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The personal story that Dr. House Soremekum, author of Lessons from Down Under, tells is very close to home for me.  I was raised in a small town also in Alabama and it was similar to the size of Lanett where she was raised. Though she grew up during the time of the civil rights era, my experiences with schooling and having a formal education were the same concepts as hers. The high school I attended was predominantly white and I was, for the most part, the only Black in my honors classes. Many times, just as Dr. House Soremekum had, my White counterparts would say, “You are the smartest Black girl at this school”. At the time I thought nothing of it but by my senior year of high school I did find this “compliment” very problematic. See, I knew a lot of my Black peers were more than able to accomplish the same goals as I had. But a lot of them were seen as trouble makers or they did not obtain some of the same opportunities as I had because of family issues. By saying this, I was really just a regular student who was put on a pedestal because of the color of my skin.  

Another point Dr. House Soremekum addressed, was about formal literacy. While I was growing up, formal literacy was always a stipend in my everyday life. My great-grandparents, especially my great- grandfather, took the initiative to insure their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren received an education. My great-grandfather was an ex-military man and a pastor. He traveled a lot while he pastured and sometimes I was able to go. Most of my formal upbringing was through the church. I was never allowed to address an elder by his/her first name. I had to be well mannered and dressed in order to attend church with my great- grandparents. If I was to step out of line I would get punished for doing so. Today, I do not believe most children receive the same formal literacy training as before. Formal literacy was very important to be able to communicate and function with others in society. The media is taking part in this “backward” swing of formal literacy because a lot of people are not valuing their educational rights that those before them fought so hard to obtain.