Launch of Summer Literacy Camps will provide access to free books and opportunities to reduce summer learning loss TORONTO, July 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Starting this week, Frontier College will offer Summer Literacy Camps to 7,500 First Nation, Métis, and Inuit children aged 5–15 years old, throughout Canada. Frontier College has partnered with communities to create programs that support each region’s desire to give their children a fun—and educational—summer. Frontier College focuses on developing fundamental skills in reading and writing, which will help students to be more successful in the following school year. Staff in over 130 communities will work to keep kids motivated to learn, and actively developing their literacy and numeracy skills. The objective of the camp program is to help prevent the learning loss that often occurs over the summer months before returning to school. Frontier College will hire and train over 400 camp counsellors, many of whom are local community members. The summer camps, now in their fourteenth year, are offered at no cost to parents. Through storytelling, arts and crafts, science experiments, and writing, campers will increase their reading and math skills and expand their vocabularies. Last summer, campers spent an average of 54 minutes reading each day. In addition to the academic benefits they experience, parents and educators agree that campers return to school with more confidence and enthusiasm because of their personal achievements at camp. Frontier College will also distribute up to 25,000 new books to campers and communities this summer. For many kids, the highlight of the day is choosing a book to take home. “I would often begin reading aloud the book I had read the night before; this was my way of encouraging campers to take books home to read. Through this, I learned that many campers didn’t have many books at home, or if they did, they would say ‘they are old and not interesting’. Every time I heard this, I would send them home with seven new books. This is what encouraged campers and their parents to read at home,” says Sarah Almeida, camp counsellor. “The camp has had a lot of benefits for the children including opportunities to read both at the camp and at home because of the multiple books the students take home. It also allows them to be social with friends over the summer when some may not have had the opportunity,” says a teacher from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. “The camps combine imagination, creativity, reading and writing skills in a collaborative, social environment,” says Stephen Faul, President and CEO, Frontier College. “Parents, Elders, and community members are invited to join camp counsellors to teach local languages and share traditions with the campers. We are proud to support children’s literacy through the support of great partnerships and generous funders.” Frontier College began offering the Summer Literacy Camps to First Nations communities in 2005, following the vision of former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario James K. Bartleman. This year, Frontier College will offer camps in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, Northwest Territories, and Yukon. To date, over 52,000 children and youth have attended camp and created lasting summer memories. Summer Literacy Camps are made possible with support of host communities. TD Bank Group is the lead national sponsor, and the camps are also funded by all levels of government, corporate donors, foundations, public sector unions and institutions, and Indigenous communities. About Frontier College Frontier College is a national charitable literacy organization, established in 1899 on the belief that literacy is a right. We work collaboratively with community-based agencies throughout Canada to provide targeted, innovative literacy and numeracy support for the most vulnerable individuals. Each year, over 40,000 children, youth, and adults participate in our free programs in more than 150 communities throughout the country. For more information about Frontier College visit www.frontiercollege.ca and follow Frontier College on twitter: @frontiercollege AttachmentMeredith Roberts Frontier College 416-624-6778 [email protected] Story shared compliments of Yahoo Finance
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Larry Mayer BEARS SENIOR WRITER Bears Pro Bowl guard Kyle Long, in partnership with First Book, recently sent thousands of Chicago kids in need home with brand-new books as part of the Chris Long Foundation’s “First Quarter for Literacy” campaign.
