Lesra Martin named inaugural celebrity LEARN Ambassador
(Kamloops, BC – April 7, 2011) - ABC Life Literacy Canada is pleased to announce today, during LinK’s Adult Literacy Forum at Street School, that Mr. Lesra Martin, Kamloops, BC resident, lawyer and motivational speaker, has joined the organization as the first-ever LEARN Ambassador.
Finding his own freedom from poverty and an uncertain future through a commitment to improving his literacy skills, Lesra moved from Brooklyn, NY to Toronto where he worked with a tutor who helped inspire a love of learning.
“I found my freedom through reading,” commented Lesra Martin. “It upsets me to think that there are people out there who are not living fully engaged lives because their literacy skills may be holding them back. Being involved with ABC Life Literacy Canada as the Ambassador for LEARN means I can personally direct people to a resource that gives them access to a world of knowledge and engagement.”
LEARN is a national print and online resource that helps Canadians find literacy programs in their communities that can help them increase their reading, writing and math skills. Individuals interested in upgrading their literacy skills can visit LookUnderLearn.ca / VoirApprendre.ca or search LEARN in the Yellow Pages directories.
Lesra used his determination and passion along with the support of literacy practitioners and tutors to successfully complete high school as an Ontario scholar (1983), receive an Honours B.A. from the University of Toronto (1988) and graduate from Dalhousie Law School in 1997. After serving as a Crown Prosecutor in Kamloops, BC he now has his own private law firm, Martin & Martin Lawyers, and shares his inspirational message across Canada.
“We are extremely proud to be working with Lesra as our LEARN Ambassador,” commented Margaret Eaton, president of ABC Life Literacy Canada. “His story underlines the importance of how actively practicing and increasing ones literacy skills has positive benefits to the individual and community at large.”
Lesra’s story was documented in the critically acclaimed 1999 feature film The Hurricane starring Denzel Washington. The movie is about Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people – Lesra Martin included – who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Inspired by Lesra’s real life odyssey from a poorly educated Brooklyn teen to an engaged civic-minded legal prosecutor, Washington commented to Reuters, “What a journey!” Both Oprah Winfrey and Larry King honoured his story with interviews on their shows as a way to further spread his message.
In his role as LEARN Ambassador, Lesra, who defines learn as Live Every Aspect of your Life Right Now, serves as the official spokesperson for ABC Life Literacy Canada’s Look Under Learn campaign in 2011 and will speak to groups across the country about the importance of improving ones literacy skills and how LEARN is a simple first step anyone can take towards finding help in their local community.
Since 1994, LEARN has been a highly successful awareness program connecting tens of thousands of adults to literacy programming in their community. Individuals interested in improving their literacy skills, or who know someone who could benefit from literacy programming, look in the Yellow Pages directories under the heading LEARN or APPRENDRE to find organizations in their communities that they can contact for information and assistance. Visit LookUnderLearn.ca or VoirApprendre.ca to begin your learning journey today.
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