Happy National Read Across America Day

Happy National Read Across America Day

March 2, 2021

Happy National Read Across America Day on this day proclaimed in 1998 by the National Education Association. This popular day of celebration has been celebrated for over 2 decades now by young and old. Being able to read is a gift not known by everyone in the world. As a matter of fact, according to UNESCO, there are still 781 million adults in the world who are illiterate. That is a frightening statistic.

Well, in this upside-down world we live in, welcome to Cancel Culture. Trust me, I am all for improving our world and the way we behave. I also personally believe it will be hard to learn from past mistakes if we erase everything and everyone that ever made a left turn when we should have made a right.

March 2 also happens to be Theodore Seuss Geisel’s birthday. Dr. Seuss was born on March 2, 1904 and lived till September 24, 1991. As part of National Read Across America Day, the NEA set the day of March 2 in conjunction with Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Children all over the nation have celebrated this beloved day with the love of one of their favorite childhood authors. Apparently, this year (during the cancel culture craziness) the NEA has decided to cut ties with the Dr. Seuss. In response to a question if they were cutting ties with Dr. Seuss the NEA said “There’s a growing need for schools and libraries to include and promote diverse books.” This quote was from the Newsweek article I was reading.

This is a great idea but why are we cutting ties with a man who sold over 600 million books for children to learn how to read? I personally have not done research into the allegations of racism in his books but will be doing so soon. As for this idea, think about when he was writing his books. I believe as authors we all write what is all around us. I know my characters are mostly little white girls. Hello, that is where my background comes from. I think of Alex Hailey writing Roots. He was writing about his family. I can’t write about his roots any more than he could write about mine. We are each unique and we write about what we know. At some point things get dated but should we erase the books or the person from existence? I don’t think we should. I think it’s an opportunity to read and learn. I’m currently rereading my favorite book, The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B., written by Sandra Gulland. It’s all about Josephine and Napoleon. This book is historical fiction and in diary form. I love that I can read little snippets at a time. The book takes place of course in France but also in Martinico where Josephine was born. Slavery was rampant at this time in history, so reading about certain parts of the book are difficult but they were the truth and should not be left out. Should this book be erased because of slavery? In my own opinion, no. It is part of who they were and part of the times they lived. I really hope the cancel culture can stop and let us keep our history so that we can read and learn about mistakes we made.

National Read Across America Day should be celebrated and enjoyed by everyone. If you know someone who doesn’t know how to read, maybe you could read to them.

Oh and Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!