The initiative is designed to get books to children in underserved neighborhoods and encourage family engagement with reading. Kyle is donating $25,000 as part of the effort to support early childhood literacy for Chicago area students. Former NFL defensive end Chris Long, who helms the foundation and is Kyle’s older brother, is matching the donation from the Bears offensive lineman, making for a donation of more than 12,000 books to over 2,400 kids. “It’s a priority of mine to invest in Chicago kids, especially in the most underserved areas, and one of the best ways to do that is through reading resources,” Kyle said. “I am excited to partner with my brother’s foundation and First Book to ensure thousands of Chicago kids have books of their own to take home during the vital summer months.” Teachers across the city will host “unboxing events” all week in their classrooms and programs to share books with students and celebrate the importance and joy of reading. Each child will start the summer with new books from First Book’s curated, diverse book collection. “Putting books into the hands of a child is one of the most effective ways to impact their academic trajectory and their future achievement,” said Kyle Zimmer, president, CEO and co-founder of First Book. “Kyle Long, the Chris Long Foundation, and the First Quarter for Literacy initiative are giving so much more than books with this gift—they’re opening doors to opportunity and possibility. We are so grateful for Kyle’s donation, and to Chris for matching it.” Books and resources are critical, but scarce, for kids in need. Access to adequate resources is one of the greatest contributors to educational inequality in the United States, but research has identified vast ‘book deserts’ concentrated in low-income communities across the U.S.—with one community having only a single book to be shared among as many as 830 children. “I think that books and being able to have the understanding and the lessons that you can get from reading are really crucial,” Long said. “It’s a great escape for a lot of kids. Even as an adult, it’s something that I lean on. There are a lot of kids out there that don’t have the opportunity, so we wanted to make that kind of an easier process for them.” Article shared courtesy of www.chicagobears.com. As a result of violence and oppression around the world, many families are forced to flee their countries as refugees. Consequently, schools across the country are welcoming and serving students from diverse nations. These students bring their unique individual cultures and backgrounds while bearing some of the challenges and stresses of the refugee experience. The following tips and related resources can help educators meet the unique needs of refugee students.
Understand and recognize stressors. Refugee children and youth are often traumatized from pre-immigration and resettlement experiences. They may have been exposed to violence and combat, home displacement, malnutrition, detention, and torture. Many have been forced to leave their country and cannot safely return home. Some may have come without their parents and without knowing of their health or safety. Psychological stress and traumatic experiences are often inflicted upon these children over months or even years, and many experience some kind of discrimination once entering U.S. schools. Additionally, they often resettle in high-poverty and high-crime neighborhoods, increasing exposure to stressful conditions. Understand the effect of trauma on school functioning. Extreme stress, adversity, and trauma can impede concentration, cognitive functioning, memory, and social relationships. Additionally, stress can contribute to both internalized symptoms—such as hypervigilance, anxiety, depression, grief, fear, anger, isolation—and externalized behaviors—such as startle responses, reactivity, aggression, and conduct problems. Given the often chronic and significant stress placed on refugee students, many are at increased risk for developing trauma and other mental health disorders, undermining their ability to function effectively in school. Further, given the environment of their previous schooling and the immigration to the United States, many have experienced significantly interrupted schooling; coupled with language gaps, many students arrive unprepared to participate in school with their same-age peers. Equip staff to provide trauma sensitive responses and supports. Creating trauma-sensitive schools greatly enhances supports for all traumatized students, including refugees. A trauma-sensitive school views behaviors as a potential outcome of life circumstances rather than willful disobedience or intentional misbehavior. Trauma-sensitive approaches emphasize helping school staff understand the impact of trauma on school functioning and seeing behavior through this lens; building trusting relationships among teachers and peers; helping students develop the ability to self-regulate behaviors, emotions, and attention; supporting student success in academic and nonacademic areas; and promoting physical and emotional health. Additional information is available at http://traumasensitiveschools.org/ Understand the challenges of relocation and acculturation. Refugee children and youth often have significant adjustments to life in their new communities and schools. This includes language differences, not understanding how schools function, not knowing where to go for help, little familiarity with the curriculum or social mores, and difficulty making friends. Some refugees are relocated to communities with an existing population from their country. Others may be the only people from their country, heightening the sense of isolation. Also note that children frequently adapt culturally and linguistically more quickly than their parents. Over time, this can cause conflict when children deviate from tradition and can increase the burden on children when parents rely on them to navigate their new environment and to act as language translators. Be sensitive to family stressors. Parents and other family members are also dealing with the stress of relocation, including trying to navigate and achieve self-sufficiency in their new community. This includes overcoming language and cultural barriers, finding housing and employment, establishing a social network, understanding their role in their children’s schooling, accessing social services, and connecting with their faith community. For many, having to ask for help or rely on others is not their norm and contributes to stress. Additionally, some parents may have experienced significant stress or trauma during the migration process, which can lead to increased risk for a range of negative outcomes for their children. Identify children and youth who are at high risk, and plan interventions. Schools bear a responsibility to identify refugee students that may be at heightened risk based on the factors outlined above. In general, interventions delivered within comprehensive service models (i.e., multitiered systems of support) and focused on educational, social, and economic outcomes are more effective than clinical treatment alone, and can often prevent the need for intensive, direct services. However, by