The passion to read

I've heard stories about how, at the turn of the 1900s, the desire to learn how to read was so great that our people put themselves in danger and made great sacrifices to ensure that they and their children could read. The washer woman roped her book to the fence so that she could read while working. Even the threat of death couldn't stop their burning desire to read. Why did our ancestors have such a passion to learn how to read? Here are some reasons:

1. They needed to know how to read Bible. Scripture provided hope and guidance for a people who were severely oppressed.

2. 40 acres and a mule. How many contracts were never executed because our people couldn't read them? Knowing how to read = getting paid.

3. Voting rights. Jim Crow prevented African Americans from voting if they couldn't read or even if their parents and grandparents couldn't read.

Why hasn't this desire to read manifested in the Hip Hop generation? Nothing has changed. We still need the hope and guidance scripture provides. More than ever, we need to know how to read our contracts, or we could lose our homes, jobs, cars, credit cards. As for the vote, has our declining literacy rates influenced the caliber of politicians we have voted into office over the past few decades? Hmmm....