Nathaniel Rollins stood before the St. Petersburg city council last week discussing the impact of the city’s blue laws. He was named the Volunteer of the Year for his dedication to political organizing and dreams of becoming attorney general someday. But Rollins, 33, has another dream, one that would help him reach his ultimate goal -- to be able to read the very laws that he advocates.
His high school diploma, newspaper graduation announcement and graduation cap still decorate his mother’s dresser even after 14 years. But when Rollins graduated from high school, he couldn’t read the very diploma he was awarded.
Like many high school students, Rollins was pushed along the school system, literacy tutor and organizer Virginia Gildrie said. She has been working in literacy programs for 30 years and sees cases like Rollins’ too many times.
Although the number of adults enrolling in adult education classes is increasing, in Pinellas County, the number of tutors is dropping, according to the Literacy Council of St. Petersburg. About 50 students per school are on waiting lists around the county to improve their reading skills.
But Rollins’ dreams can’t wait.
He tried attending literacy classes before but quit. Now Rollins is back for a second chance at learning.
When Rollins was 5, his kindergarten teacher told his mother that he had a reading disability.
“It was so hard,” his mother, Carolyn Josey, 57, said. “Some kids that have trouble reading get pushed so much that they just give up. I didn’t want that to happen.”
But along with Rollins’ disability, the family was dealing with other hardships. As a single parent, Josey raised six children and depended on government assistance to feed them. Once a month, they took a trip to a thrift shop for clothes and received donations from several churches.
Nathaniel and his sister Brenda’s toes squished inside sneakers that were too tight on their feet and their little bodies looked bigger when they wore oversized faded T-shirts.
Rollins’ mother didn’t finish school, but she taught herself how to read by asking friends to pass on old books to her. Josey always reminds her children they must hold their head up high. “I want them to go farther in life than me.”
Rollins stepped into the literacy classes at Lakewood Community School as a recent high school graduate. He worked at a cleaning service, where he felt he wasn’t going to be judged for not reading well.
Rollins sat in his living room one night and surfed channel after channel for something to watch. The Bev Smith Show was on BET and Rollins stopped surfing. Bev introduced her panelist of the night -- a 50-year-old man who overcame a reading disability. Rollins kept watching. A toll-free number flashed on the screen. Should he call? He hesitated, but picked up the phone. He was directed to Lakewood Community School.
“I was like a lot of young kids,” Rollins said. “I didn’t know what I was doing with my life.” He looked around the classroom and felt out of place. Almost everyone was more than 30 years old. After about six months of tutoring, Rollins decided to leave.
It was a time when Rollins was struggling with his sexual identity. The older he got, the more his eyes opened to the injustices faced by many gay and lesbians.
“It was painful,” he said. “I spent a lot of time in my room without someone I could talk to.” Music became his best friend as he searched for acceptance. The more he learned about gay and lesbian rights, the more he wanted to know about every kind of law. A year ago, he discovered Equality Florida, an organization dedicated to eliminating discrimination. Equality Florida fueled his passion.
There was so much to be done: writing letters to legislators, educating neighbors and talking to city officials. Instead, Rollins was limited to running errands and stuffing envelopes for the group. Rollins stepped into the literacy classes once again.
“We’ve never had a student so involved in community issues,” Gildrie said. “He’s eager to learn and that’s motivating.” Although he struggles with sounds and taking words apart, she said, Rollins’ reading has gone to a first-grade level.
Rollins won’t consider himself a high school graduate until he improves enough to pass the high school equivalency exam.