James McBride, Wes Moore, Richard Wright, Brent Staples, and Gwendolyn Brooks have learned the importance of literacy first hand. In fact, literacy and those who have influenced the literacy of each man have allowed each to author his own destiny by opening his eyes to a larger world, creating a sense of faith, and often saving his life. In many cases, literacy can help open one’s eyes to a larger world or array of experiences, which would not have been otherwise available; through reading, one not only learns valuable information, but also encounters different times, places, cultures, and privileges and in a way, experiences different lives. One author, Richard Wright writes in his book, Black Boy, about how literacy helps him understand
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Many of the aforementioned writers describe living in areas populated by gangs, violence and drugs, areas which routinely have bodycounts in the hundreds because of their inhabitants. Brent Staples mentions this in his article, “Black Men and Public Space”, when he writes, “I grew up one of the good boys, had perhaps a half-dozen fist fights… As a boy, I saw countless tough guys locked away; I have since buried several, too” (Staples). The writer implies that his studious, “good boy” personality early in life made him value education rather than looking “tough” . In The Other Wes Moore, Wes Moore delves further into the differences between the “good boy” and the “tough guy”; two boys with the same name grow up in the same city and with similar circumstances. The defining difference between the pair is that one has a mother who pushes him to hold education and literacy in higher regards than his image, while the other allows the streets and his friends to raise him and teach him to value money, drugs, and girls over everything else. Moore also writes about troubling information that he has found, “I learned that the way governors projected the numbers of beds they'd need for prison facilities was by examining the reading scores of third graders. Elected officials deduced that a strong percentage of kids reading below their grade level by third grade would be needing a secure place to stay when they got older” (Moore 74), a fact that only accentuates the importance of literacy in youth. Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem, “We Real Cool” , also discusses the importance of school and literacy and the dangers of placing more value on reputation. It reads: “We real cool. We/ Left school. We/ Lurk late. We/ Strike Straight. We/ Sing sin. We/ Thin gin. We/ Jazz June. We/ Die soon.” (Brooks). The poem describes a group of kids trying to be “cool” by ditching school to hang out in a pool hall, drinking and fooling around; the
Many of the aforementioned writers describe living in areas populated by gangs, violence and drugs, areas which routinely have bodycounts in the hundreds because of their inhabitants. Brent Staples mentions this in his article, “Black Men and Public Space”, when he writes, “I grew up one of the good boys, had perhaps a half-dozen fist fights… As a boy, I saw countless tough guys locked away; I have since buried several, too” (Staples). The writer implies that his studious, “good boy” personality early in life made him value education rather than looking “tough” . In The Other Wes Moore, Wes Moore delves further into the differences between the “good boy” and the “tough guy”; two boys with the same name grow up in the same city and with similar circumstances. The defining difference between the pair is that one has a mother who pushes him to hold education and literacy in higher regards than his image, while the other allows the streets and his friends to raise him and teach him to value money, drugs, and girls over everything else. Moore also writes about troubling information that he has found, “I learned that the way governors projected the numbers of beds they'd need for prison facilities was by examining the reading scores of third graders. Elected officials deduced that a strong percentage of kids reading below their grade level by third grade would be needing a secure place to stay when they got older” (Moore 74), a fact that only accentuates the importance of literacy in youth. Gwendolyn Brooks’s poem, “We Real Cool” , also discusses the importance of school and literacy and the dangers of placing more value on reputation. It reads: “We real cool. We/ Left school. We/ Lurk late. We/ Strike Straight. We/ Sing sin. We/ Thin gin. We/ Jazz June. We/ Die soon.” (Brooks). The poem describes a group of kids trying to be “cool” by ditching school to hang out in a pool hall, drinking and fooling around; the