"If you ever want to hide something from a black person put it in a book" ~Unknown
From the time that I can remember I loved to read. My mom used to tell me that when I first learned how to read I read everything from train signs, to posters, to billboards and anything in between. I am quite aware that I have for the most part of my life been a (cool) nerd and liked school, homework and those types of things - so by no means is this post a crusade to convert non-reading aficionados into bookworms.
But the fact remains that reading is fundamental. When I Googled the quote above to see if I could track down who said it, I came across this link:
from which I'll be excerpting bits & pieces...
There hasn't been one thing that has benefited me professionally, personally, and financially that did NOT involve reading, processing, and understanding what I was entitled to. From refunds and credits, directions, invitations, job opportunities and duties reading is the one skill that lends itself to developing other skills.
I often see - well let me restate - on occasion I see young ladies reading on the train. They're never the type of things that you can really learn from though. It's the street literature that has the cache with these girls...But having read a few of those when I was like 12ish I'll sum it up with a face :-/ I'm sorry but the stories about Tyquell and his ride or die chick who goes down for him after she gets caught up in his drug game are.....not anything that can educate me.
"Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment...We now live in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read."
I often see - well let me restate - on occasion I see young ladies reading on the train. They're never the type of things that you can really learn from though. It's the street literature that has the cache with these girls...But having read a few of those when I was like 12ish I'll sum it up with a face :-/ I'm sorry but the stories about Tyquell and his ride or die chick who goes down for him after she gets caught up in his drug game are.....not anything that can educate me.
I watch my little cousins engulf themselves in their damn DS all day. They don't even know how to interact with the real world because their faces are constantly buried in some alternate reality. My cousin bumped into an old man on the street because he "didn't see him" and he reads above his grade level (thanks to great parenting). But if only they knew that reading could do so much more for you than a video game. Where's the IMAGINATION? Where's the CRITICAL THINKING?
We have access to so much information that it is quite possible to suffer from overload. So many FB statuses have the wrong "there" so many tweets have you wondering if ppl thought that passing elementary was the be all end all of grammatical life. Everything comes in spurts. Even kids shows these days make NO SENSE to me. There isn't a logical, coherent, progression of thoughts. There's no sequence of events. It's just. A mess.
Reading taught me how to organize my thoughts and how even when it may not make sense in the beginning - if you have the imagination and vision to tie everything together, stick it out until the end, you'll be in on the story. That goes for books that teach too...
Now I'm not saying that the solutions to all black ppl's problems are in books - but reading has become even more fundamental now because that's how you PAY ATTENTION in today's world. That's how you sift through all the bull that you get fed listening to "Pookie and 'em," sitting on the stoop, and NOT knowing how everything in Washington actually affects you way more than Daddy Warbucks and his crew.
I think there's a very serious correlation between the fact that most black children can't read at their appropriate grade level, and that reading remains to be fundamental. It's 2011...slaves weren't allowed to read but here we are with the right to it and it's still not happening...
I often get 'complimented' by los blancos who say to me all the time "You speak so well!" or "You're so articulate!" I don't even know if that is a compliment - because I can tell you after going to school for over 20+ years, with 2 degrees, and way TOO much debt I expect nothing less than how to speak well! Shiiiieeeet I would sue the whole system if I couldn't do at least that for all that money. But I still acknowledge reading has made me a much better writer, and better at articulating things.
If the children are our future, my ass is scared! With the Age of Entitlement youngins coming up in the ranks I'm going to need some insurance from somewhere that all my money wont disappear at the bank, that they'll know how to do their jobs, and that they'll understand what I'm saying when I call them incompetent to get my refunds.
My contingency is to help expose and engage these kids to the world that's out there but I know I can't be the only one. I just hope that these kids learn from somebody, somewhere that reading is fundamental. And without it your just a blind person walking in the dark on these streets.
"There are numerous books readily available at Border's, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com not to mention their own Black Bookstores that provide solid blueprints to reaching economic equality (which should have been their fight all along) yet few read consistently, if at all."
Now I'm not saying that the solutions to all black ppl's problems are in books - but reading has become even more fundamental now because that's how you PAY ATTENTION in today's world. That's how you sift through all the bull that you get fed listening to "Pookie and 'em," sitting on the stoop, and NOT knowing how everything in Washington actually affects you way more than Daddy Warbucks and his crew.
I think there's a very serious correlation between the fact that most black children can't read at their appropriate grade level, and that reading remains to be fundamental. It's 2011...slaves weren't allowed to read but here we are with the right to it and it's still not happening...
I often get 'complimented' by los blancos who say to me all the time "You speak so well!" or "You're so articulate!" I don't even know if that is a compliment - because I can tell you after going to school for over 20+ years, with 2 degrees, and way TOO much debt I expect nothing less than how to speak well! Shiiiieeeet I would sue the whole system if I couldn't do at least that for all that money. But I still acknowledge reading has made me a much better writer, and better at articulating things.
If the children are our future, my ass is scared! With the Age of Entitlement youngins coming up in the ranks I'm going to need some insurance from somewhere that all my money wont disappear at the bank, that they'll know how to do their jobs, and that they'll understand what I'm saying when I call them incompetent to get my refunds.
My contingency is to help expose and engage these kids to the world that's out there but I know I can't be the only one. I just hope that these kids learn from somebody, somewhere that reading is fundamental. And without it your just a blind person walking in the dark on these streets.
No comments:
Post a Comment