The Right to Read

A film in the Racial Justice Series presented by Eliot Unitarian Chapel and Women’s Voices Raised for Social Justice

Friday, March 29 at 7:00 pm in Adams Hall at Eliot Chapel

The Right to Read shares stories of an activist, a teacher and two American families who fight to provide our youngest generation with the most foundational indicator of life-long success: the ability to read. When a child doesn’t learn to read, their chances of incarceration, homelessness, and high school dropout increase. This powerful film tackles the fundamental social justice issue of why children aren’t learning to read once they get to school and what we can do about it.

Following the film there will be a discussion about the literacy landscape of St. Louis and a Q&A with Lisa Greening. For ten years, Greening was the executive director of Ready Readers, a St. Louis nonprofit dedicated to preparing preschool-age children from low-income communities to become readers. In 2020, Greening started the St. Louis Chapter of Turn the Page STL, the National Campaign for Grade Level Reading developed to improve third grade reading proficiency, and in 2022 Turn the Page STL won the Pacesetter Community Award from the National Campaign for its collective impact work in the St. Louis community.