Having a full understanding that children are our future, and the role which a formidable education plays in their development, one Harlemite has devoted the past five years in assisting area youths build up their personal home libraries with conscious literature.
Since 2019, Miosha Randolph-Johnson’s nonprofit, Read It and Leave It, has been planting plenty of cerebral seeds among local school children which surely will come to harvest in the current, as well as future generations.
“We’re creating a better relationship around literacy and reading for these children, so they don’t only read at school,” she said. “A lot of kids are way behind in their reading levels. We don’t want them to think that reading is a daunting task. Books are actually fun. They open them up to a new world.”
Randolph-Johnson was inspired by her mother. “[She] raised me to be conscious, be proud of being Black, and love my people. I knew I wanted to do something for my community,” she said. As a youth, she recalled attending Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad’s Sept. 5 1998 Million Youth March on Harlem’s Malcolm X Boulevard.
She continued in those footsteps into becoming an activist herself. As an Occupy Wall Street alumna, she also frequented Free Mumia rallies with Queen Mother Blakely, and other progressive events.
When her son, Nykeek, outgrew some of his books, she gave them to her young niece, and then devised a plan to keep the knowledge circulating. She also did thorough research on the societal effects of education.
“This is how I’m doing my activism nowadays,” she said. “The objective of Read It and Leave It is to build home libraries for children from low-income families. There’s a link between how many books you have at home and how well [children] do in school. We’re providing books for kids, making reading fun.”
Reading is fundamental; while children of all ages are welcomed, Randolph-Johnson primarily focuses on elementary school-aged ones. By teaching them while they’re young, she’s helping them develop lifelong study habits. She also mentioned it helps many avoid the school-to-prison pipeline, “making school fun and cool for children.”
She ensures that the literature entices youths by creating fun ways for them to read. For instance, she got some students to read instructions without making them feel like it’s a chore, because they were learning how to make slime. She also provides books on various topics, as well as accommodates children’s requests — all the while getting them up to proper reading levels.
“I’ve seen a dynamic shift. They’re reading and writing, and don’t even realize it,” she proudly confides, adding that many students experience improving grades. “I want them to have a better life trajectory, and change their attitudes towards school and education. I give them books that include characters they relate to. It’s more than just reading a book.
It’s about the whole experience. It instills confidence in them.”
She warns about the consequences of the lack of education, which leads to crime, drug use, teen pregnancy, and poverty.
“These are children, it needs to be balanced, not just about the Black plight. We have way more to life than just activism,” Randolph-Johnson said. “It’s a book-giving program. I became a literary coach. Making literacy and reading fun. We call it Read It and Leave It because we leave the books with the children so they can take them home. [And] when they are finished reading their books, they can give it to a friend. I would hope that the model would self-replicate.”
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Greetings Ms. Johnson, I saw your article in the Amsterdam News. I became interested in the home libraries for inner-city youths. I do have a grand daughter in New York.
Keep up the good work and thank you for your service,
Mr. Runako-Gamba 1st