Dear Data Geek, where is my sister, and what have you done to her?
For as long as I can remember, including her entire adult life, my sister has always seemed allergic to numbers. She was a straight-A student, so did well in math, but only because she worked at it. However, she was never comfortable with numbers or mathematical concepts. I, on the other hand, thought math was fun. Maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy as growing up our mother would joke that the reason I excelled in math was because I substituted dollars for apples and oranges when doing word problems.
Fast forward to when my sister was 40+ years old and her husband was fired. She was panicked because she did not know the first thing about personal finance and was certain it would take an M.B.A. (she has a theater arts degree) to understand it. I sarcastically asked her if she could add and subtract, and when she acknowledged she could, I let her know she was more than qualified. However, it was my "light bulb moment" because the resulting conversation made me realize it was the financial terminology that was creating the problem, along with the fact she was creating roadblocks in her mind that did not need to exist.
Fast forward … Today, my sister's youngest daughter plays volleyball and loves the statistics – whether hers, her teammates, or the team and where they stand in terms of the competition. Is she a math wizard? Probably no more so than her mother, but her attitude toward numbers and statistics is very different. She loves them because they intrigue her and have a purpose. So much so that, much to her mother's amazement, she voluntarily took a statistics course. Which is something I would have done (actually, I did take mathematical statistics as an elective in college).
So, imagine my surprise when my sister started analyzing the statistics provided by MailChimp on last week's email newsletter – letting me know open rates and click rates, and even comparing them to previous email campaigns. We only started using MailChimp a few months ago (shortly after we launched our new website), creating newsletters to provide our followers with food-for-thought (we have nothing to sell – as we have not even put our bestselling book on the site … yet).
I know that if I had asked my sister to "analyze data" she would have freaked out (that is her default setting), but because the numbers had a purpose and were clearly presented, her curiosity prompted her to review them. Which, besides giving information on our email campaign, provided proof that …
When something is relevant, we seem to ignore the mental roadblocks that we might otherwise have built.
Take a moment and imagine not being able to read this sentence. Now, think about this … if you’re reading this, you’re doing something millions of Americans can’t.
red head assets.rebelmouse.io |
I’ll admit that I never realized how many people can’t read.
It’s something I’ve always taken for
granted. That’s until Black and I met
someone doing something about it – Jackie Aguilera, now the Project Manager for
the Mayor’s Office of Adult
Literacy (Houston). Her focus
wasn’t only on reading literacy but on “literacies” I’d never heard of, such as
financial literacy, health literacy, and digital literacy. But it all starts
with the ability to read. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io |
It
is called functional
literacy. Obviously, if you
are reading this article, you are on the internet. Which has more information than anyone can
possibly absorb (and is why news literacy is so critical). Now,
imagine if you could not read. All that
information … just sitting there.
Available to others, but not to you. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io |
Books are my great escape. Always have been. So, I can’t
imagine a life without them. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io |
A great escape … in many ways. You may use it to escape from the stresses of
daily life or just as entertainment. But,
books and, more specifically, the ability to read is how people can escape a
life of poverty and limited opportunities.
|
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | Working with Jackie made me see that. As did our work with the criminal justice system, as so many incarcerated people struggle to read. And I know you’re a data geek, but please don’t start quoting me statistics. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | OK, no statistics, but did you know that more people in the US are affected by low literacy (meaning they cannot read at a sixth-grade level) than are diagnosed with cancer or heart disease? |
Over the years, as we’ve learned how many people can’t read (including one in three Houstonians), it’s made us stop and think about how that impacts every aspect of their lives … their families … their communities. And also … our communities and our country.
As former First Lady Barbara Bush said many years ago,
If you help a person to read, then their opportunities in life will be endless.
Because now is the time to decide what direction we want to take our country. RED & BLACK … A Time For Independence is about the spirit of independence. And four years later, we feel it’s very sad (and very scary) that our sentiments about our country’s leaders having the strength, courage, and conviction to be independent thinkers are still relevant. Maybe even more than ever before.
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | I have a confession to make, which I’m sure will make you roll your eyes. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | Interesting caveat and probably true. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | Every time we talk with Jackie (Aguilera) from the Mayor’s Office of Adult Literacy and hear what she’s doing in the world of adult education, I feel like I’m back in school and having to take copious notes. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | I am more than happy to send you “homework assignments” as I come across relevant articles and research. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll stick to taking notes. But that does explain why you’re so knowledgeable about literacy. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | But, reading information is very different from being at the forefront of literacy innovation. And, if we had never met Jackie, I never would have realized how literacy is about more than reading and writing. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | But that alone is such a critical part of all of our lives and can make the difference between struggling and success. Although I never stopped to think about any of that before we met Jackie. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | The funny thing is we first met her because of financial literacy. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | Yes, I remember, even though it was over a decade ago. It was shortly after our book was approved as a financial literacy textbook by the (Texas) State Board of Education, and you decided we should go to a Houston Money Week meeting. I didn’t think we were qualified to talk about the topic. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | I did not feel qualified to decide whether or not we could be of any help until I better understood what they did. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | That’s why I let you do the talking when “newbies” had to introduce themselves. Plus, I’d have talked their ears off. But after the meeting, this confident but very approachable woman came striding across the room, extended her hand to me, and introduced herself. At the time, she was Literacy Coordinator at EastSide University. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | All I remember was her energy, commitment, and passion for financial literacy. Not usually a topic discussed with such enthusiasm. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | There’s an understatement. And not only did it take me by surprise, but I hate to admit it, it was contagious. Especially once we started working with her. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | Another confession? |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | Maybe. I still shake my head in amazement at the incredibly creative ways she makes personal finance, typically such a “boring” topic, come alive. And how she uses outside-the-box approaches to making learning relevant. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | But, it is not only financial literacy. It also includes digital literacy, health literacy, and even news literacy and environmental literacy. Which is why I am honored that she asked us to create various “Conversation Starters” she could use at presentations and workshops. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | I never imagined they could be used to talk about serious concepts in a light-hearted and fun way. Even if she points out how I was a poster child for not being “literate” when it comes to an assortment of life topics. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | I dislike the term “literacy” because it makes people feel like they are “illiterate” when they do not know something. In reality, they may never have been exposed to the information or given an opportunity to learn it. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | I can tell you first-hand that, initially, I felt stupid until you pointed out I was merely sheltered. But that’s given me so much more empathy when I think of other people in the same position I was once in. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | That is why she likes the “Conversation Starters” – they make the topics accessible in a non-threatening way. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | And helps us realize that literacy impacts every aspect of our lives since it is so much more than reading and writing. Raising awareness of that and talking about it with others, especially our families, can have a huge ripple effect. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | That is the purpose of September being designated National Literacy Month. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | September seems the perfect time to learn something new. It’s like being back in school, except you can put the knowledge to work immediately. |
Black assets.rebelmouse.io | And, this year, with elections just months away, it is the perfect time to learn about news literacy. |
red head assets.rebelmouse.io | Oh, I know better … |