Michael B. Coleman's Literacy Narrative Coleman, Michael B. >>SPEAKER: Do you have any stories about learning how to read and write when you were young? >>COLEMAN: I remember I got excited about reading. Umm, I think it was, umm, when it really got excited was in the second grade. Mrs. Mackey was my teacher and I'll never forget it, we had a reading contest. The more books you read; if you read the most books you went with the teacher who would buy and book you wanted at the bookstore. And, I won the prize of reading the most books in the second grade. And Mrs. Mackey took me, and out of her own pocket she bought me a book I selected that I wanted to own, and that was Green Eggs and Ham. [Laughing] >>COLEMAN: I'll never forget it, uhh, cause I wanted that book so badly, and I was so excited by that and I kept that book and I saved it, it's some place, I have it some place. It was that important to me, winning that prize. And then I got into reading comic books, first grade, second grade, I was looking at the pictures. I like Batman comic books, I love Spiderman, umm, and you know the pictures were great at first but I started reading it and then I would collect them and me and my buddies in the neighborhood, we would have hundreds and hundreds of comic books of all types. All the movies you see now were then comic books and I'd read every word of it. And, uhh, I'd order out of those comic books little things that, you know, you send in and you'll get this prize or that prize. >>SPEAKER: You mean like Charles Atlas? >>COLEMAN: Yeah, yeah, Charles Atlas, Charles Atlas. And then I remember reading about the amazing Mr. Ripley. Real young I'm thinkin' second grade, second, first grade, you know all these fantastic feats of mankind and womankind. Uhh, and, so I wanted to be in there one day. Never quite made it and frankly if I never make it that's ok with me. [laughing] >>SPEAKER: [inaudible] >>COLEMAN: Ripley's Believe it or not. >>SPEAKER: Did your mom, dad read to you when you were young? >>COLEMAN: They did, umm, my father would, all the boys were in one room, umm, David, Jeff, and myself and I was on the top bunk, I was the oldest so I slept on the top bunk, that's where I wanted to be so I could have perfect view over the whole room. And then Jeff stayed on the bottom bunk, he's the next oldest, and then David, he was the youngest of us all, and he slept on a separate bed in the same room. And my father would come into the room and he would bring a book, then he read Robinson Crusoe. >>SPEAKER: [inaudible] >>COLEMAN: Umm, at a very young age I just remember he'd sit there and every night for a long time, and this was a long book, but I was caught up in the book, I loved it, I loved the book Robinson Crusoe, he'd read that and he'd read other books as well. Back in those days and then I'd just enjoy it so much and I'd lay there and listen to him intently and then fall asleep and I'd dream about it and dream about what the stories were and it was really fun and I got it to the end. And then somewhere along the way he would read stories about Egypt and about African history, umm and I got really interested in ancient history at that time but the Greek mythology, we'd read about that, Zeus others. And, I said dad these are fantastic stories so that prompted me to go out and actually borrow from the library with a library card a book on Greek mythology and I don't remember how old I was, it may have been in the fourth grade maybe, maybe third grade, and these big pictures and all these wonderful stories about the gods of the ancient days. I was really into it, I knew every god and how they came to and what their special powers were and I enjoyed that very much and that really got me involved and interested in ancient history. I got engaged and involved in history ever since and I've enjoyed reading ever since. >>SPEAKER: Well, how did you get from history to being an attorney, getting your law degree? >>COLEMAN: Well that's a great connection. I remember, you know, my dad would read about Abraham Lincoln. He would read about John F. Kennedy. He would read about President "Ike" Eisenhower. And uh, history for me was really the catalyst becoming a lawyer. He'd read about civil rights days, you know, back when I was very young. >>SPEAKER: Back in the day. >>COLEMAN: Back in the... back before the day. [laughing] >>SPEAKER: [laughing] >>COLEMAN: Not just back in the day but back before the day. And uhh, there was just a natural extension. I remember once after my father read about one of the presidents in some story, umm, I used to take too long to get dressed to go to school. I was a slacker. Imagine that. SPEAKER: [laughing] >>COLEMAN: A slacker. You know, I'd get up and brush my teeth and