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Document Type
Podcast
Publication Year
2024
Description
In 2016, students at five public schools in Detroit sued the state government for failing to provide them with even the most basic public education. Their teachers were overworked, their school buildings were falling apart, and students frequently lacked the resources to achieve reading and writing proficiency. Their complaint asserted that they were being denied a basic right: the right to literacy.
In this episode, we introduce the concept of a right to literacy. Our guests discuss why literacy ought to be considered the foundation upon which other rights rest. The ability to read and write is a necessary precondition not only for personal success in the American economy, but full civic participation in American society. Without a literate population, we cannot have democracy.
The episode then widens the definition of literacy to discuss the intersection of literacy, education, and incarceration. The carceral system funnels those who cannot read and write into prisons, and denies them educational opportunities once they get there. Our guests discuss their educational experiences while incarcerated, and frame education as an essential pathway to personal fulfillment and development rather than only a tool to gain employment and participate in democracy. Meanwhile, they discuss how knowledge and skills that do not align with traditional notions of literacy are overlooked and undervalued.
Finally, we circle back to the future of a right to literacy. After the lawsuit asserting the right to literacy ended in settlement, the legal path forward for a national constitutional right to literacy remains unclear. Nevertheless, the concept of a right to literacy has changed the conversation about what every child needs and deserves, and it continues to be a powerful guiding light for advocates and organizers.
Disciplines
Civil Rights and Discrimination | Constitutional Law | Education Law | Law and Race | Race and Ethnicity
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Brittain, Helena; Kreklau, Robert; Howard, Noah; Clark, Judith; DeVeaux, Mika’il; Fulford, Selina; Hall, Jamaria; Mitchell, Lillian; and Rosenbaum, Mark, "CRT2 S3 Ep4: The Right to Literacy" (2024). CRT2 Season 3. 4.
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/crt2_3/4
Episode Details
Length: 36:53
Featuring:
Jamarria Hall is a social entrepreneur, philanthropist, philosopher for Quality Education, and lead plaintiff in Gary B. v. Whitmer.
Mark Rosenbaum is the Director for Strategic Litigation at Public Counsel and also the lead plaintiffs’ attorney in Gary B. v. Whitmer.
Judith Clark is the Community Justice Advocate at Hour Children.
Selina Fulford is a Special Consultant for the City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and a member of the College and Community Fellowship.
Dr. Mika’il DeVeaux is a lecturer at Nassau Community College (SUNY). He is also a Co-Founder and Executive Director of Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc., and Director of the Citizens’ Muslim Re-Entry Division.
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Lillian Mitchell is a retired teacher and Adjunct Professor.
Production:
Written, edited, and produced by Helena Brittain, Robert Kreklau, and Noah Howard.