Reading became most important whenever the first African stepped foot in the Americas. And from the very first African American child being born in the United States of America, it was reading that was withheld from every descendant.
It was against the law due to the institution of slavery which lasted for centuries. African American people had to create various secret ways to learn and teach the written English language, and even when they did learn, they had to pretend they didn’t have the knowledge because it could mean death.
This is the purpose of read to freedom – to celebrate and honor those in the past who fought, bled and died for the freedom to read and to keep the movement and importance of reading and teaching alive in the African American community as a whole, even when the law wants to remove various forms of African American literature from schools.
Enjoy the movement and merchandise! – Founder Mirika Mayo Cornelius