Reading Is a Right, And We Must Fight to Protect It

Rick Callender | Special to California Black Media Partners OPINION (CBM) – In the Black community, literacy stands as a cornerstone of empowerment, guiding our way toward liberation and advancement. For centuries, African Americans have been denied their right to read either through the direct outlawing of literacy instruction and books for enslaved people of African descent, or more indirectly, by the systemic and systematic failures of our public schools in effectively teaching children of color. These failures are evident in California, where only two in 10 African American students from low-income communities are reading on grade level in the third grade. This is not just an education issue. It is the greatest social justice problem we currently face. Research consistently shows that children who are not reading proficiently by the end of the third grade are four times less likely to graduate high school. This number increases to eight times less likely if the student comes from a family that is economically disadvantaged. Consequently, this leads to limited opportunities for a career above the poverty line. Even more troubling, limited literacy is directly linked to poor health, homelessness, disenfranchisement, and incarceration. Given the urgency of this issue, the NAACP...