maintaining close contact with teachers and parents, the school crisis response team can determine which students may require more intensive crisis intervention and counseling services. Schools should also create a mechanism for self-referral and parental referral of students. Understand cultural views regarding mental health. It is important that mental health professionals be aware of attitudes toward mental illness and the role of mental health services when providing assistance to students. Many cultures may have a minimal understanding of mental illness, and in some cultures and faith communities, mental health problems are greatly stigmatized. Some cultures may view emotional problems as a weakness in character as opposed to a natural response to adversity. Understanding these barriers is an essential first step to reassuring and engaging students and their families and ultimately building the trust necessary to provide effective services and supports. Engage and empower families. Families from other countries may have different views about education, including the assumption that education remains the duty of the school and any involvement would encroach on that responsibility. Some families may not be proficient enough in English to know how to engage, despite a desire to do so. Additionally, many families may experience practical barriers, such as not having a car or employment that does not allow for active engagement during school hours. Schools can work with cultural liaisons and the families to find ways to connect with parents and ensure they have opportunities to participate in their child’s schooling. Focus on student strengths. Many refugee students bring many unique skills, strengths, and knowledge into the classroom. Build on those strengths of resilience, and consider having them share their knowledge about their country, customs, and culture. Educators should also support maintaining the home culture and language, while also balancing the importance of developing the skills and knowledge to succeed in the United States. Access community resources. Reach out to community organizations that specialize in working with refugee families, if those resources are available, such as the International Rescue Committee. Maintain an accurate and evolving list of community resources available to help affected families. It is imperative to compile a list of community resources, including the names, telephone numbers, websites (if available), contact persons (if appropriate), descriptions of services, and any fees. Try to determine if support groups are being provided at local churches or community agencies. Consider also reaching out to state refugee coordinators. Stop any type of harassment or bullying immediately. Refugee children may be at risk for harmful behavior by others if classmates or even teachers unfairly stigmatize them. Make it clear that such behavior, in any form (in person, online, on social media) is unacceptable. Promote acceptance and actively teach conflict resolution skills to both the perpetrators and the refugee student(s). Note: Refugees who seek political asylum in the United States must gain approval from multiple federal agencies before immigrating. More information is available at http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum/refugees. © 2015, National Association of School Psychologists, 4340 East West Highway, Suite 402, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 657-0270, Fax (301) 657-0275; www.nasponline.org. Melissa Martin: Reading is a human right and literacy is for all — coming up, Children’s Book Week4/14/2019 Reading is a human right
People in all countries around the globe deserve the right to learn to read. Literacy for All The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that 175 million young people lack basic literacy skills. To address the issues, UNESCO Regional Office of Southern Africa (ROSA) is supporting programs and activities to develop quality literacy materials for literacy educators and learners through integrating mother language in literacy teaching and learning. Fifty-two years ago, UNESCO officially declared September 8 International Literacy Day, with the goal of highlighting literacy as a human rights issue. In 2018, the International Literacy Association developed the Children’s Rights to Read project. The Case for Children’s Rights to Read lists 10 fundamental Reading Rights. Illustration from the International Literacy Association According to Atlas (2017), the 25 most illiterate countries include: South Sudan, Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Chad, Somalia, Ethiopia, Guinea, Benin, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Senegal, The Gambia, Bhutan, Pakistan, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Nepal, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Mauritania, Togo. Children Need Books Family Scholarly Culture and Educational Success: Books and Schooling in 27 Nations, a 2010 article in the ScienceDirect Journal found that “Children growing up in homes with many books get 3 years more schooling than children from bookless homes, independent of their parents’ education, occupation, and class.” Children need to see other kids that look like themselves in picture books. Why? Kids of color need to be represented in literature to show they are important in the world and that they matter. We Need Diverse Books is an organization with a vision of “a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book.” Diverse books, both fiction and nonfiction, help kids understand that even though children look different on the outside, they are all the same on the inside. Our homes, schools, libraries, and communities need diverse books on bookshelves. Celebrate Children’s Book Week With Children’s Book Week turning 100 years old in 2019, Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council have announced plans for a celebration. The 100th Anniversary theme is Read Now—Read Forever. Look to the past, present, and most important, the future of children’s books. Children’s Book Week is April 29 – May 5, 2019. Illustration from We Need Diverse Books website. Click to go to website. Happy Birthday to Children’s Book Week! Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the U.S. Every year, events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, and homes. Raising Readers “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents,” surmised Emilie Buchwald. Why is it important to expose babies, toddlers, and younger children to the world of books? Why is it important to read aloud to babies and toddlers? Why is it important to make reading fun for children? “Reading books aloud to children stimulates their imagination and expands their understanding of the world. It helps them develop language and listening skills and prepares them to understand the written word. When the rhythm and melody of language become a part of a child’s life, learning to read will be as natural as learning to walk and talk.” Parents are a child’s first teachers, first role models, and first communicators; talking, listening, singing, making sounds, smiling, laughing, and hugging. Homes are the building blocks of society. “It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations—something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.”