The essesnce of reading in the black community.

by Roger Thomas
(Baltimore)

Original Text: The essesnce of reading in the black community.

The first step had been taken. Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell.? Quoted by Frederick Douglas. If Frederick Douglas can master the fundamentals of reading being constrain to slavery and prohibited to read why it is that many African-American are incapable of suck necessity. Reading is a requirement for every individual not being able to read prevents curtain opportunity like getting a job or filling out a school application form, even janitor are require being able to read. There are individuals who are able to make a living without being able to read but most of those individuals fall to the street, everything has a limit to it, you cannot sell drugs for the rest of your life or commit crimes eventually it is going to be caught up to you and there is only three-way out, get an education, jail or death. Being given these privileges that our ancestor did not have we should take advantage of them and lift our self up instead of complaining and blaming the system or your socio economic status, if Frederick Douglas had the same mentally he would not to this day learn how to read and write or even be an iconic figure in the black community. As black people we need to develop a mission state and create a tunnel vision with our eyes fixated to achieving it. Frederick Douglas, Malcolm X and I did despite being Jamaican and coming from a third world country (being offered a scholarship to the states to study sport medicine).
When I talk about tunnel vision I am talking about stopping at nothing to up lift yourself as African-American, a classical example is Malcolm Little who later converted to Islam and name his name to Malcolm X. Malcolm X was born in 1925 and got sent to jail in 1946 for burglary. Serving his time in prison he was always fascinated by how Bimbi another inmate at the same correctional facility would take control of conversation, from that point on he know what he wanted in life and stop at nothing to get it. Malcolm X wanted to help African-American and knowledge, so he began his lifelong mission by starting to study the dictionary, after completing the dictionary and mastering it he progress on to learning how to write. Throughout all his tribulation he never complains, he would just make adjustment because he knew what he wanted. After his prison sentence come to an end he started preaching it in an attempt to help African-American, it was so impressive for someone who never went to school he was ask what is his alma mater by an English writer his reply was book if it was not for education Malcolm X would have been a repeat offended repeatedly, without education the only option you have are selling drugs or committing some act that offend the legal system. It hurt my heart to see African-American missing out on a good education when our ancestor go through so much to see that we get an education, I would love to see more African-American representing and being a proud ambassador of colleges and university and not just high school or the streets when ask what their Alma mater is.

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Revised Text: The essence of reading in the black community.

"The first step had been taken, Mistress, in teaching me the alphabet, had given me the inch, and no precaution could prevent me from taking the ell.": Frederick Douglas.

If Frederick Douglas could master the fundamentals of reading, being constrained to slavery and prohibited to read, why is it that many African-American are incapable of such a necessity? Reading is a requirement for every individual. Not being able to read prevents opportunities, like getting a job and and not being able to fill out a school application form. Even janitors are required to be able to read.

There are individuals who are able to make a living without being able to read, but most of those individuals fall to the street. Everything has a limit to it, you cannot sell drugs or commit crimes for the rest of your life. Eventually it is going to catch up to you and there are only three ways out; an education, jail or death. Being given the privileges that our ancestors did not have, we should take advantage of them and lift ourselves up, instead of complaining and blaming the system or your socio-economic status. If Frederick Douglas had the same mentally, he would not to this day learn how to read and write or be an iconic figure in the black community.

As black people, we need to develop a mission statement and create tunnel vision, fixated on achieving it. Frederick Douglas, Malcolm X and I did this, despite my being Jamaican and coming from a third world country (having been offered a scholarship to the States to study sport medicine.)

When I talk about tunnel vision, I am talking about "stopping at nothing" to up-lift yourself as an African-American. A classic example is Malcolm Little, who later converted to Islam and changed his name to Malcolm X. Malcolm X was born in 1925 and was sent to jail in 1946 for burglary. Serving his time in prison, he was always fascinated by how Bimbi, another inmate at the same correctional facility, would take control of a conversation. From that point on, he know what he wanted in life and stopped at nothing to get it. Malcolm X wanted to help African-Americans and to gain knowledge, so he began his lifelong mission by starting to study the dictionary. After completing the dictionary, and mastering it, he progressed on to learning how to write.

Throughout all his tribulations, he never complained, he would just make an adjustment, because he knew what he wanted. After his prison sentence come to an end, he started preaching in an attempt to help African-Americans It was impressive for someone who had never gone to school. When he was asked what is his Alma Mater was by an English writer, his reply was "books" If it was not for education, Malcolm X would have been a repeat offender.

Without education, the only options you have are selling drugs or committing some act that offends the legal system. It hurts my heart to see African-Americans missing out on a good education, when our ancestors went through so much to see that we could get an education. I would love to see more African-Americans representing and being proud ambassadors of colleges and universities, and not just high schools or the streets when asked what their Alma Mater is.

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