Watch as Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton reads a NSFW book

Shawn Knight

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watch reading rainbow levar burton nsfw books kickstarter charity found

I can remember as a child how strange it was to run across someone like a teacher out in public. Trying to comprehend that they were ordinary people outside of the classroom was a struggle. I’d always seen them in a particular setting and when that changed, it was completely foreign.

That same feeling washed over me as I watched the clip below of childhood icon LeVar Burton reading a not-so-child-appropriate book entitled, “Go the F**k to Sleep.”

Expletive-filled reading isn't the norm for Burton; it was done to help raise money for charity. In fact, much of Burton’s work is now centered on helping less fortunate kids.

Earlier this year, he spearheaded a Kickstarter campaign to bring Reading Rainbow to more platforms and develop a version to give to low-income schools free of charge. The campaign raised more than $5.4 million and currently holds the title of most backed Kickstarter project ever.

Found is a TechSpot feature where we share clever, funny or otherwise interesting stuff from around the web.

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So, what I got from this, was that the author figured he could compensate for his lack of writing ability by inserting expletives in grammatical locations that would otherwise require a modicum of wit to evoke even the slightest interest.

Or is this more post-modernist literary avant-garde where all objective measures of beauty are thrown away in favor of shock value and crude anti-establishment attitude?

In any event, good on LeVar; I always appreciate charity work.
 
That profanity laden rant, isn't a "parody" of anything! It's the daily, matter of fact way, in which some African Americans talk to, and treat, their children.

In fact, my son "learned about this", in a requirement padding course at Tyler School of Art called, "Cultural Anthropology". (OK, it might have also been in my Sociology 101 textbook too).

Anyway, they should slap Burton back into his Google Rift-Occulus Glasses, then shoot him back into space.
 
In fact, my son "learned about this", in a requirement padding course at Tyler School of Art called, "Cultural Anthropology". (OK, it might have also been in my Sociology 101 textbook too).

I never figured you for the child rearing type.
 
Samuel Jackson read this long ago. I stumbled across it on youtube and thought it was hilarious.

On a more serious note: as a parent who is neither black, african, american or prone to the use of profanity.. There WILL be days when you find yourself either whispering to your baby or begging with these very words for just a few minutes peace so you can close your own eyes. I don't think it was meant to be any greater literary statement or artistic piece. I and all my friends/family who have kids found the fact that this book exists amusing and kind of reassuring.

Being a parent is hard and there is no manual or score board to tell if you're screwing it up... but maybe I'm coming from a less gangsta rap infiltrated environment?
 
As a parent of two little kids, I have to say I loved this piece. Thanks for posting about this, Shawn.
 
I heard this read before by Samuel Jackson and thought it was hilarious (still do). Most parents probably have these thoughts at one point or another.
 
but maybe I'm coming from a less gangsta rap infiltrated environment?

I think that's the root cause of the differing perceptions. It would seem that this is purely an allusion for some, while Captain Cranky and I have both seen (on several occasions) black parents speaking to their children in such a manner. (Tough, in the interests of political correctness, there was one time I saw a redneck cuss out her kid.)
 
This really isn't a racial matter at all. I have seen blacks, whites, hispanics, etc talk like this to their children. curse words are no different that any other word depending on context. Some folks feel that using a curse word lends to the weight of the verbiage being spoken and that is all. Pretty sad honestly that SO MUCH gets boiled down to race at all. HUMANS are HUMANS. Period. End of story.
 
This really isn't a racial matter at all. I have seen blacks, whites, hispanics, etc talk like this to their children. curse words are no different that any other word depending on context. Some folks feel that using a curse word lends to the weight of the verbiage being spoken and that is all. Pretty sad honestly that SO MUCH gets boiled down to race at all. HUMANS are HUMANS. Period. End of story.
Well listen, if you see a black person driving a car with the radio on, and they happen to be under 30, then all you hear every other word, is the "N word".

BTW, do you speak Spanish? If not, then how would you know when Hispanics are cursing out their kids.

Oh, and mods, I suppose the quickest way to get a post pulled around here is tell the truth. And I just told it.
 
Well listen, if you see a black person driving a car with the radio on, and they happen to be under 30, then all you hear every other word, is the "N word".

BTW, do you speak Spanish? If not, then how would you know when Hispanics are cursing out their kids.

Oh, and mods, I suppose the quickest way to get a post pulled around here is tell the truth. And I just told it.

And I've witnessed some parents, or should I say breeders, address their progeny as if they are miniature adults. Yeah, some African-Americans may get flip with language when talking to their kids-what parent hasn't at times-but the little sociopaths that I see embarrassing parents of the Caucasian persuasion is ridiculous.

The book is just a comedic way to poke fun at the frustration that all parents feel about their spawn from time to time.
 
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