—Katherine Patterson Melissa Martin, PhD, is an author, columnist, educator, and therapist. She lives in Ohio. Featured photo: From www.everychildareader.net WHILE confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all of the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would be engaged in little else in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliate organizations all across the South, one being the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Whenever necessary and possible, we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago our local affiliate here in Birmingham invited us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promises. So I am here, along with several members of my staff, because we were invited here. I am here because I have basic organizational ties here. Beyond this, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the eighth-century prophets left their little villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their hometowns; and just as the Apostle Paul left his little village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to practically every hamlet and city of the Greco-Roman world, I too am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid. Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider. You deplore the demonstrations that are presently taking place in Birmingham. But I am sorry that your statement did not express a similar concern for the conditions that brought the demonstrations into being. I am sure that each of you would want to go beyond the superficial social analyst who looks merely at effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. I would not hesitate to say that it is unfortunate that so-called demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham at this time, but I would say in more emphatic terms that it is even more unfortunate that the white power structure of this city left the Negro community with no other alternative. IN ANY nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. We have gone through all of these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying of the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of police brutality is known in every section of this country. Its unjust treatment of Negroes in the courts is a notorious reality. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in this nation. These are the hard, brutal, and unbelievable facts. On the basis of them, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the political leaders consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation. Then came the opportunity last September to talk with some of the leaders of the economic community. In these negotiating sessions certain promises were made by the merchants, such as the promise to remove the humiliating racial signs from the stores. On the basis of these promises, Reverend Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to call a moratorium on any type of demonstration. As the weeks and months unfolded, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. The signs remained. As in so many experiences of the past, we were confronted with blasted hopes, and the dark shadow of a deep disappointment settled upon us. So we had no alternative except that of preparing for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and national community. We were not unmindful of the difficulties involved. So we decided to go through a process of self-purification. We started having workshops on nonviolence and repeatedly asked ourselves the questions, "Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" and "Are you able to endure the ordeals of jail?" We decided to set our direct-action program around the Easter season, realizing that, with exception of Christmas, this was the largest shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic withdrawal program would be the by-product of direct action, we felt that this was the best time to bring pressure on the merchants for the needed changes. Then it occurred to us that the March election was ahead, and so we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that Mr. Conner was in the runoff, we decided again to postpone action so that the demonstration could not be used to cloud the issues. At this time we agreed to begin our nonviolent witness the day after the runoff. This reveals that we did not move irresponsibly into direct action. We, too, wanted to see Mr. Conner defeated, so we went through postponement after postponement to aid in this community need. After this we felt that direct action could be delayed no longer. You may well ask, "Why direct action, why sit-ins, marches, and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has consistently refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. I just referred to the creation of tension as a part of the work of the nonviolent resister. This may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly worked and preached against violent tension, but there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must see the need of having nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men to rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. So, the purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. We therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in the tragic attempt to live in monologue rather than dialogue. One of the basic points in your statement is that our acts are untimely. Some have asked, "Why didn't you give the new administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this inquiry is that the new administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one before it acts. We will be sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Mr. Boutwell will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is much more articulate and gentle than Mr. Conner, they are both segregationists, dedicated to the task of maintaining the status quo. The hope I see in Mr. Boutwell is that he will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from the devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. History is the long and tragic story of the fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals. We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct-action movement that was "well timed" according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "wait." It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This "wait" has almost always meant "never." It has been a tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration. We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our God-given and constitutional rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say "wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger" and your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and when your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodyness" -- then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. YOU express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws. One may well ask, "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "An unjust law is no law at all." Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. To use the words of Martin Buber, the great Jewish philosopher, segregation substitutes an "I - it" relationship for the "I - thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. So segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, but it is morally wrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Isn't segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, an expression of his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? So I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court because it is morally right, and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances because they are morally wrong. Let us turn to a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a majority inflicts on a minority that is not binding on itself. This is difference made legal. On the other hand, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow, and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal. Let me give another explanation. An unjust law is a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating because it did not have the unhampered right to vote. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up the segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout the state of Alabama all types of conniving methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties without a single Negro registered to vote, despite the fact that the Negroes constitute a majority of the population. Can any law set up in such a state be considered democratically structured? These are just a few examples of unjust and just laws. There are some instances when a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I was arrested Friday on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong with an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to preserve segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust. Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was seen sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar because a higher moral law was involved. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks before submitting to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. But I am sure that if I had lived in Germany during that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal. If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws. I MUST make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. In your statement you asserted that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But can this assertion be logically made? Isn't this like condemning the robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical delvings precipitated the misguided popular mind to make him drink the hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because His unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to His will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see, as federal courts have consistently affirmed, that it is immoral to urge an individual to withdraw his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest precipitates violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber. I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth of time. I received a letter this morning from a white brother in Texas which said, "All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but is it possible that you are in too great of a religious hurry? It has taken Christianity almost 2000 years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." All that is said here grows out of a tragic misconception of time. It is the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time is neutral. It can be used either destructively or constructively. I am coming to feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. YOU spoke of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I started thinking about the fact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency made up of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, have been so completely drained of self-respect and a sense of "somebodyness" that they have adjusted to segregation, and, on the other hand, of a few Negroes in the middle class who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because at points they profit by segregation, have unconsciously become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred and comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up over the nation, the largest and best known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. This movement is nourished by the contemporary frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination. It is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incurable devil. I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need not follow the do-nothingism of the complacent or the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. There is a more excellent way, of love and nonviolent protest. I'm grateful to God that, through the Negro church, the dimension of nonviolence entered our struggle. If this philosophy had not emerged, I am convinced that by now many streets of the South would be flowing with floods of blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as "rabble-rousers" and "outside agitators" those of us who are working through the channels of nonviolent direct action and refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes, out of frustration and despair, will seek solace and security in black nationalist ideologies, a development that will lead inevitably to a frightening racial nightmare. Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The urge for freedom will eventually come. This is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom; something without has reminded him that he can gain it. Consciously and unconsciously, he has been swept in by what the Germans call the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America, and the Caribbean, he is moving with a sense of cosmic urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. Recognizing this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand public demonstrations. The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations. He has to get them out. So let him march sometime; let him have his prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; understand why he must have sitins and freedom rides. If his repressed emotions do not come out in these nonviolent ways, they will come out in ominous expressions of violence. This is not a threat; it is a fact of history. So I have not said to my people, "Get rid of your discontent." But I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled through the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. Now this approach is being dismissed as extremist. I must admit that I was initially disappointed in being so categorized. But as I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus an extremist in love? -- "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice? -- "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ? -- "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist? -- "Here I stand; I can do no other so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist? -- "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a