If we talk about literacy, we have to talk about how to enhance our children’s mastery over the tools needed to live intelligent, creative, and involved lives.

Danny Glover

I was curious as to why actor Danny Glover would be credited with such a profound quote on literacy.  Looking into his background I discovered two things about him:

1.Danny Glover suffered dyslexia at school when he was younger and the school staff would label him retarded. This definitely was not very encouraging for him but he ended up finding ways to feel better about himself. He says that dyslexia had given him the feeling that he was not worthy to learn and that the people around him would not care of what would happen to his education. With time he eventually regained his self-esteem and became a great actor.

2. Danny Glover is a political and civil rights activist. For example, while attending San Francisco State University (SFSU), Glover was a member of the Black Students Union, which, along with the Third World Liberation Front and the American Federation of Teachers, collaborated in a five-month student-led strike to establish a Department of Black Studies. The strike was the longest student walkout in U.S. history. It helped create not only the first Department of Black Studies but also the first School of Ethnic Studies in the United States.

I am sure these two factors contribute enormously to Mr. Glover’s insightful views on literacy.  What we make of our backgrounds shape our identities as leaders, particularly in education.  My newly discovered knowledge of Mr. Glover increases my respect for him not only as an actor, but as  a human being.  I look forward to reading more about his journey and commitment to literacy development.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Glover#Civil_rights_activism

http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_2130.shtml