Bloggers Love Literacy

I'm very disappointed that I couldn't attend the celebration of International Literacy Day at the Delaware County Literacy Council Tuesday night.

A group of us Daily Times bloggers were asked to come up with a cause that we'd all support and promote together and literacy is what we came up with.

I don't know why the others agreed to go with literacy, but my reasons were selfish. If you can't read, chances are very good that you are not reading this blog.

I've always been a big reader and in the past few years I've found myself doing something I never thought I'd do, write. The more I write, the more I focus on growing an audience that read my stuff. 

Being a basketball fan, I was always intrigued by the NBA's literacy campaign - 'Reading is FUNdemental'. However, I don't remember the NBA coming to Chester with it.

Summer is always a big reading season for me. This summer I read:

'How to Be Black' - Baratunde Thurston. 

Funny. Unique. Great advice for young blacks entering corporate america for the first time. An excellent testament of how a single mother shaped him into a successful Harvard grad.

'The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness' - Michelle Alexander.

A must read if you're interested in knowing why so many black men are in jail.

'The Beautiful Struggle' - Ta-Nehisi Coates

An interesting account of how a teenage black boy in Baltimore during 'The Wire' years struggled with the complexities of urban living and ultimately became a Howard U grad.

'50 Shades of Gray' - E.L. James

Got about half way through and stopped. Hated it.

'The 4-Hour Workweek' - Timothy Ferris

The new business success bible in this online age.

'Black Wall Street' - Hannibal Johnson

I met the author while in Tulsa who tells the story of the massacre of the affluent black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921.

'Restaurant Man' - Joe Bastianich

A wonderful story of how an Italian son of restaurant owners finally accepted that he had the biz it in his blood and created some of the best restaurants in the world. You'll gain a real appreciation for fine dining and wine. Another book that gives a beautiful tribute to the influence of a great mom. 

'Rather Outspoken' - Dan Rather

He couldn't have come up with a better title. Rather gives a no-holes-barred account of his career, particularly the disappointments. His first hand accounts of covering the civil rights movement and his discovery of the George W. Bush's military record scandal are classic. 

'No Easy Day' - Kevin Maurer, Mark Owen

Almost finished. The Seal Team 6 going after Bin Laden from one of the Seals. Very interesting.

Besides the books and the daily papers, I subscribe to Time, Black Enterprise, Diverse Engineer, Entrepreneur, and Maxum magazines.

Also this summer I took a 5 day project management class, 3 day Photoshop class, 2 day HTML/CSS class, a 2 day Dreamweaver class and several Lynda.com online classes.

I've done a lot of reading this summer. 

What did you read?

Click HERE for more