HB Text illustrates importance of literacy

Through reading the HB text I have learned a lot of important lessons. It has opened my eyes to see and understand things in a new and different way.
The first main thing that I learned was that there are more definitions to literacy than many people may think. For example, many people associate literacy as just the ability to learn how to read and write. However, after reading the stories in the HB text I know that literacy depends on the community. For instance, the citizens of Trackton were literate as they did communicate with each other, just not in the way that we here at UD communicate. They communicate socially and they have basic reading skills, as they learned to read from signs around the community. This is different from us because we learn how to become literate both socially and individually.
Another thing that I learned from reading the stories in the HB text is that there are serious poverty conditions here in the United States that many Americans, including myself, did not know existed. The conditions of East St. Louis, Illinois are those conditions that people think would exist in third world countries. From this story I learned that as Americans we need to focus our attention on these problems that exist here in America before we can try and help those in other countries. America is an influential country that sets an example for other countries. How can we set an example for other countries if we do not even follow through with what we are telling the other countries to do? It goes back to the principle, you can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?
In addition, I learned that family is an important aspect in literacy. In the story Everyday Use, Alice Walker shows that family literacy is made up of family memories and values. These memories and values are what make the community of a family so unique and special to the members of that community. This story really made me think as to what is unique about the literacy in my family. For instance, instead of saying ‘goodbye’ my family says ‘bye for now’ because we know that there is no such thing as a goodbye as well will all see each other again, whether is it here on Earth of in heaven. In addition, family literacy is a special kind of literacy because it is passed down from generation to generation.
Another thing that I learned from reading was that we need to appreciate that we are literate because people such as Fredrick Douglass struggled to learn how to read and write. While he did struggle to learn how to read and write, due to his determination, he succeeded in learning how to read and write. Reading his story, it made me feel so blessed that I have been fortunate to learn how to read and write with no one trying to stop me from learning.
Finally, all of these stories have taught me that being human means that we are all individuals that are a part of a community. We all communicate in our own way. But, we are also able to adapt to other communities, since each person is a part of many communities as our world is becoming more and more diverse. We need to make a difference in America, in places like East St. Louis, by using our literacy and communication to make more people aware of the problem and to help those in need.