by Kim Filchak

Oh God Geordi, now you’re making me cry. In an emotional video posted to YouTube an obviously deeply touched Levar Burton expressed his gratitude to those who helped his kickstarter campaign hit it’s one million dollar goal in a single day. The overwhelming support for the campaign, now on day two, has helped it already hit the two million dollar mark and there are still thirty three more days to go.

Burton created the kickstarter to bring back the beloved show Reading Rainbow as an educational app, the goal of this being to make the show universally available as possible. Previously Burton had reincarnated the show in a tablet version but as the kickstarter page so rightly explains, with an ever increasing  tech gap caused by economic inequity many children do not have access to a tablet. The goal of this app is to make the show available to as many children as possible. Reading Rainbow promotes a love of reading in children and at a point in time when education is increasing becoming about the ability to pass a standardized the show, in all of it’s incarnations, is like an incredibly kick ass reminder that reading could be fun.  I remember being quite upset (Read: filled with rage) when I heard that Reading Rainbow was going off the air because as someone who worked to promote a love of books in children myself I knew that nothing would be able to even come close to replacing Levar Burton and his joyous enthusiasm over reading. This man and his show are a national treasure and it is just so damn moving to see not only that people recognize this with their overwhelming support of his kickstarter campaign but also his deep and genuine gratitude for this support. No, I’m not crying, I just had to cut onions. Nope, not tears here. Sniff.