After Kanye West said he was repulsed by literature, comparing reading to the way some children despise vegetable, Mr. Reading Rainbow himself, LeVar Burton, stepped in giving him the side eye— the way that only an elder can do.
On Friday, Sept. 16, Kanye said in an interview with Alo’s Danny Harris and Alyson Wilson on a new episode of the “Alo Mind Full” podcast, he said, “I actually haven’t read any book. Reading is like eating Brussels sprouts for me. And talking is like getting the Giorgio Baldi corn ravioli.”
He took to Twitter and posted, “Hmmm… I’m going have to take Mr. West at his word.”
“I hope however, that he shares a different message with the children enrolled in the school he’s founded named after his mother, who was an professor of English,” he continued to write in his tweet.
As reported by AllHipHop.com, Kanye opened the Donda school in Simi Valley.
Though it is not yet accredited, parents allegedly have to signed nondisclosure agreements to sent their little ones to the Christian private school.
He ended the statement saying, “I’m fairly certain she read a book or two. #bydhttmwfi.”
Many young people might not know what bydhttmwfi means, and if they do, they may not know the origins of the acronym.
However, it happens to be Burton’s “Reading Rainbow catch phrase, “but you don’t have to take my word for it.”
Many people know Burton because of his work as Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994) or the original Kunta Kinte from the history making ABC miniseries “Roots” (1977). But many Gen Xers know him from the PBS Kinds educational program that promoted literacy and became a cult classic.
So popular was the show and the level of intellect he represented as its Griot, his fans pushed for him to replace Alex Trebek as the host of “Jeopardy,” upon his demise.
People just love him.