___________________________________________________________
   /   /   /   /   /   /   /   /   /   /   /   /   /   /   /   /
  /___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/___/
  |                                                           |
  |   .--.     .--.     .--.     .--.     .--.     .--.      |
  |  |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |     |
  |  |READ|   |GROW|   |THINK   |RISE|   |FREE|   |LIVE|     |
  |  |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |   |    |     |
  |  '----'   '----'   '----'   '----'   '----'   '----'     |
  |___________________________________________________________|
  |                                                           |
  |    "Reading had changed forever the course of my life."   |
  |___________________________________________________________|

The Library

A meditation on reading, transformation, and liberation

Today's Reading Malcolm's Journey On Reading The Dictionary Transformative Readers Reading as Resistance Reflect About

Transformative Readers

Malcolm X was not alone. Throughout history, reading has been a pathway to liberation, transformation, and power. Here are others whose lives were changed by books.

Frederick Douglass
Taught himself to read while enslaved, reading became the pathway to freedom
"'Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.'"
Helen Keller
Overcame deafblindness through the determination of learning
"'A well-read person is a rich person.'"
Abraham Lincoln
Self-educated through voracious reading by firelight
"'Whatever you are, be a good one.'"
Ben Carson
From struggling student to pioneering neurosurgeon through his mother's reading requirement
"'Reading activates the right side of the brain.'"
Oprah Winfrey
Books lifted her from poverty and abuse
"'Books were my pass to personal freedom.'"
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Found his education in the stacks of Howard University
"'The library was my dungeon.'"
Maya Angelou
Mute for five years, found her voice through literature
"'There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.'"
Richard Wright
Library books had to be smuggled to him in segregated Memphis
"'Reading was like a drug, a dope.'"
Assata Shakur
Continued her education while imprisoned
"'No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them.'"
Angela Davis
Developed political consciousness through rigorous study
"'I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.'"