― Author Walter Dean Myers
Each February, the National Council for the Teachers of English (NCTE) hosts the National African American Read-In. This national literacy initiative kicks off during Black History Month. The purpose of the read-in is to share the unique experiences found in African-American literature with students from preK to adults. Dr. Jerrie Cobb Scott, who founded this national program in 1989, currently serves as the national chair for this literacy program. The goal of this initiative is to hold the African American Read-In in every school, community and college across the country.
The African American Read-In is a great time to kick off celebrating the body of work by African-American authors. African-American stories, experiences and culture transmitted through books become a beacon of learning during this ongoing event. Read-In organizers all over the country hosting this literacy event do so in both large and small programs to explore and discuss African-American literature.
However, the biggest obstacle to implementing the African American Read-In program is getting hosts to organize annual read-ins around the country.
As an author and literacy advocate, I strongly believe in ensuring that we promote literacy in communities across the United States. This means providing access to resources, role models, authors and books. This is especially true in African-American communities across the United States in both urban and rural areas.
In urban areas, there are less than three books available per child in school libraries. This startling statistic provides us with a small window into the scope of the problem in regards to literacy and African-American students preK-12. Literacy attainment is about access. Therefore, lack of access to books provides children in urban areas with few opportunities to become lifelong readers. However, access to books is only part of the issue.
