Author: Victoria Rahbar
Book Review | Media Literacy for Justice: Lessons for Changing the World
Yohuru Williams’ foreword opens Media Literacy for Justice: Lessons for Changing the World by calling for a global village where youth may engage in informed dialogues addressing “equity, justice in health outcomes, environmental justice, and a host of other issues with roots in our shared humanity” (De Abreu, x). This global village is a digital one, shaped by our students’ lives as digital natives who must take on “the monumental task of discriminating fact from fiction while discerning credible sources” (ix) with educators, both librarians and teachers, who they may never meet face-to-face thanks to Zoom University. As it takes a village, global media literacy educator and the author of Media Literacy for Justice Belinha S. De Abreu sought out an ensemble of contributing authors whose writing bookends all ten chapters with a reflection and lesson concept. These reflections and lesson concepts are the core of this text, providing a needed resource for media literacy focused teachers and librarians in both K-12 and higher education classrooms as well as community centers throughout North America.
Present Day Musings on Manga Censorship
Is manga censorship still an issue in North America? Has any manga been challenged recently at North American libraries? This post will introduce the current state of manga censorship for librarians, readers, and publishers. Tips for selecting manga before a challenge even occurs and age appropriate recommendations for school and public library collections are included.
Gender Queer Most Challenged of 2021
Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer is 2021’s most challenged graphic novel. Kobabe wants eir memoir to remain in our libraries. Youth, our readers, want Gender Queer to remain in our libraries. In that spirit, the following resources were curated to assist librarians addressing challenges to Gender Queer.
Talking about Manga Censorship with TOKYOPOP
Happy 25th birthday TOKYOPOP! For a quarter of a century TOKYOPOP has been bringing manga to North American readers, and so is no stranger to intellectual freedom issues around manga. But, really, what do manga publishers think about manga censorship? In February 2022, I had the chance to ask that and many more questions to one of the most notable publishers of manga in North America! So, let us meet Kae Winters and hear what TOKYOPOP has to say.
Banned Comics for Your Classroom
The phrase “removed from the school library” is becoming all too frequent in our national discourse on the place of comics and graphic novels in both the classroom and the library. Amongst this discourse, educators and librarians are working together to keep comics in the library, but what to do once they return to the shelf? What about bringing them into the classroom?
Familiarizing Oneself with Manga Censorship
What is manga censorship? Have you ever read a volume of manga, only to notice a later edition changed some things? Is this censorship, or something else? This post will introduce manga censorship for both librarians and fans. Award winning series – Death Note, Dragon Ball, and Naruto – which have been challenged, banned, and censored in North America at North American libraries will shape our discussion.
Censorship and Challenges of Manga in the Age of Simulpubs
“Simulpub” is a portmanteau of “simultaneously” and “publish” that refers to manga chapters which are published at the exact same time in Japan in Japanese and globally in English via various digital platforms.