Once You Learn to Read, You Will Be Forever Free: BIPOC Literary and Educational Heroes Through Time

Flatiron BooksFrom bestselling author Celeste Headlee, an urgent and eye-opening story of the women who risked everything to ensure a generation of Black Americans had the right to read. Books and literature are the key to changing the world. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Just look at these BIPOC advocates for literacy and education who have seriously changed lives and the shape of American history. Take a look at historical figures who made waves then and the people who are our biggest literary and educational heroes now. As long as we keep championing books, there’s still hope for our future. Absalom Jones (1746 – 1818) Absalom Jones was born into slavery in Delaware and taught himself how to read and write. After buying his family’s freedom, Jones became America’s first Black priest and advocated for educating Black Americans as a path to freedom and autonomy. In 1795, Jones founded the African School in association with the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas. The goal of the school was to educate Black children and give them the same educational opportunities that white children receive at schools lead by white educators. To learn more about Jones and his activ...