The Law

Today I read .5 of Molly Bannaky to some third grade peeps. This perhaps truthful story about the grandmother of Benjamin Banneker begins with Molly the milkmaid spilling some milk on the job. The year's 1680 and she's charged with theft. Good news. Molly can read and the law says that she can not be executed because she can read THE BIBLE. By law, the court must provide her with THE BIBLE to prove her literacy. Literacy allows her to escape the gallows, but she's sent off to the colonies for 7 years of indentured servitude. It's like I told the thirdies today, literacy isn't a ticket to some rainbow land in the clouds where everyone has a big house and a heated swimming pool. But illiteracy is frequently a ticket to some pretty tough times.

And that's why this literacy blogging challenge is so important. So today's literacy blogging honors the literacy of Molly Bannaky and the famous grandkid she allegedly taught to read, Benjamin Banneker.