The impact of COVID-19, its rapid spread, and the
actions we took became an imperative for all of
us. Our lives were reshaped as we were blitzed
with news of the spread of the virus and what was
needed to protect ourselves and our communities.
We were not just observers or individuals; we were
participants and community members. And not
only was our reading a source that shaped our lives,
but also our changed lives shaped our readings—
who, how, what, where, and why we read.
Our readings aligned with dramatic shifts in our
worlds as schools moved to virtual environments,
businesses operated from other venues, restaurants
were closed, jobs were lost or changed, and
we were called on to be responsible in terms of
isolation and social distancing.
On the heels of this pandemic, during which
members of the black community in the United
States died in disproportionately higher numbers
from COVID-19, we witnessed the murder of
George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer.
This murder was filmed, and the resulting video
became a flashpoint for uniting groups of people
in Minneapolis, throughout the United States, and
all over the world against the ongoing racist and
violent attacks on people of color from those who
are meant to protect us all. Many of us viewed the
video of his death, the response of the Minneapolis
community, and the response of family members.
We heeded the words of black commentators
who compared his death to a lynching, and we
listened intently to the sermon by Rev. Al Sharpton,
who referenced the officer’s knee as a symbol of
society’s chokehold on the black community.
The video recording of George Floyd’s death
threw into stark relief the systemic racism that was
present. Integral to this moment are the many
surrounding texts and readings of those texts,
including readings of our readings—commentaries
by journalists, community members, athletes, and
spiritual leaders, to name a few. As we reckoned
with this event, our readings were not passive; we
were outraged, empathetic, and mobilized. Our
Reading Our Worlds
ILA UPDATE
readings were tangled, unsettling, and provocative.
Members of the black community reported
firsthand knowledge of and resonance with these
events; others have done their best to listen, to be
active allies, and to reconsider their own complicity.
The event brought to the surface a range
of related issues existing in our lives, especially
concern over the rising white supremacist
movement and the divisiveness and precipitousness
of hate speech from tweets and blogs or tied to
political policy speeches. As some commentators
noted, racism represented a form of a virus of
pandemic proportions.
In the United States, spurred by yet another
death resulting from police violence along with
renewed conversations, the focus was on racism
and America’s narrative of systemic discrimination,
disenfranchisement, and inequity. Soon the
protests spread in recognition of systemic racism
in other parts of the world, including Europe
and Australasia. In Australia, despite a history of
mistreatment and murder of Australian Aboriginals
at the hands of police, Australian politicians have
a history of foiling constitutional recognition of
Indigenous Australia and an aversion to systemic
cultural accommodations. As with black Americans,
Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders represent
a hugely disproportionate number of those
incarcerated in prisons.
New Zealanders, despite enormous pride in
their diversity, especially related to the Indigenous
Maoris, were forced to confront the targeting of
more recent migrants with the killing of some 50
New Zealanders of Muslim faith at the hands of
an Australian white supremacist. Befittingly, the
prime minister of New Zealand emphasized the
need for a moral compass that embraced one
another, and also passed legislation that changed
the gun laws.
For most of society, such events have been
riveting—indeed, signaling once again the necessity
of change, and perhaps this time achieving the
traction to do so. For the literacy educator, they
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literacyworldwide.org | July/August 2020 | LITERACY TODAY