Love libraries? Passionate about books? Can you imagine, the library after hours? This past Friday was the third annual A Night in the Stacks with the theme “Forbidden Fictions: A Celebration of the Freedom to Read. Freedom to read is a great theme to party with a purpose; but, pause and read between the lines. What are the statistics for banned books? Be afraid, be very afraid. In 2014, 183 books were challenged; in 2023 there were 4,240.1 The highest number of these challenges were with book on US history. Project 2025 proposes the expansion book-banning efforts in schools, making it a federal priority and criminalizing librarians who allow students to choose banned books.2 That’s worthy of a mention with the US Election on the first Tuesday on November and one candidate, Donald J Trump is mentioned in Project 2025 over 40 times.3 It’s not a leap of the imagination to conceive of the impact on more an exponential increase in banned books and censorship of the freedom to read.
Imagine a limited ability to read. I don’t want to. Books can take you to another place, inform you of worlds unknown. ” Joyce Carol Oates said “Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” A Night in the Stacks was cleverly decorated with displays of banned books. Books I read as a teen more than 50 years ago left me in an almost surreal haze.
This Sunday afternoon I atttended a concert by Sphinx Virtuosi with guest percussionist, Josh Jones. Mr Jones introduced Drill by Curtis Stewart and his voice broke as he described this experience as “…living the dream you didn’t know you had.” The passion in that moved me as it did most of the audience. The performance inspired awe. I had to find out more. He has a regimen of physical fitness and 18 hour days. But, what if this information was not available or censored because he also describes the racism he experiences as a black musician. Critical Race Theory has come to mean any discussion of race and discrimination. Kevin Roberts wrote in the Project 2025 summary “…the noxious tenets of ‘critical race theory’ and ‘gender ideology’ should be excised from curricula in every public school in the country. These theories poison our children…” Coupled with the increases in book bans particularly those around history, what’s next in censorship? Bookstores? Social Media?
Host Noelle Trent with Kellie Jackson, Thulani Davis, Sarah Lewis, Eddie Glaude
I love books. Saturday was the Boston Book Festival. An unbelievable opportunity to attend author talks, free to the public. The lineups were unparalleled. The ability to see people I have read and admired was beyond my wildest imagination. Books present ideas and the ability to be taken to another place by the written word. This weekend was amazing. To quote Josh Jones, I was living the dream I didn’t know I had. In a twist, I thought of democracy, a dream I didn’t know I had. Democracy is a right I have taken for granted. The freedom to study, read and learn. The right to vote4 and autonomy over my body. I voted early this week because my rights depend on it. This week, consider, have you experienced living the dream you didn’t know you had?
1Banned Books: Freedom to Read
2Project 2025 Offers Cuts to Education, Classroom Censorship and Expanded Book Bans
3While Mr Trump insists he knows nothing about Project 2025, 4 of his ambassadors, 6 of his former cabinet secretaries and 140 people from his administration worked on the book. In all, there are over 200 people with ties to both Trump and Project 2025.
4 The 19th amendment which gives women the right vote was signed into law more than 100 years ago in 1920. But today, more than 100 years later, in 2024, husbands are still permitted to accompany their wives to the voting booth in North Carolina ! In other states, poll worker have faced angry husbands who want to accompany their wives in the booths. In FAQs women are asking can their husbands see their votes. How many husbands control the votes of their wives? We’ll never know
Balancing on Unstable Surfaces 