Let’s tell the truth, even if it makes some people uncomfortable:
You cannot build power if you cannot read.

We’re not just talking about books—we’re talking about your health. Your job. Your bank account. Your ballot. Your freedom.

The numbers don’t lie:
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, children whose parents have low literacy levels have a 72% chance of being functionally illiterate themselves when they grow up. Think about that. We’re not just passing down recipes and resilience—we’re passing down a reading deficit that limits what’s possible for the next generation.

Now pair that with what Gallup uncovered: if every adult in America could read at just a sixth-grade level, we would add $2.2 trillion to our economy every year. That’s not pocket change. That’s jobs created. Businesses grown. Communities revived.

And yet, in far too many corners of our community, we’re still sold the lie that education isn’t necessary. That reading is “corny.” That school is optional. That dropping out and figuring it out is a badge of hustle.

Let me be clear: Anti-intellectualism might make you feel tough, but it’s keeping us stuck.

• 43% of adults with low literacy live in poverty.
• 1 in 3 adults with low literacy are unemployed.
• Low literacy is directly linked to higher incarceration rates and worse health outcomes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

This isn’t about individual choices. This is about a system that was designed to under-educate us—and a culture that sometimes plays into that design.

At Fourth Pov, Inc., we reject the idea that literacy is some luxury good reserved for those in private schools or gated suburbs. We believe literacy is a birthright. We build programs to empower Black youth and their families to reclaim it—not for applause, but for survival.

Because here’s the truth: the kid who writes his own story is less likely to be written off. The parent who can decode a medical form is more likely to get the right care. The young person who can read a contract, a bank loan, or a ballot becomes a force this world has to reckon with.

We don’t teach reading just for fun. We teach reading because it’s the first tool of revolution.

If we want our children to grow up whole and ready, we have to start now.
Not later.
Not when the school system catches up.
Not after the next election.
Now.

The words we read shape the world we build.
Let’s build something better—one page, one voice, one future at a time.

Sources:

• National Bureau of Economic Research: Intergenerational Transmission of Literacy
• Gallup & Barbara Bush Foundation (2020): The Economic Impact of Illiteracy in the U.S.
• National Center for Education Statistics (2020): Adult Literacy in the United States