Extended tweet

Black women academics were discussing whether parents/caregivers taught them how to read as children, and as Black woman, I chimed in with my reply:

Siblings and parents read to me. Mom, who was an elementary school teacher, showed me how to use a dictionary and thesaurus. Dad worked as a bank floor walker. He read encyclopedias for fun. Mom got me my first subscription (Highlights). Big sister shipped boxes of books to me every summer as a kid.

*Not in my tweet*

My big brothers also let me read their comics and reference books and the youngest of the older brothers would occasionally read me Grimm's Brothers fairytales, which he thought was too bloody for me.