Lit-er-a-cy

Many people do not appreciate the luxury of being able to go to school; let alone learn how to read and write. We have forgotten our grandparents, great-grand parents, and ancestors past and all of the brutality they endured so that we can be literate and successful just like the "white folk." There are so many things to say about the introduction in Readers of the Quilt." However, the definition of literacy seems to be a diverse collection of words. I went to dictionary.com and this is what I read.
lit⋅er⋅a⋅cy 

1.	the quality or state of being literate, esp. the ability to read and write.

2.	possession of education: to question someone's literacy.

3.	a person's knowledge of a particular subject or field: to acquire computer literacy.

I developed one stimulating idea from these three definitions: each person's literacy is always developing. You can be literate (able to read and write) but when you can acquire knowledge in a certain field, you are furthering your education. Many people cannot read and write but do not have the resources or the "right situation" to be able to do so. Then, others are "literate" but do nothing with their education.


Being at Spelman College has taught me to be grateful and appreciate all of the things, not only my mother and father did for me, but the African-American leaders did so that I could go to college in path of becoming a doctor. It is hard for me to watch my peers do nothing with their education and continue their studies after high school. It is so many different things to learn. Therefore, my definition of literacy has changed over time as well. Just since my senior year journey leading me into the gates of Spelman College, I have realized that you can be literate and ignorant. The real challenge is to find your own literacy and use it to change the world. We as a Black community need each other. It is our duty to put our education to use because without it, we will not make it far. In fact, statistically, the percentage of slower learning students (illiterate) in Head Start is directly porportional to the amount of people who will end up in jail from their generation. Meaning, if that child is not literate he or she will end up in prison.

Break the cycle and stay beyond the bars. Prison is a restriction, success is a distinction.

-Keiwana Glover