Saving Ourselves: Newark’s Mayor Cory Booker Announces ‘Year of Literacy’ – Have You Shared A Book With A Child?
Many have called Newark’s Mayor Cory Booker superman after he ran into a burning building to save his neighbor, but many are unaware of the changes he is attempting to inspire in his city’s youth
Last week, Mayor Booker spoke with a group of Newark’s schoolchildren to convey to them the importance of reading. Newark is also gearing up to welcome the famed Harlem Book Festival to the city to promote reading, something Mayor Booker holds near and dear to his heart.
Mayor Booker, who is a staunch proponent of education, likened the lack of literacy in Newark to the modern-day slave trade and urged families to turn off their TVs and pick up books.
“I can’t go into another home and see TVs that run almost like background noise, constantly 24 hours a day and look around and not see a book,” said Booker. “There is a sin about that, that we have not created a culture in our community of literacy.”
Mayor Booker’s mission, to inspire more children in his community to read, is an imperative task. Students who struggle with reading set themselves up for failure, and even prison.
Although Mayor Booker and others in his city have an admirable goal, they cannot close the literacy gap alone.
Sharing your favorite books, inspiring children to read, giving children books they will love (not necessarily books we love), and stressing the importance of reading to young people may just inspire a life-long love of learning in our youth.
Black people still don’t understand these types of things.I kind of get sick of people talking about being oppressed and discriminated against when it comes to education when they don’t try themselves to do anything about education. Most of the reason black men and women want to be ignorant promiscuous thugs and oversexed Jezebels rather than make As in school which will help them get all the money they love so much is because the entertainment that they watch tells them that it’s cool.I will never understand how the brokest people have cable and access to internet in their houses.
I understand that many white children get a better education because of the zipcode they live in, but there are small changes black parents could make that would make a world of difference. Speak standard English around the house. This is a big deal. Ebonics doesn’t show that you are sticking to your culture. It shows that you are stubborn and ignornat. When you’ve been speaking the English language almost your entire life and you have worse grammar than a recent foreign immigrant, it is just seen as ignorant. You know you are speaking incorrectly but don’t try to correct yourself. It tells non-black people that you are ignorant and lazy. It tells your children that it is okay to be ignorant.
TURN OFF THE TV! This is for all Americans in general, but black people really need to turn off the TV. The entertainment that we often watch is much more damaging than what white people watch. I mean MTV and VH1 are horrible, but BET in my opinion has been one of the biggest downfalls of the black community.
Parents simply need to be better parents. Read a book about raising kids or something. If black parents made their kids do homework when they came home from school (Demand weekly progress reports. Don’t let your kids bring home Bs in elementary school or middle school. Don’t tolerate less than Bs in high school.), play a little, eat, take a bath, and read a book before bedtime, this would make a world of differrence. Until black parents ffigure out that your 8 year old listening to Wacka Flocka, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and mimicking Beyonce’s gyrations is not a good thing, black people will never move forward. You are setting your kids up for failure, and you’re not even surprised when they do. You expect it and blame it on “the man.” Mainstream entertainment sexualizes young girls and encourages males to be underachieving misogynists. I’m not saying we should end rap or pop music, but most music, TV shows, and movies are for grownups or people who are mature enough not to be influenced by fake worlds.
In short the black community would benefit and especially children if parents removed their kids TVs, computers, and cell phones, gave them a library card, and made them read. I don’t think it’s rocket science to see what “black entertainment” has done to us. Black people can’t even figure out what the problem is and stop doing it.
I so agree with you.
There is nothing left to say.
Our values are misguided and malformed, as black people.
My God-daughter just turn six. Every time I give her a gift, be it for birthday or Christmas a book will be included. She loves to read and I give her mom props for that. From the time she was a baby her mom was reading to her so it doesn’t surprise me that she is one of the smartest in class. Parents and future parents please read to your children when they are babies. Also my God-daughter’s mom is following the Michelle Obama plan regarding TV with Malia and Natasha. No TV during the week only on weekends.
I also only buy children books as gifts, and love that I’ve opened the door to great reading material to their parents. But what still drives me crazy is the lack of a library card in many households, and the lack to even up the ante in the reading department, which is not directed by the school standards, but by personal choice.
I try and do the no TV in the week for myself. As an adult it’s easy to fall into the trap.
As the great Sonia Sanchez said ( who i had the pleasure of meeting yesterday), turn off the idiot box. I’d applaud his efforts. I find it sad that many blacks dont value education and the importantance that it has in our lives.