richie havens (above) and malcom x (right)
in assembly today one of the english teachers spoke about the importance of reading, using malcom x as an example. she said that at age 13 he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a 'petty crime' - breaking and entering i think - where there was an excellent, rare collection of great books. over time malcom x became an intelligent, self-educated man. that's pretty inspiring, considering he was an inarticulate street hustler who had dropped out of school prior to his imprisonment. he changed his own life and turned something negative into something positive, i admire that.
i also learnt today, through this blog post, that a musician called richie havens died today. i had never heard of him before but it sounds like he was an amazing guy. his guitar playing was really cool and he also did poetry. this man opened woodstock festival in 1969 with a 3 hour performance while other musicians arrived and the crowd never got tired. richie havens once said that he only sang songs that moved him. how special and lovely. :-)
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