“Right to Read” Screening and Conversation

The MSU College of Education is proud to co-convene a screening of the film “The Right to Read” and hear the stories of Detroit families in a community panel discussion at the Durfree Innovation Center on October 18. This event is open and free to the community. You can register here.

The film follows the advocacy efforts of Oakland NAACP activist Kareem Weaver who proclaims that Literacy is the greatest civil rights issue of our time. It features a teacher who represents a large majority of the teachers across the country who was not given the tools to teach all children to read.

Detroit has a similar, but also uniquely compelling story. In a historic lawsuit, Detroit Community Public Schools were award $94 million in response to a lack of high quality teachers, among other things. The lead plaintiff in this lawsuit will be part of the community discussion after the screening of the film, along with the president of the Michigan Board of Education, the CEO of Detroit Parent Network, a state representative, and the executive director of 313Reads.

313Reads is hosting this event. 313Reads is a collective action organization in Detroit with the mission of connecting resources that extend culturally sustaining best practices in literacy to all children and families in the 313 area code, because access to literacy should not depend on zip code.