Deeper than Phonics

This headline has been the three-word beginning to two presentations I have had the privilege to share recently.

The first time I presented with these three words was at the remarkably organized and impactful 100Black Men Conference in Houston, Texas.

(Thank you for the conference inclusion and invitation, Dr. Patrick Jefferson Ed.D.!!! 🙂)

There, I asked the session attendees to ponder:

How can the light of families illuminate the wonder of literacy that will free our little black boys from the enslavement of under-literacy?

Yeah, I know. (Sigh.) That’s deep. That’s a genuinely hefty responsibility for families and literacy to carry together.

The other conference was earlier this month.

Literacy Texas – Literacy Unleashed in College Station (Texas A&M Aggieland) was phenomenally inspiring.

(Thank you for your conference leadership, vision, and perseverance, Steve Banta, MS and Kathryn Hatfield Bauchelle! Thank you for fueling the conference with a necessary report and application of how we can use AI in literacy Felicia Cumings Smith, Ed.D.!)

Preparing for this conference – the research, writing, and planning to present a compelling 75-minute memory for conferencegoers – instigated some deep thoughts of my own.

Our work, as a social enterprise, is deeper than phonics. The topic of freedom, again and again, resonates synergistically with Story Square’s mission. It perfectly aligns with what I wanted to convey to my captivated Literacy Texas audience and what we hope to bring to light with every audience we encounter.

At the nexus of family – the most powerful system in our civilization – and literacy – the most powerful skill to attain for our civilization’s progress, lives an individual and indivisible freedom.

Sure, Story Square boxes the profundity of literacy and the incredible significance that families have in our children’s perspective of literacy into an endearing, colorful, sweet, and full-of-fun wrapping.

But this serious topic is found in every generation of America’s burgeoning democracy as we are reminded of literacy’s impregnability.  Literacy has a power that gives way to unyielding opportunities and actualizes the future we want to see.