somehow get around to putting my clothes on and eating breakfast and I was always late, and they were always pushing me to get ready. Well that all changed the day, the one night my father read about one of the presidents, and it may have been Abraham Lincoln, Eisenhower, Roosevelt, something like that or Truman, and then I remember him kneeling down beside me he said you know, "Michael, you need to get dressed in fifteen minutes. By the time you set your feet on the ground to the time you're dressed, out the door in fifteen minutes." I said: Gosh dad, that's a long time. He said, "son, President Eisenhower took fifteen minutes every morning to get dressed." I said, "really?" He said, "really." From that point on, at least in my younger years, fifteen minutes I was no longer late. Now it takes me a few hours just to get up out of bed every morning, but I'm just kidding. So that uhh... >>SPEAKER: Well, tell me just a little bit about, umm, how the role in reading and writing plays in your life now, Mr. Mayor. >>COLEMAN: Well, first what's played such a major role in my life throughout my life, I've always enjoyed reading, umm, and I read, you know, in high school I took a special course on novels, it was a special course so I read, all we did was read novels and talk about them and umm, this is back in, I guess I graduated in '73 from high school so early 70's and I loved that class and I read all the books of the day, you know, were the best sellers. And I remember, I went to a Catholic high school, and the book I read was "The Exorcist" and man that was a lively discussion. >>SPEAKER: [laughing] >>COLEMAN: It created images in my mind of things and I wanted to learn how to write and I began writing just for my own self. And started writing poetry and writing stories both short stories. I used to tell those stories, all stories that scared other kids on the block and bring the younger kids around and even my peers you would make up stories - mostly ghost stories, and it would scare everybody in the neighborhood. And uh, "Michael, tell us a story," and I would just make something up and I'd combine Edgar Allan Poe with uh, other writers, I read all their books. Edgar Allan Poe was another one - I just loved Edgar Allan Poe. Back when I was in grade school and I just read and read and I just loved it. So it's been a part of my life throughout and then in college I was a newspaper reporter for a college newspaper and so I started writing then and I don't think I was the best writer but - in fact I almost became - I almost said that I wanted to become a journalist because right after the Watergate thing and journalism was big and important right? And then I realized how much they made, how much money they made and I said, you know, I better pick another career. >>SPEAKER: [laughing] About as much as English. >>COLEMAN: [laughing] Yeah. Uh so, so it had been a part of me and so, uh in law school it was important to read and that's all you did was read and write - study, read, and write. >>SPEAKER#2: Did you still find time to read uh, novels? >>COLEMAN: Yeah I did. >>SPEAKER#2: You did? >>COLEMAN: To this day. And my tastes have changed over time, now I read a lot of biographies, and I enjoy biographies. Like I read a lot about politics. A good spy novel from time to time, you know, where the fate of the country is at stake, hanging in the balance - that's always a good one. You know, good. There's always a novel on the bookstore stand that has a picture of the capital, or the Whitehouse. >>SPEAKER: [laughing] >>COLEMAN: I'll pick that up and it says "suspense" on it, "spy" and you know, I said, "oh I wanna page through this," you know. >>SPEAKER: [laughing] >>COLEMAN: But biographies - I love biographies as well. I like to read how people got to where they are and their weaknesses or strengths, and frankly I learn from them, I learn from other people's biographies, I don't just read them out of curiosity. >>SPEAKER: When are you gonna write yours? >>COLEMAN: I am gonna write one. >>SPEAKER: I know, when? >>COLEMAN: I don't know. But I am gonna write something about my experiences in life and I'm not sure if it would be all that interesting but... >>SPEAKER: There are people out there who wanna know about this; every one of the students in this class would really enjoy that. >>COLEMAN: Yeah? >>SPEAKER: Yeah. >>COLEMAN: Ok, but I intend to, uh and right now my biggest - I read a lot, lots of memos, lots of reports, but I still have my pleasure reading. Right now I'm reading a book about the Obama/McCain race, the Clinton race, and I find it just a thrilling novel. >>SPEAKER: It is "Renegade"? >>COLEMAN: No, it's uh, called "Game Change" it's a really good book, I'm like about 10 pages more to