DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA. I remember standing in line at the Social Security office with my mama. I was ten years old. I could hear the lady at the front of the line saying, “Next! Go to the desk. Next! Fill out the form.”
When we got to the front of the line, my mother looked at the form and started to ask the lady a question: “Excuse me, can I—”
The lady cut her off and said, “Ma’am, take the form, take it to the desk, fill it out, and come back. Next!”
My mother and I walked to the desk, and my mother looked at the form. Water was starting to well up in her eyes, and I said, “Mama, what’s wrong?”
And she said, “Baby, Mama can’t read.”…
