Literacy is a moral imperative. Near the top of the list of lessons learned from America’s enslavement of African people is the freedom literacy promises. From Frederick Douglass to Carter Woodson to James Baldwin to bell hooks, we know that literacy creates a pathway to liberating the body, mind, and spirit. The foundation of autonomy and sovereignty in our world today is harbored in literacy capacity. It is incumbent on community, regional, and global elders to instill literacy facility in every child. No child shall suffer want because of birth location.

Literacy is liberation.

Kimberly N. Parker

Reading is the epicenter of equity. Full stop.

Zaretta Hammond

Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.

Malala Yousafzi

For everyone, everywhere, literacy is, along with education in general, a basic human right.

Kofi Anan

There is a reason it used to be a crime in the Confederate states to teach a slave to read: Literacy is power.

Matt Taibbi

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela

A lot of people ask me if I were shipwrecked and could only have one book, what would it be? I always say, “How to Build a Boat.”

Stephen Wright