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USA Today
4 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Librarians, teachers and others plan day of action to fight book bans and preserve history
Librarians, teachers and others plan day of action to fight book bans and preserve history Show Caption Hide Caption Major publishers and authors are suing Florida over its book ban law Major publishers and authors are suing Florida over its law banning books deemed to have sexual content, saying the law violates free speech. Straight Arrow News In Gainesville, Florida, The Lynx Books will host a screening of 'Banned Together" on its back patio. In Washington, D.C., participants will march on the National Mall stopping at museums to highlight the importance of preserving history. And in Seattle, visitors to some public libraries will join a ''silent read-in'' of banned books. Across the country, librarians, teachers, bookstore owners, civil rights activists and others plan to hold as many as 100 events June 7 as part of Teach Truth Day of Action. The national campaign aims to support the teaching of unvarnished history and to encourage people to read more, including banned books. The actions come in the wake of efforts by the Trump administration and some conservative groups to restrict the teaching of certain history and to ban some books, many written by authors of color. 'This wave of book banning is not new, but now it's being not only supported by the federal government, but the federal government is using it to threaten to withhold funds so it's making it worse," said Rebecca Pringle, president of the National Education Association. 'Now we have more and more who are realizing we need to stand up and we need to use our voice." It's not censorship, but education, some say Dozens of states mostly led by Republicans have adopted or proposed measures that activists said overlook critical parts of Black history or restrict language related to race, sexuality and gender issues in public schools. Some have also restricted what books and materials are available in classrooms, many that focus on race or sexuality. These mostly conservative lawmakers and groups argue that some books are offensive and should be kept from children, and that key parts of Black history are already taught in schools. Jonathan Butcher, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said if school officials decide a book is too sexually graphic for young people, then it shouldn't be in the school library. He said it is the responsibility of the school board and parents to make that decision. 'That's their job,'' Butcher said. 'It is entirely appropriate for school boards and parents to work together and decide what books should be kept on shelves." More: The new Selma? Activists say under DeSantis Florida is 'ground zero' in civil rights fight He said banned books are likely available online or in public libraries and that some claims of censorship are exaggerated. 'I think it's a tactic to make it appear as if censorship is happening, when actually this is what education is about," Butcher said. 'Adults come together, decide what should be taught in sex education, in health ed, in civics and history and they determine what books should be kept on the shelves." March to preserve history Pringle and leaders of libraries and civil rights groups said their concerns and actions extend beyond book bans to pushing back against narrow interpretations of history. 'We last year focused a lot on banned books because obviously those were a lot of the things that were happening in the public square," said Nakeesha J. Ceran, deputy director for Teaching for Change, an advocacy group. 'What feels different in this moment is really the deep concerted effort to undermine all spaces and sites of public education, inclusive of public schools, museums, libraries." The D.C. march, led by Teaching for Change and others, will start at the National Museum of African American History and Culture with stops at the National Museum of American History, the Hirshhorn Museum, the National Air and Space Museum and end at the National Museum of the American Indian. The popular African American history museum has been singled out by President Donald Trump who called its work part of a 'widespread effort to rewrite our nation's history.' Ceran disagreed, saying it's important to educators, students and others to be able to teach the truth about the history of all Americans. 'It also matters in the midst of seeing all of the dismantling that's happening, to be inspired by people, movement and resistance that is happening every day," she said. Reading material impacts 'the culture of a place' In Florida, The Lynx Books will hold a discussion Saturday about book bans and proposals to restrict the teaching of history. It will be followed by a showing of 'Banned Together," a documentary about teenagers fighting book bans. 'In our local community there are a lot of people who are very saddened by the banning of books and the intense curriculum restrictions in Florida and really want to fight against that,' said Viv Schnabel, events and community outreach for the independent bookstore. Lynx sells banned books year-round and hosts a monthly banned-book book club. Up next is 'If Beale Street Could Talk," by James Baldwin. The bookstore has also donated books, including banned ones, to community organizations. ''It's an issue that impacts every single community," Schnabel said. 'What is being taught and what is available for children to read and for everyone to read directly impacts the culture of a place. So I think everyone certainly should care.' 'Working on fighting book bans' Pringle called Florida 'Exhibit A" in the fight against book bans and restrictions on teaching history, but said the pushback is happening in other states as well. 'We have to have activists in every community,'' she said. The Seattle Public Library, for example, is hosting anti-book banning events on June 7, 14 and 21. 'The country is experiencing unprecedented levels of censorship," said Kristy Gale, a teen services librarian there. 'So many people wanted to get tapped into something like this. I think we're going to get a lot of interest from folks who want to support libraries … and the work that we do. " In 2023, the library launched 'Books Unbanned," a free digital collection of audio and e-books, including some that are banned. More than 440,000 books have been checked out, library officials said. 'It's our way of taking our resources that we have and making them available to people in other parts of the nation who don't have the kind of support for libraries or are experiencing censorship,'' said library spokeswoman Elisa Murray. More: Protestors rally to support the national African American museum and Black history Schnabel of The Lynx Books hopes the efforts have impact beyond a day. 'We're working on fighting book bans year-round not just on this day," she said. "But we're excited and hopeful that this day will shed a particular light on the work that we're doing and the work that other people across the nation are doing.'
