Nationwide — This Dyslexia Awareness Month, two nationally recognized literacy advocates — one an NFL athlete, the other an Emmy-nominated actor — share their journeys from illiteracy to impact. In Built Like Champions; Betrayed by Schools, the latest episode of the Literacy Now – Together podcast, hosts Kareem Weaver and Brett Tingley sit down with Ameer Baraka and Deon Butler for a hard-hitting discussion. The message is simple: talent isn’t enough. Every child deserves the tools to read, because freedom begins with literacy.
Deon Butler, once a Central Michigan standout who earned an ESPY nomination for “Play of the Year,” graduated high school and college without being able to read. Undiagnosed dyslexia followed him into the NFL, where he could not read the Detroit Lions’ playbook. “Undiagnosed dyslexia cost me my dream,” he later shared with The Detroit News. Today, Butler is one of Michigan’s most visible advocates for literacy legislation. He credits University of Michigan Head Coach Sherrone Moore, his former position coach at Central Michigan, for believing in him when few others did. “Coach Moore saw me, not my limitations,” Butler recalls. “We need more teachers and coaches like that.”
Ameer Baraka, who went to prison for drug possession, taught himself to read behind bars and went on to become an award-winning author, actor, and activist. His memoir, Undiagnosed: The Ugly Side of Dyslexia, and his advocacy for the First Step Act (which mandates dyslexia screening for federal inmates) reflect a relentless drive to prevent others from walking the same path. “If someone had taught me to read by fourth grade,” he says, “I would have never gone to prison.”
Their conversation underscores what the NAACP’s 2014 Resolution on Dyslexia called “a civil rights issue of our time.” It is a reminder that most students like Butler and Baraka are never diagnosed, never helped, and never heard. Host Kareem Weaver, who appeared in LeVar Burton’s The Right to Read and the newly released, SOHO Award–winning documentary Left Behind, links their stories to a broader fight for educational justice.
Left Behind, available free until November 1 at LeftBehindTheFilm.com, follows New York mothers who opened the nation’s first public school for dyslexic students.
Together, the guests and hosts illuminate a painful truth: families with money often get private tutoring and specialized schools to help their children, while those without are left behind. As Weaver puts it, “You shouldn’t have to go to prison to learn how to read.”
Built Like Champions; Betrayed by Schools is not just a podcast episode — it’s a call to action for families, educators, and policymakers to guarantee every child the right to read.
Related Links:
– Full Episode: Built like Champions; Failed by Schools
– Left Behind Film: Free Streaming Until Nov 1
– First Step Act and Dyslexia Screening
– Deon Butler Op-Ed: The Detroit News
– NAACP Resolution on Dyslexia (2014)
– Fulcrum Literacy and Parents for Reading Justice
About Fulcrum Litera
Fulcrum Literacy is a national nonprofit committed to ensuring that Full and Complete Reading is a Universal Mandate. Founded by educator and advocate Kareem Weaver, Fulcrum partners with schools, families, and communities to advance evidence-based literacy instruction grounded in equity and excellence.
About Parents for Reading Justice
Parents for Reading Justice (PFRJ) is a parent-led advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring every child has access to the science of reading. Through outreach, community organizing, and storytelling, PFRJ amplifies family voices to drive systemic change in how reading is taught and supported.
For press inquiries, contact info@fulcrumliteracy.org