I Define Me - Transcending Learning Differences

10/01/2026

08/31/2026

🚨 TODAY IS THE DAY! CALL FOR PROPOSALS CLOSE TONIGHT! 🚨

If you’ve thought about it, wanted to submit, or have been indecisive, TODAY is your day.

The 4th Annual Black Literacy Matters® Conference Call for Proposals closes TODAY, August 31, at midnight Central Time. NO EXTENSIONS.

TODAY, August 31, at midnight Central Time. NO EXTENSIONS.

If there is something in you—research, evidence, practice, experience, innovation, or a proven approach—that can help move the Black literacy movement forward, we want to hear from you.

This will be our largest and most consequential Black Literacy Matters Conference to date, and it is calling your name.

THE BLUEPRINT: THIS IS THE WAY

Reclaiming the Methods That Built Black Literacy—And Rebuilding Them Again

📅 March 17–20, 2027

📍 Omaha, Nebraska

🔗 SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL TODAY:

https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/82405/submitter

Share with your friends. Share with your people. Share with your colleagues. Share with someone you know has something important and significant to contribute.

We want to hear from you.

SHARE. SHARE. SHARE.

⏰ Remember: NO EXTENSIONS. TODAY IS IT.

06/19/2026

Nationwide -- Clarice Jackson, a nationally recognized literacy advocate, educational leader, and founder of the Black Literacy Matters® Conference 2027, is calling on the NAACP and Decoding Dyslexia to work together to address what she describes as a literacy crisis affecting thousands of children...

06/19/2026

THE LONG WALK TO LITERACY

As we commemorate Juneteenth, I find myself reflecting on a question that has shaped much of my work:

What happened after freedom?

For Black Americans, emancipation was not the end of the journey. It was the beginning of a long walk toward literacy, knowledge, opportunity, and full participation in society.

This year, I explore that idea in my Juneteenth blog article, *The Long Walk to Literacy*, and in greater depth through my scholarly work, *Literacy as Exodus: The Reconstruction Literacy Paradox and the Collapse of Educational Will*, published in the Spring 2026 issue of *The Midwest Quarterly Journal* at Pittsburg State University.

The Reconstruction Literacy Paradox asks a difficult but necessary question: If formerly enslaved people, emerging from generations of anti-literacy laws and educational deprivation, could pursue literacy with extraordinary urgency and achieve remarkable gains, what can we learn from the value they placed on reading, writing, and knowledge?

Our ancestors understood that literacy was not merely a school subject.

Literacy was access.

Literacy was protection.

Literacy was opportunity.

Literacy was freedom.

That same understanding drives the work of the Black Literacy Matters® Conference, where educators, families, advocates, researchers, and community leaders from across the United States and the African diaspora come together to restore the value of literacy and advance evidence-based reading instruction grounded in the psychology of reading.

As we celebrate Juneteenth, let us remember that the long walk to literacy continues.

I invite you to read my work, share it with others, and join us in ensuring that every child has access to the power that literacy provides.

To learn more about *The Midwest Quarterly Journal* and access information about the Spring 2026 issue, visit:
https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/mwq/

05/01/2026

Join us tomorrow for a dialogue on parent empowerment with Representative McQueen, School Board Member Leroy Tre Hutchins, Parent to Parent of Georgia leader Latoya Addy and educator Dr. Harvey. We do ask that you RSVP for this event. https://speak4.app/lp/m601tnw5

04/30/2026

Please consider joining us. It will be an excelkent panel about parent engagement. https://speak4.app/lp/m601tnw5?

Join us for an inspiring conversation centered on championing parent voices in education! Hear from local leaders, educators, and...

04/28/2026

Please join us on 5/2 for an engaging conversation on parental empowerment. You are your childs biggest asset. https://speak4.app/lp/m601tnw5?

03/05/2026

03/03/2026

🔥 BLACK LITERACY MATTERS CONFERENCE 2026

Youth Panel Announcement

FROM “LEFT BEHIND” TO LEADING FORWARD:

The Black & Dyslexic Youth Panel

Norfolk State University

March 11–14, 2026

The Black Literacy Matters Conference is proud to present three extraordinary Black youth who are transforming the narrative around dyslexia — and refusing to be defined by systems that once underestimated them.

This powerful conversation will be moderated by The Black and Dyslexic Podcast, featuring co-host Winifred Winston and nationally recognized advocate and poet Lederick Horne.

These youth are not waiting to be included.

They are leading forward.

🎬 Aden Geidi

Aden is featured in the 2025 documentary Left Behind, which follows a group of mothers fighting to establish the first public school for children with dyslexia in New York City. The film documents their courageous fight for educational justice — and Aden’s journey is central to that story.

From being “left behind” to standing on national platforms, Aden represents what happens when families demand better and refuse educational neglect.

✨ Leyla (Pope) Allen

Leyla is a 14-year-old middle school student whose dyslexia journey reflects resilience, leadership, and purpose. She is an emerging inspirational writer, a student leader at her church, and a dedicated volunteer who loves reading to younger children.

Language Arts is her favorite subject — proof that diagnosis does not determine destiny.

Leyla aspires to pursue acting, entrepreneurship, and motivational speaking. She is already modeling excellence, confidence, and positive representation for young Black leaders everywhere.

💥 Kyler Eric Smith (Slime Master K)

Author. Speaker. Advocate.

Kyler wrote his autobiographical children’s book I Define Me at just nine years old. Diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia, he has turned challenge into impact.

He has spoken at the Georgia State Capitol in support of Dyslexia Identification Bill SB48 and advocates for increased funding for specialized teacher training. Kyler serves as a teen board member for the Georgia International Dyslexia Association and continues to empower youth nationwide with his powerful declaration:

“I Define Me.”

Why This Panel Matters

Black children with dyslexia have too often been mislabeled, overlooked, or pushed to the margins.

This panel centers their brilliance.

Their voices.

Their leadership.

This is what reclaiming literacy and rewriting history looks like.

🚨 LIMITED SEATS REMAIN

Do not wait.

This session will fill.

Register now to secure your seat:

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/black-literacy-matters-conference-2026boots-on-the-ground-reclaiming-literacy-rewriting-history

March 11–14, 2026

Norfolk State University

Black Literacy Matters®

Boots on the Ground: Reclaiming Literacy. Rewriting History.

The future is not coming.

It is already here — and it sounds like these youth.