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Students Fighting Book Bans Are the Focus of the New Documentary Banned Together
Stay up-to-date with the politics team. Sign up for the Teen Vogue Take Just four days after Donald Trump took office earlier this year, his Department of Education (may it rest in peace) released a statement declaring book bans a 'hoax.' As someone who spent countless hours in school board meetings to fight book-banning attempts in my own district, I wish this claim had even an ounce of truth in it. The new documentary film Banned Together (available on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video) debunks the Trump administration's blatant lie that Americans are safe from book bans. The documentary follows my efforts to preserve intellectual freedom in Beaufort, South Carolina, alongside student activists Isabella 'Izzy' Troy Brazoban and Millie Bennett. My personal experience in combating censorship started in 2022 when complaints from two community members resulted in the removal of 97 books from every school in the Beaufort County School District (BSCD). Izzy, Millie, and I attended three different schools when the books were taken, but we each found our way to school board meetings that winter. The three of us, along with several other students who understood and appreciated the value of access to diverse literature, began meeting biweekly to research and draft public comments that showcased the endless variety of arguments for keeping the government out of school libraries. Every other Tuesday, we stood before the board in a strategic, predetermined order to maximize the impact of that evening's comments. I reviewed the history of public education as a pillar of functioning democracy and documented historical instances of book-banning to demonstrate the anti-democratic nature of censorship. Millie spoke to the importance of queer representation in literature for LGBTQ+ students who often lack resources and support in small, conservative communities like Beaufort. Izzy shared her own experiences with racism and familial substance abuse to show that trying to 'protect' students by taking away books with dark storylines is ineffective and even dangerous for the significant portion of kids who have already experienced similar hardships in their own lives. Slowly but surely, the BCSD Board voted to comply with recommendations from community-led review committees, returning a few books at a time over the course of the year. In the end, 91 of the 97 books were returned to our schools. The School Board's hopeful voting record was a major win for Beaufort County, but the story has ended differently for so many other school districts in South Carolina and across the country. PEN America has documented 'nearly 16,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021,' a number that is rising alarmingly quickly with each passing school year. When Atomic Focus Entertainment — the production company behind Banned Together — approached Millie, Izzy, and me about filming a documentary to capture our community's response to censorship efforts, the story quickly and necessarily morphed. What started as local activism for Izzy, Millie, and me became a national undertaking when the three of us had the opportunity to meet and interview scholars, politicians, and authors about the United States' dramatic rise in censorship. Howard University law professor Justin Hansford explained to us that the First Amendment not only protects Americans' right to express ideas, but to receive information as well — meaning the removal of access to specific novels directly violates the Constitution. PEN America's Jonathan Friedman illustrated how book banning has opened the door to classroom censorship, discouraging educators from teaching the most up-to-date and accurate curricula. Bestselling author Jodi Picoult indicated that the real motivation behind banning books is a fear that kids may wind up thinking differently than their parents — on a whole host of issues. Over and over, everyone we talked to reaffirmed one central message: the book-banning movement is about something so much bigger than books. The same movement started by attacking Critical Race Theory as a proxy for targeting Black and brown students. Queer and transgender students — like my own brother — were added to the list of demonized identities as far-right extremists came after their stories in schools and libraries. And now the Trump administration is coming after higher education by utilizing unconstitutional fear tactics to dismantle DEI programs and deport international students who challenge its policy positions. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) reminded us that censorship is a core function of fascism, as seen by the book burning carried out in Nazi Germany. Cutting off access to ideas that threaten a singular, narrow perspective of the American experience is inherently undemocratic, in addition to being harmful to students with marginalized identities. Raskin's frank analysis is a good reminder that book banners have never been on the right side of history. Needless to say, my last year of high school certainly would have been a lot less stressful if book bans were indeed a mere hoax. But, unfortunately, instances of censorship are happening all over America as part of a larger agenda to silence diverse voices, rewrite history, and suppress the critical thinking that is the hallmark of an informed electorate. As students, we cannot sit idly until our favorite book is taken from our classrooms or our coolest teacher is harassed into leaving her profession. Consider the words of Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller spoken in Germany following the Holocaust: 'First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.' When right-wing extremists come after public education and First Amendment rights, they are coming after you. They are coming after your ability to consume information, to read books that speak to your identity, to develop empathy for your peers, to think critically about the world around you. If you're wondering what you can do, watching Banned Together is a great first step. You'll learn more about the context surrounding book bans and censorship, and see how students and communities alike have fought back against these harmful policies. Hopefully, the film will leave you feeling inspired, optimistic, and ready to take action; after all, we have the joy of learning, literature, diversity, and inclusivity on our side. And in the words of This Book is Gay author Juno Dawson, 'Who doesn't love joy?' Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue Check out more Teen Vogue education coverage: Affirmative Action Benefits White Women Most How Our Obsession With Trauma Took Over College Essays So Many People With Student Debt Never Graduated College The Modern American University Is a Right-Wing Institution
