Peter (fl.โ1863) (also known as Gordon, or "Whipped Peter", or "Poor Peter") was an escaped American slave who was the subject of photographs documenting the extensive keloid scarring of his back from whippings received in slavery. The "scourged back" photo became one of the most widely circulated photos of the abolitionist movement during the American Civil War and remains one of the most notable photos of the 19th-century United States.
I assume it's a non-native English speaker talking about literacy. In many languages, the word for "literate" is some form of "alphabetized" (i.e. someone who knows the alphabet)