Mary Nathalie A.

Zacarias
Ms. Jimisha Relerford
English 104
11 September 2015
Week 3-4 Journals
Entry 1: Edward P. Jones
Edward P. Jones is a well-decorated author, who is known for his literary works
concerning the lives of the members of the African American community. To him, literacy was
his life. He grew up reading although his mother was not literate. His mother knew the
importance of literacy and ensured that Jones was growing in this aspect of his life. Jones stated,
in his interview with Marita Golden, that books were the foundation of whatever it is I became.
He went forward and said that because he already liked reading, he was not afraid to read
anythingwhich was especially helpful during his college years. In the beginning, Jones did not
write, but literacy has a transformational power. He did not write but he did think a lot about
writing. During a bleak period of his time, writing was that one thing [he] could grab onto and
hold. He believes that literacy has a great impact on ones lifethat it is a foundation for
becoming a better person and having a better life.
Entry 2: Mat Johnson
Mat Johnson, as a young child and much like children of todays generation, preferred to
watch television than to read. His mother had to force him to read. His interest in reading
developed from comic books to science fiction to African American dialogue and satire and was
what began his life of literacy. Books gave Johnson a chance to see the possibility of other
realities, which allowed for him choose the path he tookto be a writer. His writing got him
through undergraduate school, a scholarship, and around the world. Books served as an

inspiration for him. Johnson also emphasized that literacy allows him to expand his thoughts by
listening to the voices in the books he read.
Entry 3: John Hope Franklin
John Hope Franklin is a very well-renowned historian and author. Growing up the son of
a lawyer and a teacher, literacy was no choice. Reading gave [him] a sense of life beyond the
world [he] was living in. As a historian, he argues that the history books used in schools are not
full or complete. Literacy is important to the African American community, and therefore the
American society (I dont believe in separating African American and American history at all.),
because one must be able to write and teach about history accurately and in its totality. A people
cannot rise if it is not knowledgeable of its ancestors and past and current issues. History is
literacy as it can only be shared through written or oral text. The importance of history (and thus
literacy) lies in the fact that we can learn a great deal from it and it helps us to avoid mistakes
that have been made in the past.
Entry 4: Jacqueline Jones Royster
In this speech by Jacqueline Jones Royster, she lists scenes in which her voice was
subdued due to the voices of others. In this piece, literacy is important in the expression and
assimilation of one anothers voices. Royster defines voice as a central manifestation of
subjectivity that is constructed visually and orally and should also be a thing [that is] heard,
perceived, and reconstructed. The manifestation of voice and thus the manifestation of
subjectivity is literacy. To be able to fully understand each other during times of cross-boundary
discourse, we must be literate in the sense that we must comprehend each others voices.
Therefore, to have a voice and understand voices is literacy.