go. I really love the book, I read several books a year and it helps me escape - even though it's about an area that I work in - you're all like this book... this book I'm reading - just about finished now - called "Game Change" uhh, what's so interesting is that I know many of the characters in it, personally, uhh at least on the Democrat side. And so you have the background so it's like, "yeah I remember this, I remember that," it was good escapism for me now. So I'm always lookin' for a good book. >>SPEAKER: Tell me one more thing, uhh, you said you were a library supporter right? >>COLEMAN: I am. >>SPEAKER: When you went to the library when you were a child, could you just say what libraries meant to you because one of the things we want to help and reason we do this is so the libraries will go along with this stuff. >>COLEMAN: Ok, and talk about that - remind me to talk about now. >>SPEAKER: Ok, very good, yes I'm sorry I took you off your chronology. >>COLEMAN: Ok, uhh, now what I do is I write my state of the city, and I have help with it but - help with staff for ideas and concepts - but I have a great time writing my state of the city and it is a major event in city hall. And I'm very focused on it and I struggle to get through it but once it's all over I say, "Aww man, this is great. I got it done!" And for me, the state of the city is an accumulation of all of my wisdom and work and writing skills and I have help from others. Learning and understanding over the years comes out in the state of the city. And it is a major event for me personally, it's an accumulation of all my reading and writing over the years. >>SPEAKER#2: And for a quick follow up: is the process of writing the state of the city something that you have to learn anew when you took this job - you said you had a number of staff members for elaborating - is it a different kind of writing than you have done before? >>COLEMAN: Yes it is. My first state of the city was the most difficult because I wanted to make it different than previous administrations. I wanted to make it big and important, visionary, something that you could look to as your measuring stick - how you're doing in your time in public office. It's a major challenge and you never really get it down. But the first one was the most difficult; I struggled mightily over my first state of the city eleven years ago, but I ended up, you know, with a productive document and a productive speech that I think made a difference in the city. States of cities are about not just good writing but it's also an exercise of where you're going as a community and what the measurements will be for you as a leader in this community. People want to be led, they want to be led. And whether they agree with you or disagree with you - that document gives you the path of leadership for that year. This year's state of the city - the titles are very important to me - "The Steady Road to Prosperity." That's the title of my state of the city. >>SPEAKER: [inaudible] >>COLEMAN: Yeah, so... >>SPEAKER: Tell me one more thing about the state of the city. So how would you describe your style of writing? If you had to characterize yourself and you were thinking about your styles you wrote, what would you say? >>COLEMAN: You know I'm not sure what my style is, it's learned over the years. The way I write and the way I speak... The way I write and the way I write for a speech is very different. They're 2 different styles so have to learn 2 styles. Actually I've learned 3 styles over time. One style is legal writing, which is the worst of all, the least understandable, trying to be the most precise writing there is - it is actually the most imprecise writing there is in my opinion. You know contracts, documents, you know, they're very sometimes it is... >>SPEAKER: Impenetrable. >>COLEMAN: Yeah it's called C-Y-A writing. >>SPEAKER: [laughing] >>COLEMAN: And then there is speech writing, which is very different than that. It is communicating an idea that is very different. Then there is creative writing and I like creative writing. I like the process that goes into it. Creative writing to me really comes from within, comes from within. It's something you can't even describe. It's your feeling coming out onto a piece of paper through your hand. I still write long-hand, I'm not one of those guys. Speech writing is a collaborative effort and you're communicating an idea as well as specifics, a vision as well as concrete things. It takes a special skill - you're creating images in words that are spoken but are first read so it is a special, special skill. You get a good speech writer - and I think I'm a good speech writer for myself - it's worth it. >>SPEAKER#2: You get any pressure from your colleagues