Happy Black History Month!

In honor of the first day of Black History Month, I thought I'd share with you some literacy statistics that we discuss in my School Is My Job training for teachers. During slavery, the fine for teaching a slave (a.k.a. African prisoner of war) how to read was $500. (If anyone knows how many thousands of dollars that converts to today's terms, please let me know.)

If a slave was caught learning how to read, the consequences were severe: beatings, loss of limbs, even death.

Now keep that in mind as you read the following. The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the National Assessment for Educational Progress chart the ups and downs of African American illiteracy.

1890: 3 of 5 blacks ages 14 years+ were illiterate
1910: illiteracy down to 33%
1930: Less than 1 in 5 blacks illiterate
End of World War II: illiteracy down to 11%
1959: illiteracy down to 7%
1979: illiteracy down to 1.6%

Now today:
Illiteracy up to 44%
2/3 of African American students and almost half of all children in the inner cities are functionally illiterate

Brothers & Sisters, this is a national crisis. This is about quality of life. This is about future earning potential (a.k.a. getting paid).

We've got to do a better job of convincing students that education is still the best game in town. When was the last time you heard a gangsta rapper promoting literacy in your town?