mockery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist? -- "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist? -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." So the question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice? I had hoped that the white moderate would see this. Maybe I was too optimistic. Maybe I expected too much. I guess I should have realized that few members of a race that has oppressed another race can understand or appreciate the deep groans and passionate yearnings of those that have been oppressed, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent, and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too small in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some, like Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, and James Dabbs, have written about our struggle in eloquent, prophetic, and understanding terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They sat in with us at lunch counters and rode in with us on the freedom rides. They have languished in filthy roach-infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of angry policemen who see them as "dirty nigger lovers." They, unlike many of their moderate brothers, have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful "action" antidotes to combat the disease of segregation. LET me rush on to mention my other disappointment. I have been disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand this past Sunday in welcoming Negroes to your Baptist Church worship service on a nonsegregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Springhill College several years ago. But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say that as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say it as a minister of the gospel who loves the church, who was nurtured in its bosom, who has been sustained by its Spiritual blessings, and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen. I had the strange feeling when I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery several years ago that we would have the support of the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests, and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies. Instead, some few have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows. In spite of my shattered dreams of the past, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and with deep moral concern serve as the channel through which our just grievances could get to the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed. I have heard numerous religious leaders of the South call upon their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers say, follow this decree because integration is morally right and the Negro is your brother. In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churches stand on the sidelines and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard so many ministers say, "Those are social issues which the gospel has nothing to do with," and I have watched so many churches commit themselves to a completely otherworldly religion which made a strange distinction between bodies and souls, the sacred and the secular. There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period that the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was the thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Wherever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." But they went on with the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven" and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest. Things are different now. The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's often vocal sanction of things as they are. But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. I meet young people every day whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright disgust. I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are presently misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America. Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson scratched across the pages of history the majestic word of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. For more than two centuries our foreparents labored here without wages; they made cotton king; and they built the homes of their masters in the midst of brutal injustice and shameful humiliation -- and yet out of a bottomless vitality our people continue to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands. I must close now. But before closing I am impelled to mention one other point in your statement that troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I don't believe you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its angry violent dogs literally biting six unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I don't believe you would so quickly commend the policemen if you would observe their ugly and inhuman treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you would watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you would see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys, if you would observe them, as they did on two occasions, refusing to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I'm sorry that I can't join you in your praise for the police department. It is true that they have been rather disciplined in their public handling of the demonstrators. In this sense they have been publicly "nonviolent." But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the last few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. So I have tried to make it clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or even more, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. I wish you had commended the Negro demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer, and their amazing discipline in the midst of the most inhuman provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, courageously and with a majestic sense of purpose facing jeering and hostile mobs and the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy-two-year-old woman of Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride the segregated buses, and responded to one who inquired about her tiredness with ungrammatical profundity, "My feets is tired, but my soul is rested." They will be young high school and college students, young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience's sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters they were in reality standing up for the best in the American dream and the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage. Never before have I written a letter this long -- or should I say a book? I'm afraid that it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else is there to do when you are alone for days in the dull monotony of a narrow jail cell other than write long letters, think strange thoughts, and pray long prayers? If I have said anything in this letter that is an understatement of the truth and is indicative of an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything in this letter that is an overstatement of the truth and is indicative of my having a patience that makes me patient with anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me. Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright © 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. All rights reserved. The Atlantic Monthly; August 1963; The Negro Is Your Brother; Volume 212, No. 2; pages 78 - 88. By MARY JEANNE VINCENT |
