Reading Allowed, supported by Read by 4th, will kick off its “Literacy is a Social Justice Issue” Speaker Series on Wednesday, October 26th with a panel discussion in the Skyline Room of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
Confirmed panelists include Free Library President and Director, Kelly Richards, and Hilderbrand Pelzer III, educator and author of Unlocking Potential: Organizing a School Inside a Prison, and Dr. Ernesto Ortiz, Jr., Senior Literacy Engagement Specialist at AIM Institute for Learning & Research. WHYY on-air host and reporter, Avi Wolfman-Arent, will serve as event moderator.
The goal of “Literacy is a Social Justice Issue” is to bring awareness, as well as discuss solutions, to the alarming problem of illiteracy in Philadelphia that exacerbates existing issues of racial and economic inequality. Just over half of Philadelphia adults are functionally illiterate, and nearly two-thirds are low-literate, reading at just a middle-school grade level. Those who struggle with reading are more likely to drop out of high school, to experience periods of unemployment, to end up in the criminal justice system, and to live in poverty – a systemic problem in Philadelphia.
Click here to register to attend in person.
Click here to RSVP for the livestream.