Spark. Transform. Mobilize.
Eddie Makes His Own Road
Imagine as a child, instead of learning how to read, you were learning how to work. That’s the story of Eddie, a man who didn’t step into a classroom until he was 11. Born into a sharecropping family in the Mississippi Delta in 1955, his family struggled under an unfair system with few options.
By the time they made it to St. Louis for better opportunities, the hope for a quality education was fleeting. Pushed through to 10th grade without ever learning to read, Eddie recalls, “I stopped going to school because I didn’t want to be humiliated.”
This isn’t ancient history. It’s the lived experience of a man in his 60s—one of many Black men in America, like my own grandfather, who was never taught to read. Literacy Minnesota is committed to addressing the trauma tied to these experiences.
We are prioritizing our work with the Black community. In addition to our pre-GED classes, we’re offering one-on-one tutoring and other services to support individuals like Eddie, who were overlooked by a school system that didn’t meet the needs of Black students.
But we can’t do it alone.
Eddie eventually found his way to Saint Paul and to Literacy Minnesota in the mid-90s. He built a life here working as a skilled laborer across the state, but literacy challenges still held him back.
If you met Eddie, you’d notice his strong desire to help others. He made sure his kids understood the value of education. Eddie’s story reflects systemic barriers, but also resilience. He’s a reminder that, as he says, “If a road is closed, make your own road.”
This is the time, and we are the place to make change. The achievement gap for Black students in Minnesota is dire and made worse by the pandemic and a school system that has failed them. We’re working to find solutions, but we need your support to expand our programming and help bridge the literacy gap.
Will you join us? Your donation helps us train literacy tutors across the state, bring digital and financial literacy to adults and advocate for greater investment in literacy programs. Together, let’s create opportunities for new roads.
Thanks for mobilizing with us.
Sincerely,
Anton Jones, President