Who We Are

WHO WE ARE

We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization - located in the Detroit area.

Our Story

The American Literacy Society is the brainchild of founder Dr. Aaron M. Johnson. As he was completing his research for his doctoral dissertation, he learned that during the institution of slavery, and the time immediately after called Reconstruction, literacy societies were founded by freed blacks, Quakers, and other benevolent organizations. These groups saw the need to teach people of African descent how to read so that they could fully participate in the democratic process.

As Dr. Johnson was completing his dissertation, many told him that "the dissertation should be completed as a task, not as one's life's work." He disagreed. He took what he learned from his research and began to build a philosophy that sought to continue the work of people like Richard Allen, who founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, several reading societies, libraries, and schools for African American children. He felt that just writing a paper about literacy was not enough. In 2017, The American Literacy Society was founded and launched to continue to support the 13th and 14th Amendment rights of ALL American citizens by engaging them in literacy events.

Background

Why Detroit? Detroit is the best place to serve as the home of an organization like The American Literacy Society. In order to discover how to improve literacy for everyone, one must first address those with the most critical needs. Detroit is the backdrop for an amazing renaissance (Detroit is dubbed "The Renaissance City") in culture, arts, and entrepreneurship. Along with the amazing things that are happening in Detroit, there are significant challenges. According to the 2010 United States Census Bureau, Detroit is approximately 82% African American with 40% of its residents living in poverty (United States Census Bureau, 2010). Along with the overwhelming majority of the residents of Detroit being African American, and a large portion of them living in poverty, in a report by the National Institute of Literacy (2011), the organization estimated that about 47% (approximately 200,000 residents) of the adults living in the city were functionally illiterate. The more striking claim is that about 23% of the people who are functionally illiterate have earned a high school diploma. The other 23-24% do not have a high school diploma or GED (Detroit Regional Workforce Fund, 2011, p. 5).

The National Assessment for Educational Progress (Nation's Report Card) reports that nationwide, 35% of all graduating 12th graders are proficient in reading, while only 16% of African Americans graduating from the 12th grade are proficient in reading. For the students who attend the public schools in Detroit, that number is even lower. In 2015, the Detroit public school system participated in a pilot study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education and the Nation's Report Card. The study found that only 7% of Detroit eighth graders were proficient in reading. Of the 21 cities/school districts that participated in the study, Detroit had the lowest rate of reading proficiency. Our students and our residents need help!

The American Literacy Society will be the preeminent service organization that will work toward developing literacy in our students and residents.