to write on your computer? >>COLEMAN: No, no, I'm old school. I use the computer regularly, you know, but I don't write speeches. I write long-hand. >>SPEAKER: So my other question was just briefly about the use of libraries. >>COLEMAN: Oh, libraries. >>SPEAKER: Yeah, when you were young. >>COLEMAN: Uhh, I loved libraries. You really do, I walk inside a library as a young person all the way to today - it creates a comforting environment of knowledge and it's an environment where for me the books, the environment creates this environment of knowledge, self-improvement, wanting to know more right when you walk in the door. I don't care how we rely so much upon computers. We sit there and have at your finger-tips any information in the world you want right now through the computer and through the web, through Google or some other similar type service. Never will it replace the function of the library, it can't. It would be a travesty, it's the interaction of human beings, it's the ability to absorb the knowledge that is contained in the library, it is something that started back in the ancient days and will survive forever. A community without a library is a community that is not doing well and the population is not doing well. A community that relies solely upon the web and not on the interaction of the library is a community that will not prosper - it won't. Sometimes I think technology is a good thing but we can't rely on it so much that it takes away from human interaction and knowledge through being there, there's a big difference. >>SPEAKER#2: Are you sure that the contest of going to the library really can convey the inspiration that you felt as a young person walking into the library? >>COLEMAN: Going into that library as a young person made all the difference in the world. I can say today with technology - I love technology it's important, very important, you gotta have it, but even in my office young folks rather than getting up when right across the hall from each other - they would email each other, rather than get up walk across the hall sit there and have a conversation. I tell you, there's a whole different dynamic when you can have a conversation face-to-face than email somebody. Frankly I encourage my folks not to email when they're so close together - just talk to each other! You get a whole different dynamic that you don't get up. Anyway, that's a whole other story, that's off the topic. >>SPEAKER: Well, tell me... >>COLEMAN: Am I right? >>SPEAKER#2: You're right. >>COLEMAN: [laughing] >>SPEAKER: Then you have a chance right now to talk to young people who are going to watch this tape - they can download it over the internet. [laughing] >>COLEMAN: Download it over the internet! [laughing] But it's the face-to-face man face-to-face! >>SPEAKER: They can do that and what would you tell them about reading and writing in their lives, er, what they should be thinking about, getting an education especially in regard to reading and writing? >>COLEMAN: I can't... I can't even imagine where my life would be if I didn't read and write. I can't even imagine what I wouldn't be doing. Would NOT be doing. It's a difference maker. It's a difference maker in the quality of your life. In education now, but just a basic quality of your life. If you're not a reader or a writer, your quality of life is gonna be far diminished than those who read and write, much greater quality of life. I want to live on this earth with a good quality of life. I wanna feel good about myself, good about livin', or feel good about those around me and when you read and write it has an impact on all of those subjects. Without it, it's so hard for me to fathom the empty vessel that I would be if I didn't read and write. I learn so much from both. I learn about myself through writing, I learn about others through reading. It's a growth opportunity. The older I get, the more I frankly read. No matter how busy I am, I always, in the evenings, always pick up something and read it. First thing I do in the morning is read - that's my morning routine. First thing I do in the morning for as long as I can remember is getting a newspaper - I get several newspapers in the morning - and I read it. I like to read the newspaper, not on the web, I like to read the newspaper and have it right there, and read it cover to cover. That's before I say a word, before I do anything in the morning, I read it; a minimum of one newspaper, sometimes two or three. It's the last thing I do at night is read. Throughout the day I read. God didn't give me this to underutilize it. >>SPEAKER: Well we didn't leave much out, Mr. Mayor. So this is a wonderful time, I want to thank you for the time. You have been just absolutely - [Media cuts off]