Literacy: More than access
What if you couldn't read?
You wouldn' be engaged with this blog post right now, you would struggle to understand the world around you in many contexts, and you'd likely be under-employed.
Did you know that 79% of adults in the US don't have the literacy skills needed to complete basic tasks?
In 2024, that seems unimaginable. But it's true. Now imagine what it's like in places where education is harder to access.
I've been an avid reader since I aquired the skill, and I remember the day it all clicked. I was reading on the living room floor, sprawled out on the white carpet with a thin book that had a red cover and a cartoony illustration of a horse on that cover. I was reading whatever my lesson was, and all of a sudden everything just came together so smoothly and I knew that I had finally mastered it, that I was READING. This was kindergarten or first grade, and from that time on, I have spend much of my life surrouned by books and people who love to talk about them.
I became a writer, not so that I could write books (although I do want to do that), but because I love STORIES. I became a teacher so that I could help others connect to the world around them through story and metaphor and the transportation that happens when we fall into a good text.
I'd tell you that I can't imagine what it's like to not be able to read, but that's not entirely true. I struggle to read in my second language, Spanish. I know many of the words in a sentence, but thinking about tense takes time. The way literature is structured in Spanish is different than English, and it's frustrating to not be a fluent reader and absorber of information. So I practice, and thus improve, my Spanish literacy very infrequently.
Becuase of this, and the magical way my life's intersections come together in liminal and more concrete ways, I was honored to be asked to participate in this year's Brewhaha, a local storytelling event that serves as a fundraiser for REACH Literacy, a a nonprofit dedicated to community literacy services.
I talked about growing up and watching my Mom's literacy journey, and how that shaped me today. I listened to other stories of advocacy and hope, stories that all shared the importance of literacy. I considered all the ways literacy plays a role in my life, things I don't even think about, like having access to the medical care I need for my kid or the mental health care I want for myself or to reccomend to a friend.
When I was writing for money, as a journalist, I always thought the way I'd have an impact on the world was by sharing stories of what was going on in the world.
Today I find that words and reading and writing are still a part of my own journey, but advocating for access to stories, whether that's access to education in general, access to English language aquisition, or even just learning how to find one's voice and tell their story, has become almost as exciting as that moment I realized I was reading smoothly, without stumbling.
Photo credit: Kelcey Shroder Photography