One out of four Alabamians cannot read this sentence.
To underscore the plight of illiteracy that afflicts the state of Alabama, Alpha Kappa Alpha held a forum Tuesday evening called HELP — Honoring Education through Literacy Promotion.
Christin Blackburn, public relations chair for the sorority and a senior majoring in communication studies, said the statistics documenting illiteracy in Alabama startled the sorority’s members.
“We find it shocking that one in four Alabamians are functionally illiterate,” Blackburn said. “It’s shocking to know that people can’t do the basic things we take for granted.”
The sorority invited Stephen Bridgers, director of the Literacy Council of West Alabama, to speak at the forum.
Bridgers said he supplied his two children with about 150 books to facilitate their education. The possession of such a library, or any library at all, he said, is a rarity for low-income families in Alabama.
“Sixty-one percent of low-income families in this state have zero books in their households,” he said.
Illiteracy corrodes an individual’s potential and in turn plays a decisive factor in whether that person will contribute or detract from society, Bridgers said.
“The costs of illiteracy to us as a society are tremendous,” he said. “Seventy percent of the prison population is functionally illiterate.”
He said the costs of social services expended on people who lack basic reading and writing skills amount to around $127,000 per person.
Also, illiteracy is the principal cause of high school dropouts, and to prevent this outcome, children at a young age should develop a “love for reading,” Bridgers said.
“Forty percent of fourth-graders do not read at the fourth-grade level,” he said. “This is not an issue we can escape.”
People can help “stem the tides of illiteracy” by donating money, volunteering as a tutor, or raising awareness of illiteracy among friends and family, he said.
“There are no sidelines when it comes to illiteracy,” he added.
Walker Donaldson, a member of the student organization known as the Alabama Books for the Black Belt Student Initiative and a junior majoring in political science and history, spoke at the forum as well.
Donaldson announced ALI’s book drive to benefit schools in the Black Belt, a region in Alabama stricken with acute poverty and poor education.
He said books for all grades are welcome.
“K through 12, we want them all,” Donaldson said.
Desiree Mahr, vice president of Alpha Kappa Alpha and a senior majoring in public relations and Spanish, said the sorority aspires to motivate people to take action.
“We are hoping to spread a passion for helping people,” Mahr said.
