Nuff respect due! Can we afford not to?

 

I had promised to say more about Literacy 1-2-3 Windows to Literacy  which can also be Windows to Literature, and then a lot happened, and to my mind it all fits together. So stay with me for a little; enjoy the beautiful work that has been created by us, just for us. Come with me under the ackee tree. . .

We seem to be yet in another cycle of breast beating, tearing our hair, and bemoaning the youth of today, lack of morals in the society,  lack of family life, etc.  -  all the ills that continue to assail us. One of the things that has certainly resonated with us, is that we/our young people seem to have a poor sense of self, poor self concept, value ourselves little, while we call out loudly for respect. Respect due! We feel strongly about that, and so we should. So we blame the past, our history, the present, all those who think differently, the music and media to which our young people are exposed. 

Is there anything that might help to develop a positive self concept, a sense of self, helps us to understand why respect is due, and how to be that person who owns and earns respect? May I again suggest introducing our books to young children, and please listen to me this time. Our children are not stupid. If we insist on giving them a diet of foreign books only, until they reach secondary school and can start with the Caribbean set books for CXC, then what have we told them?

1.       You are not important enough to have books about yourself or your life.

2.       You need foreign books to teach you how to live, what to think about, who you are, or are not.

3.       If you must use your imagination, imagine these foreign lives. Your imagination cannot be freely used in your life so that you can write about it. You are not worthy. You are not deserving of respect.

Aha, but the songs which we think are unsuitable for them, are heard, and those tell them what to think and how to feel even before they have got to that point in their lives.

And waiting to swallow them up  is an enormous virtual world where they will finally find out that they are using other people’s imaginations because theirs is not worthy. But to navigate this virtual world safely, the world of the future and present, we all need to have our values and self respect, and everything else in place.

The Ministry of Education has some beautiful books in Literacy 1-2-3, Windows to Literacy. Outstanding writers wrote these books, some of them bright and young, our next generation of writers; outstanding illustrators illustrated these books; some of them bright and young, the next generation of illustrators. The Ministry plans to roll them out into schools. Prep. schools also would like to have access to them. I hope that there won’t be a problem of the money to do this, when so many other things require money urgently. Hey guys, we’ve been playing that tune (pardon the pun) for too many years, and so we have already lost a generation. It’s not measurable, but let’s give it a try. Can we afford not to? Let our children discover that they are worthy of respect. Nuff respect! Can we just believe in ourselves a little bit? We can do a lot of things, and you know what? We can do books too. So little darlings, don't be afraid.

Windows to Literature and Literacy

Just this last week in a focus group with at risk youth: the question was asked what books do they remember reading, at school or anywhere else?  Answers: The Cat Woman and the Spinning Wheel and Sweet, Sweet Mango Tree. They were delighted, as was I, to find that those were written by me. Comments like, “Is she write it?” “Is you write it?” Their comments were ones of astonishment accompanied by wide smiles. I behaved appropriately – big grin and “Yes,  is me!” They also added, Anancy and Cow. By that time I think they may have been just calling names they remembered, and just by chance that was one retold by me. So my day, eh, for feeling worthwhile.

 

Two things flow from this.

1)      The first two books are always mentioned. What is it about them? Well The Cat Woman and the Spinning Wheel is a version of all those folk stories in which a devious woman fools up a man with her beauty and eventually he gets free of her and she gets  her just punishment, which is not really just, but we must presume that if that had not happened the man would have succumbed to further entrapment. I’m sure a psychologist and a feminist could have a field day with the symbolism. Sweet, Sweet Mango Tree also speaks to a universal theme. A greedy man demands more from a tree than he needs and he gets his just punishment.  So these are in keeping with the folktale themes and traditional  interpretations of justice. The reader comes away satisfied that in spite of the mishaps of  life and bad people, things are right in the world after all.

2)      The second thing: when we were writing these books for the primary schools, (the Doctor Bird Reading Series, for grades 4-6),  part of the rationale was that our children needed books to reflect their lives, books of their own, and that for some of them, these may well be the only books they will ever own. Interesting, eh! Notice, these themes are found in other stories. However these are the stories they recall; those in our setting. I’m so glad that I was part of that group that gave our children their books.

By now you all know that the Ministry of Education published these books. ( See my blogs for June 1, 9 and 17).

 

The Ministry also published, more recently, in 2008, Literacy 1-2-3, for lower primary and early childhood. These books are called Windows to Literacy. I was privileged to be the editor and production manager of this project. The books are beautiful. We  had, as well as our better known writers, new, young writers writing for them. No, I did not write for that project. I had no time to even scratch my head, much less write. The writing/stories/non-fiction selections are delightful. The artwork, in full colour, is superb; some done by new, young artists also. Just this year I saw a little girl walking along a verandah in her school reading one of them, Molly Hopper Learns to Jump. It was that stance of ‘I have to read while I’m walking because this book cannot be put down till I’m finished reading it’. I was delighted. These books were piloted in schools. I look forward to seeing them in all our schools.

When we write and produce such wonderful books we must celebrate them with our children. We do not need people to come from overseas to tell us our work is acceptable. We should know by now. We do not need years and years to pass before we believe in what we do. Have courage and be brave, my people. Let’s open wide the Windows to Literature and Literacy.