Return-Path: <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id e8SG0d923569; Thu, 28 Sep 2000 12:00:39 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 28 Sep 2000 12:00:39 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <004301c02965$0dc7af80$0d00000a@deborah01> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Deborah Schwartz" <deborah@alri.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:49] Re: Introduction X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 6875 Lines: 158 Hi all, I'm Deborah Schwartz and have been teaching for 15 years in the Boston area- although just this year, I've left the classroom to do staff and curriculum development. Stacey, you're timely question about voting, race and you're statistics about D.C. reminded me of my prior-life in D.C. where I was an undergrad. I lived in D.C. when Jesse Jackson was running for president, and was involved in that campaign (the last presidential campaign that I have directly worked for). The district was on fire! Voter registration was doubled during that period, and even when Jackson didn't make it past the primaries, the district was the only "state" in the union to support Mondale, other than his home state of Minnisota. It raised the question for me, one that I grapple with all the time in my work and my life-- how to turn people out for the vote, how to bring people into the democratics processes that do exist. My experience in D.C. taught me something that the popular culture and my family's (liberal, just middle-class 1st-generation, urban, Eastern European immigrant Jewish) views didn't: "disenfranchised" citizens, in this case African-American constituents, are willing to vote if they see that the issues, the questions being asked and the answers being proposed are meaningful and relevant to them. And that these leaders will work for their issues and to better their location within this country's economic and social landscape. Again, even after Jackson didn't make it to the primaries, D.C. supported Mondale's attempt to make it into the white house. Deborah Schwartz Adult LIteracy Resouce Institute Boston, MA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stacey Downey" <sbdowney@starpower.net> To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-povracelit@literacy.nifl.gov> Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 4:06 PM Subject: [NIFL-POVRACELIT:41] Introduction > This is a multi-part message in MIME format. > > ------=_NextPart_000_0204_01C02967.8A124F80 > Content-Type: text/plain; > charset="iso-8859-1" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > > I am Stacey Downey and I work in Washington, DC in the adult education = > community as a consultant doing volunteer and teacher training. I've = > worked in adult education, teaching ESL, reading and writing at the = > college level for 10 years; more than four of those were spent abroad. > > The District of Columbia is a unique place because we have one of the = > lowest literacy rates in the nation. At the same time, we have many = > people working here with advanced degrees, so the disparity between = > groups is a gaping fissure, particularly obvious with regards to = > education and race.=20 > > The connections between literacy and democracy are what motivate me as = > an educator. Thomas Jefferson said that a democracy cannot be both = > illiterate and free. Civic participation is a critical [potential] = > benefit in literacy work.=20 > > In today's Washington Post, columnist Courtland Milloy wrote about the = > impact of increasing the number of Blacks who vote in the presidential = > election this year. Milloy wrote that of the 33 million African = > Americans, 90% live in just 20 states. More than one-third of all Black = > Americans live in five states-- New York, California, Texas, Florida and = > Georgia--all with high numbers of electoral votes. Apparently African = > American voter participation has declined steadily in presidential = > elections since 1968. > > I'd like to see the listserv discuss the power of voting and its = > connection to literacy, poverty and race. > > Stacey Downey > One Scott Circle NW #306 > Washington, DC 20036 > 202/387-5458 > sbdowney@starpower.net > > > ------=_NextPart_000_0204_01C02967.8A124F80 > Content-Type: text/html; > charset="iso-8859-1" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > > <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> > <HTML><HEAD> > <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = > charset=3Diso-8859-1"> > <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=3DGENERATOR> > <STYLE></STYLE> > </HEAD> > <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I am Stacey Downey and I work in = > Washington, DC in=20 > the adult education community as a consultant doing volunteer and = > teacher=20 > training. I've worked in adult education, teaching ESL, = > reading and=20 > writing at the college level for 10 years; more than four of those = > were=20 > spent abroad.</FONT></DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The District of Columbia is a unique = > place because=20 > we have one of the lowest literacy rates in the nation. At the = > same time,=20 > we have many people working here with advanced degrees, so the disparity = > between=20 > groups is a gaping fissure, particularly obvious with regards to = > education=20 > and race. </FONT></DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>The connections between literacy and=20 > democracy are what motivate me as an educator. Thomas = > Jefferson=20 > said that a democracy cannot be both illiterate and free. Civic=20 > participation is a critical [potential] benefit in literacy work. = > </FONT></DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>In today's Washington Post, columnist = > Courtland=20 > Milloy wrote about the impact of increasing the number of Blacks who = > vote in the=20 > presidential election this year. Milloy wrote that of the 33 = > million=20 > African Americans, 90% live in just 20 states. More than one-third = > of=20 > all Black Americans live in five states-- New York, = > California, Texas,=20 > Florida and Georgia--all with high numbers of electoral votes. =20 > A</FONT><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>pparently African American voter = > participation=20 > has declined steadily in presidential elections since 1968.</FONT></DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I'd like to see = > the listserv discuss the=20 > power of voting and its connection to literacy, poverty and = > race.</FONT></DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Stacey Downey</FONT></DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>One Scott Circle NW #306</FONT></DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Washington, DC 20036</FONT></DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>202/387-5458</FONT></DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2><A=20 > href=3D"mailto:sbdowney@starpower.net">sbdowney@starpower.net</A></FONT><= > /DIV> > <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML> > > ------=_NextPart_000_0204_01C02967.8A124F80-- > >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Jan 16 2001 - 14:47:23 EST