I Am Mary Anna’s Wildest Dream: Why Literacy Is Personal to Me
When people ask me why literacy matters so much to me, I can talk about reading scores. I can talk about book deserts. I can talk about the thousands of books Reading With Mrs. Richardson has placed into the hands of children.
But the real answer goes much deeper than numbers.
It starts with my great-grandmother, Mary Anna Dickerson.
Mary Anna died in her 50's of ovarioan cancer never learning how to read or write.
Think about that for a moment.
She lived her entire life without being able to experience something many of us take for granted every single day—the ability to pick up a book and read it, write down her own thoughts, or navigate the world through the written word.
But what Mary Anna did understand was the power of an education.
She instilled that belief in her two daughters. One of those daughters was my grandmother, Susie, who recently celebrated her 85th birthday. 🎉❤️
And Susie didn't just get an education. She made education her life's work.
My grandmother spent more than 40 years serving in education before retiring. Because of what her mother taught her, she made sure education remained a priority in her own family.
Her three sons—including my dad—were educated. That expectation and appreciation for learning continued into the next generation.
And then it reached me.
I continue that legacy through my son, Quinn.
Quinn has been read to since birth and often picks up books.
Education became our inheritance.
Mary Anna couldn't leave behind degrees.
She couldn't leave behind books she'd written or journals filled with her words.
But she left something incredibly powerful: the determination that her children would have opportunities she never had.
My grandmother carried it.
My father carried it.
And now I carry it.
I've been a journalist. I've been a middle school English teacher. Today, I lead a literacy organization dedicated to putting books into children's hands and helping young people understand the power of their own stories.
When I look at the path my life has taken, I can't help but think:
I am Mary Anna's wildest dream.
A great-granddaughter of a woman who couldn't read or write grew up to become a journalist—someone who literally made a career out of words.
Then I became an English teacher.
And now I run an organization centered around books, reading, writing, storytelling and education.
Tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor. ❤️
This is why a book will never be "just a book" to me.
When Reading With Mrs. Richardson gives a child a new book to take home, I'm not thinking only about whether that child will read it tonight.
I'm thinking about what access can change over generations.
I'm thinking about Mary Anna.
One woman who couldn't read still managed to plant a seed that has grown through four generations of our family.
That's legacy.
And that's why I believe so deeply that literacy can change the trajectory of a family.
A child who becomes a confident reader has access to information, ideas, opportunities and worlds beyond the one immediately in front of them. When children learn that their voices and stories matter, we're giving them something no one can take away.
That's also why representation matters so much in our work. I want children—particularly children growing up in underserved and under-resourced communities—to have access to new books, to see themselves in those books, and to know that their stories deserve space on the shelf too. 📚
And my story is still being written.
The last few years have given me an entirely different appreciation for that.
I've built this organization while raising my family. I've taught. I've written. I've served. I've celebrated some incredible moments.
I've also battled breast cancer.
And I came out on the other side.
Those experiences have made me even more intentional about what I do with the time and opportunities I've been given.
I don't take this work lightly.
Every Little Free Library we place. Every classroom we walk into. Every child who receives a book. Every young person we encourage to write. Every family we meet. Every literacy program we build.
For me, it's all connected to something that started long before Reading With Mrs. Richardson existed.
It started with Mary Anna.
I wish I could sit down with her today.
I wish I could hand her one of the books or literacy materials I've helped create. I wish I could tell her about her daughter Susie's 40-plus years in education. I wish I could tell her about the generations that came after her and what we've been able to accomplish because she decided that her children would have something she didn't.
But somehow, I think she knows.
And I think she's proud.
Mary Anna Dickerson never learned to read or write. But her belief in education helped create generations of educated children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond.
Her story didn't end with what she wasn't allowed to learn.
It continued through what she made sure we did.
So when you see me giving away books, talking about literacy, teaching Black history, advocating for children, or yelling "Read Mane!" from somewhere in Memphis 😂📚—know there is a woman standing behind all of it whose name you may have never heard.
Mary Anna, I hope we're making you proud.
I know I am your wildest dream.
And everything I do is in honor of you. ❤️
— Carla Fields-Richardson
Founder & Executive DirectorReading With Mrs. Richardson
Read Mane. 📚
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