Literacy: What Is It Exactly?

“We have always used our creativity to battle and we’re not the only ones. Black Americans are certainly leaders in that simply because we were denied education and dealt with enforced illiteracy. But people seem to forget that literacy is not the only way of learning things or conveying knowledge”- Nikki Giovanni

Literacy is an evolving, active experience. It does not just limit itself to only reading and writing text, but stretches beyond that. In order to be literate, however, one must be “an active participant in their cultural environment” (Carruthers;pg.2). According to J. Carruthers in his essay, What is Literacy?, the concept is defined various of ways. The word “literate” is broken down in its definition as “to know”. There are multiple categories of literacy. The categories of literacy that are widely recognized are basic, functional, cultural, adult, and socio-economic, however, there are other types such as (but not limited to) musical, financial, and computer literacy for instance.

We will take a deeper look on the literacy rates in America, the disproportionate rates of illiteracy among African Americans, and how literacy itself was used as a weapon to prevent African Americans from voting.

Carruthers, J. What Is Literacy?