This forces many Americans, Cyril included, to decide whether to pay a phone bill or an Internet bill each month.

Cyril’s answer to the problem of corporate power is a “social merger.” She explains that people don’t have to have money to have voices: “I’m a card-carrying member of the We Who Believe Club,” proclaims Cyril. The time for better media and real democracy is now.

You can watch part 2 of Cyril’s address here.

—Kevin Gosztola