In a podcast on the importance of literacy in the digital age, rapper Juelz Santana said kids today don’t need to know how to read. Instead, he suggested that financial literacy was more important. Our ancestors fought for the right to read, and we must never forget that.
After Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion, anti-literacy laws were passed to keep enslaved folks illiterate because of the growing fear that “an educated enslaved person was a dangerous person.” The same year, Virginia made it illegal to host meetings that taught Black people to read or write.
In Mississippi, Lilly Ann Granderson risked her life to secretly educate enslaved people once the sun went down, right under the nose of their enslavers. An 1833 Alabama law made teaching any enslaved or free person of color to spell, read, or write punishable by a fine of $250 (approximately $7,600 today). When it comes to business, reading comprehension is directly connected to understanding mathematics, finances, and legal documents.
Our people have fought too hard for the right to read and write. We can’t afford to let it slip away because literacy directly affects our children’s futures. How can we build a beautiful, liberated Black world without people who love to read and write? We can’t.
Black capitalism is not a free ride to liberation. We must be proficient in all forms of literacy to help build a future where our people can truly thrive.