Question

Royster’s article references the theory of literacy as a sociopolitical action.  Central to that action is the use of language as “an act or tool of communication” and that “communicator must have internalized sociolinguistic knowledge and be able o use that knowledge to ‘read’ a situation and create a meaning that can be conveyed to others”.  Although slaves were considered to be illiterate, they used songs to communicate important information and convey meaning to each other.  They were able to communicate intricate message though coding systems int he songs.  There were the salves truly illiterate according to our modern day view of what literacy means?