If you are reading this column, count yourself among the lucky adults in the United States who can read and write. According to the website proliteracy.org, 36 million adults in the U.S. cannot read, write or do basic math above a third-grade level. If you can read and write, why should you care about others who cannot? Because low literacy costs the U.S. $225 billion annually in workforce non-productivity, loss of tax revenue due to unemployment and crime. In addition, there are another $232 billion in health care costs linked to low adult literacy skills. In Monterey County, 25 percent of the adult population reads below the fourth-grade level, 43 percent of the people with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty and 70 percent have no full or part-time job. The cost of illiteracy is often hidden and yet every important social issue is impacted by it. When individuals learn to read, write and do basic math they find their voice, lift themselves out of poverty and find sustainable employment. They are also far less likely to land in state prison; approximately 75 percent of state prison inmates have not completed high school or can be classified as low literate. It may surprise you to learn that of 197 nations worldwide, 26 boast a literacy rate of 99-plus percent. Sadly, the United States ranks 125th with just 86 percent of our population able to read, write and do basic math. Fortunately, Monterey County Free Libraries is doing its part to combat this problem. They offer an adult literacy training program that is fueled by community volunteers. Potential tutors complete an interest form, attend training and commit to volunteer for a minimum of six months. Many find the work so rewarding that they stay for years. Nationwide, literacy programs struggle with long student waiting lists; less than 10 percent of adults in need are receiving services. Typical learner goals include preparing for a better job, obtaining a GED, being able to read to a child, obtaining employment certification and becoming a U.S. citizen. For example, my learner provides a service to homeowners and wants to improve her reading and writing skills, so she can respond to her clients’ written requests. What’s in it for you when you become a volunteer tutor? You make a tangible difference in another person’s life and enable her to realize her full potential. You help an individual overcome the limitations of illiteracy and open the door to the world of opportunity, imagination and innovation that reading and writing offer. You learn and grow from the unique community members with whom you work. Best of all, you earn the psychic income that comes from helping others realize their full potential. This holiday season thank that parent, teacher or sibling who cared enough to open your mind to the joys of reading and writing. And, if you have an extra hour or so a week, consider becoming a volunteer literacy tutor. It may be the most rewarding experience of your life. Mary Jeanne Vincent, career expert and strategist, has a coaching practice in Monterey. She may be reached at 831-657-9151, [email protected], or www.careercoachmonterey.com. Article reprinted compliments of MontereyHerald.com. Heard on Morning Edition A group of students from Detroit filed a lawsuit in 2016 against the state of Michigan, claiming bad schools prevented them from learning to read. Noel King talks with their lawyer Mark Rosenbaum. NOEL KING, HOST: The U.S. Constitution guarantees us many rights, but does it guarantee us the right to literacy? A group of students from Detroit sued the state of Michigan in 2016. They claimed bad schools which they were attending were, quote, "functionally incapable of delivering access to literacy." Now, the state argued that literacy is not a fundamental right, and a federal judge agreed and dismissed the case. But today lawyers for those students will start the appeals process. Mark Rosenbaum is one of the lawyers. I talked to him about the case and why he brought it. MARK ROSENBAUM: Well, more than 60 years ago, the Supreme Court, in the Brown v. Board of Education case, said that where the state chooses to provide education, it has to do so on equal terms. The students we represent, those students are sitting maybe five miles away from campuses where students are given every opportunity to learn and to reach their full potential. And our argument is a pretty basic one, and that is zip codes should not determine destiny and that all children in Michigan should have the same opportunity to reach their potential. Really, that's what the case is about. KING: These kids are essentially saying, we have the right to know how to read. It's guaranteed by the Constitution, and our schools failed us. I've got to ask you, does the Constitution actually say anything about literacy? ROSENBAUM: The word literacy doesn't appear in the Constitution itself, but built into the notions of liberty, built into the notions of being able to participate in our democracy and built into our notions of equality is the idea that when children are compelled to go to a building that is designated as a school, they have to find inside that building teachers and books and core curricular subjects - conditions that make learning possible - and that the exercise of liberty interests cannot be vindicated where their counterparts a few miles away are on campuses that could be mistaken for the University of Michigan. KING: Let me ask you. You're appealing the judge's decision on what grounds? ROSENBAUM: The court tragically got it wrong when, as in a quality matter, he compared the children of Detroit to children in other schools where the proficiency rates hover around zero as opposed to what is the norm in Michigan. And we also say that the court got it wrong, tragically wrong, when it did not consider the fact that these children are being compelled by the state, by state law, to go to these schools, and then at the end of the day there's nothing in terms of education that's being delivered there. KING: You are dealing in this lawsuit with children, with people under the age of 18. How are they feeling about this? Do they feel dismayed? Do they feel like they have a future? ROSENBAUM: That's an extraordinarily important question. These kids and their families recognize that the struggle to get schools where they have an opportunity to learn is a historic one. I mean, they are very conscious of the fact that access to literacy has been a means to subordinate groups historically. They are aware they are not getting the same sorts of opportunities as their counterparts. KING: That was Mark Rosenbaum with the public interest law firm Public Counsel. He and lawyers from the firm Sidley Austin are representing the students in this case. Copyright © 2018 NPR. All rights reserved. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. |
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