Category: Diversity
“Ignorant Youth” Comment Motivates Student Jordan Joubert To Fight Against Censorship
“I think people fail to realize how much hate is really an issue.” Read this interview with Jordan Joubert, student at North Hunterdon High School, New Jersey, who is currently engaged in speaking at board meetings, creating student-run organizations, and serving as a youth advocate in the face of censorship.
Jude Gepp, New Jersey Student, Advocates for Inclusivity and LGBTQ+ Equality from School Board
“Every voice matters, even if you don’t think yours does.” Read this interview with Jude Gepp, sophomore at North Hunterdon High School, New Jersey, who is currently engaged in speaking at board meetings, sending emails to the board for creating more inclusive learning environments, and maintaining their own website to inform the community about the LGBTQ+ equality movement.
Censorship Escalates to Burning Books
February started off on quite the ominous note, with pastor Greg Locke from Tennessee holding an old-fashioned book burning. While hardly the first, the widespread coverage in the news is a sign that we have stopped denying book burnings happen on US soil. The unfortunate reality is they happen here, and we need to pay attention to their rise in our own backyard.
Martha Hickson, Students, and School Board Save 5 Challenged Titles
Five diverse titles were recently challenged in North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, New Jersey. Read this interview with award-winning school librarian Martha Hickson to learn more about how she engaged in successful advocacy using community resources and students to help insure students’ intellectual freedom rights.
Book Review: Let’s Talk About Race in Storytimes by Jessica Anne Bratt
In this book Bratt lays out how librarians can start talking about race as part of their regular storytime practice. She begins with an introduction explaining her reasons for committing to talking about race in her storytimes and how the Black Lives Matter movement’s tenant of starting your antiracist work where you are inspired her to work within libraries to move us as a society towards racial equity. This book is a great guide for any librarian who is looking to create more diverse and inclusive storytimes at their libraries but don’t know where to start. I highly encourage anyone who leads storytimes at their library to consider adding this (quick) read to their upcoming professional development plans.
Practical Steps for Navigating Intellectual Freedom Challenges: Interviews with Tasslyn Magnusson and Ashley Hope Peréz
Read more to discover recent resources developed to help combat book and intellectual freedom censorship stemming from anti-”critical race theory” critics.
bell hooks (In Memoriam) and Book Challenges: Education as a Practice of Freedom
bell hooks’ writing about teaching has some pertinent lessons for today’s book challenges and proposed laws that presume students should avoid discussions of race and sexuality as much as possible. hooks shows us how this thinking is harmful and how we can help students benefit by embracing experiences of diversity.
“Anti-Critical Race Theory” Education Legislation, Passed and Pending, is Unconstitutional Censorship
Based on fear-induced disinformation being spread by grassroots parent organizations advocating for increased parental control over public education, legislation is being introduced and passed in some states which severely restricts intellectual freedom rights of teachers and students.
South Carolina Parents Involved in Education (SCPIE) Hosting Meetings Across State, Demanding Censorship
Organizations such as United States Parents Involved in Education are centering themselves in the fight against what they perceive as indoctrination and propaganda in public schools, directly advocating for unconstitutional censorship of educational and library materials.
Texas’s Book Censorship Hysteria: An interview with Ashley Hope Pérez
Ashley Hope Pérez responds to the recent censorship of her award-winning book Out of Darkness in Lake Travis ISD and Leander ISD, Texas.