Giving out free computers will accomplish.... what?-----Men of Color Read promotes literacy in Muskegon Heights school district, donates 'more than 100' computers to Edgewood Elementary

Men of Color Read promotes literacy in Muskegon Heights school district, donates 'more than 100' computers to Edgewood Elementary | MLive.com:
MUSKEGON HEIGHTS, MI - Communities are built on the backs of positive role models. And for Jon Covington, it's critical the building process starts early.

...More than a dozen black community leaders were in attendance Thursday, as each spent at least a half hour reading to various classrooms at Edgewood Elementary.

Covington continually stressed that the idea is "really basic and simple."

He said for black students to see men in the classroom "who look like them," it develops both community role models and promotes strong literacy habits for students at a young age.

"Black men, as it relates to teachers in this country, are somewhere in the area of 2 percent or less," he said, citing a 2010 figure by the Department of Education.
"So, kids in the classroom, particularly in urban communities, they do not see teachers that look like them.
They do not see black male teachers and it's very important for children to see black men and positive images of black men."

Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of the fourth grade "end up in jail or on welfare," according to the Write Express Corporation's literacy statistics. The same statistics indicate that 70 percent of America's inmates are unable to read above a fourth grade level...."