Leonie Smith tells us about her experience with literacy during her childhood to present day. She was the youngest child and she grew up in a home with both her parents. Her father dropped out of school as a young boy so he could work and support his family. Leonie's mother was a homemaker. Leonie states that "[her] parents were very intelligent people who [were unable to complete their education due to their family situations]"(184). Her family suffered because of the illiteracies that were in her family. For example, because her grandmother was illiterate she was taken advantage of by a white woman. leonie's grandmother gave the rights to her grandfather's land to a white woman not knowing what she was doing. The white woman told her grandmother that her "children would rob her" (184). The white woman "paid" her with "bags of flour for her bakery and a $5 bill" (184).
Along with the tragic lose of her grandfather's land, Leonie suffered the loss of her mother at a very young age. After her mother died, Leonie's father went into a state of depression. The older children ended up caring for the younger ones. Despite Leonie's struggles, she never allowed her education to suffer. Her experience reminds me of myself and my journey to become a literate black woman. just like Leonie, I endured through my struggles to become a literate black woman.
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