Of the many things I have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, one is a gift given to me in childhood – a love for reading. I was reminded of this special gift two weeks ago when I accompanied my 6-year-old granddaughter, Neyah Angelique Curry, and her parents to a parent-teacher conference at her school.
We carefully reviewed each comment on Neyah’s report card and talked about what her parents, Edward and Nikki, could do to strengthen her skills. Then, Nikki surprised me by removing a book from the shelf, giving it to Neyah and saying, "Neyah, show Pa Pa how you can read." I placed Neyah on my lap and she read the book almost flawlessly. I was so proud as I cheered her on. "My granddaughter can read," I said repeatedly. "My baby can read." My happiness was rooted in the knowledge of how reading empowers people.
Reading has always been a big deal in my family. In spite of growing up in public housing with parents who never completed high school – or, maybe because of it – reading was emphasized in our Alabama home.
I can’t remember a time when we didn’t have The Tuscaloosa News delivered to our home. Everyone would try to read it before my stepfather, William H. Polk, because he read everything in the paper. I do mean everything. William went to the 5th grade and was perhaps the smartest person I have ever met. He watched NBC network news, called the Huntley-Brinkley Report, every weekday. Mama tried to get us to eat together as a family, but if the news came on, William dashed to the TV.
All three of my younger sisters – Charlotte, Chris and Sue – were avid readers as well. In fact, when we’d gather around the dinner table, we’d often discuss issues in the news. One day, Sue, who was about 8 or 9 years old at the time, joined in the discussion with an item of her own. Startled, one of us asked, "Sue, how did you know that?" She replied, "I read it in the paper."
Because I am the oldest of the four children, I experienced Charlotte reading "Chicken Little" in the first grade. She’d run around the house proclaiming, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling."
One day, Mrs. Maude Whatley, her grade school principal, walked into Miss Johnnie Anderson’s classroom and heard Charlotte read about the sky falling. With my mother’s permission, Charlotte was skipped to the second grade.
Two things sparked my love for reading even more than The Tuscaloosa News. William subscribed to the Pittsburgh Courier, the premier Black newspaper in the country. He and Mr. Jimmy McMath, his close friend who also lived in McKenzie Court, would always discuss the contents of each issue. I was mesmerized with their conversations, often going back to the paper to read any article I had overlooked.
To appreciate the profound impact the paper had on me, it’s helpful to remember that in the segregated South – and in many parts of the North – the only time African-Americans appeared in the newspaper was if they were entertainers, athletes or were suspected of committing a crime.
The Pittsburgh Courier presented all aspects of our lives. I remember developing a love for Black history, in part, because of the column written by J.A. Rodgers. Growing up in Alabama, I had heard far too much about Booker T. Washington and very little about W.E.B. DuBois, who quickly became my hero. In fact, my son Edward’s full name is Edward DuBois Curry. My newly-discovered Black newspaper gave me an ample supply of DuBois, William Monroe Trotter, Ida B. Wells and so many other towering figures.
It was the combination of the Pittsburgh Courier, my love for reading and writing, and the encouragement of my parents and teachers that propelled me into the field of journalism. That was pivotal because I had received a different message from the White daily that did not hire any African-American journalists at the time.
One of the things I remember most about The Tuscaloosa News was that its classified ads were segregated. There was a "colored section" that advertised for "colored bus boys" and a separate section for others, such as White women seeking "White Christian Roommates."
In my youth, I filed a complaint with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights but they refused to do anything about those ads. But thank God, The Tuscaloosa News has changed and even recently endorsed Barack Obama over John McCain.
My granddaughter Neyah will grow up in a markedly different world than I did. And because she has already developed a love for reading at 6 years old, she has one of the greatest gifts one can ever receive.
