dr. michael lomax, the president of the united negro college fund. thank you. >> thank you, max. thank you, max. [applause] >> i'm delighted to be here. and to be a part of this 13th annual harlem book fair. and to help inaugurate what i hope to be an ongoing relationship with this wonderful institution in harlem and hopefully around the country. i've been asked to address the state of african-american literacy and education. the name of this event, the venue in which it is being held, the lineup of speakers and the competition of the audience could seem to point to an upbeat assessment. here we are afterall, at the harlem book fair. in an auditorium named for a great african-american poet, novelist, and playwright langston hughs who was almost a lifelong, certainly from his adulthood, from the time he came from new york to attend columbia in the early 1920s was an almost continuous lifelong resident of harlem. when are in the library named after and built on the collection of a great afro caribbean, shoneberg. we are just around the corner from an harlem book fair venue, this on