The Black Man and His Reading Habit

I presently have three kids under my care. They are my elder brother’s children – A boy and two girls. Amazing kids they are. The eldest, who is the dude, just clocked 8 years few months back while the girls are 6 years and 4 years old. I was once in the habit of telling them stories; either through reading to them from their collections of story books, or concocting mine, with myriads of tides and turns. Either way, I tell them stories and I developed an habit out of this simple gesture, and they love it too! They are also good listeners and never tried to interrupt me during the story telling session even if the story being told is one they’ve been told tens of times, they still listen anyway, with that rapt gesture of a prisoner listening to the warder's loud crooked voice calling out names of prisoners to be let out the jail on governmental pardon. This is a joyous habit to develop if you know what I mean. However, over time I noticed a problem that could escalate if not addressed on time. The kids actually hate reading.

Well, do not blame them. This same tendency runs in the blood of an average black man, thus the saying, “If you want to hide something from a black man, hide it in a text”. Well, whoever thought of this cannot be blamed nor crucified, an ample number of us don’t fancy reading. And this singular defect has been the only reason why Africa, the black man’s haven, have been a servant at the world’s dining table. Our rights will continue to be trampled upon if we do not avail ourselves, first with the practice of reading - reading just about anything (particularly of our past and mistakes documented, mostly and sadly, by our tormentors), then secondly writing our own stories for the world to actually know. Believe me, the whole story will begin to change the moment these happen.

Knowledge is vital, they say. In the days of old, knowledge is transmitted in words of mouth. Time is wholly dedicated to this practice by our fathers who, though could not read nor write, but recognized the importance of attaining the station of a scholar. At no point can we again have as dedicated teachers as they do in those days but we have something close to those…. Books. We only need to train ourselves to dedicating our time for reading as our fathers did with their teachers of old.

Now, to enable this post a bit educational and not just advisory in nature, I am forced to seek out someways by which we can imbibe this reading habit in our everyday life from the internet. I found the following tips on (speeder), kindly go through them and ensure that you practice them.

Tips to ensuring your adoption of the reading habit in your day to day activities.

1. Make time for it
2. Book bags everywhere!
3. Make a reading list
4. Know when to give up a book
5. Get excited about the book
6. Read to someone

Visit here for more details on those tips. I am sure you will do so, right? Good.

Isn’t our main protection knowledge? And how do we avail ourselves with this shield if we so much abhor partaking in a practice that can afford us its fortification? No doubt, knowledge comes from reading. No only will our knowledge increase but we will also come to appreciate life even more. Reading widely, without boundary, can also afford us one more vital thing; that one thing we all (no exception) strive for on earth – Pleasure… Enjoyment… Happiness… Whatever it is you call it.

Well, as for the kids, the tides have now turned. The kids now read for me in turn. And though it was boring to them (and even to me) at first due to their slow-paced reading, the situation has now improved. They now read even with emphasis, trying to describe the situation in the story by their body languages and intonations. The reading is now fun!
Thanks for reading through.