Literacy advocates in Ohio defend difficult texts as they mark Toni Morrison Day
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'Words are powerful and that means that they're dangerous,' she said. 'I write for kids and we all want what's best for kids, and we all worry that our kids will hear things that we don't agree with. But the answer isn't censorship — the answer's connection. We have to have conversations with our children.'
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She made her comments against the backdrop of a larger national movement pushing back on what conservatives see as 'wokeness' in schools. In Ohio, the well-funded Protect Ohio Children Coalition has worked in recent years to gather information on schools and school boards that it says are pushing 'dangerous and radical materials' on Ohio students and it posts to its website an 'indoctrination map' targeting districts.
State Rep. Joe Miller, a Democrat whose district includes Morrison's hometown, Lorain, said Tuesday that developing a love of reading as a child can hone critical thinking, foster empathy, spark creativity and broaden one's perspective about people unlike themselves.
Morrison learned to read and write using chalk on the sidewalk — and she said of her job at the Lorain library, 'Everything I do starts here,' Miller recalled. Lorain is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of Cleveland.
Miller said that young writers of varied ages, genders and backgrounds just attended an event at the Lorain Public Library on Saturday celebrating them for their writings. It was part of The Big Read, which is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
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'That funding probably is going to go, and that is going to take away an opportunity,' he said.
Sharon Hawkins, director of Right to Read Ohio, said the constitutional right of free speech also applies to reading, which is the receiving of speech, and that courts have extended that right to children, including in their schools.
'Courts have frowned upon anyone restricting this access just because they don't like the ideas expressed in a book,' she said. 'And we the people — Republicans, independents, Democrats, all — overwhelmingly appreciate the local libraries and librarians.'
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