That, to me, is an obvious statement but alas…
There’s tons of info out there about the fact that book banning is on the rise in the United States. Proponents will tell you they’re protecting people–usually kids– from harmful content. They’re wrong, but even if there were some noble purpose behind the efforts, censorship of any kind is a violation of the first amendment right to free speech, which includes the freedom to write and the freedom to read. Worse still, there’s been an uptick in efforts to ban nonfiction books–that’s banning FACTS, friends. Fiction promotes empathy and understanding but nonfiction is KNOWLEDGE and banning knowledge is dangerous and downright frightening.
PEN America has a ton of well-researched info on book banning in the United States (articles they’ve published are where I got the info in the previous paragraph); I encourage you to take a look and educate yourself if you’re not already familiar.
Thankfully, there are lots of good people and organizations fighting against bans in various ways. One of these organizations is Authors Against Book Bans (AABB), which I’ve joined. From their website:
“Our aim is to form chapters in all 50 states and DC to provide:
- A framework for local organizing,
- Coordination and “ban alert” information on a national level,
- Strategic calls to action at local and national levels,
- Partnerships with a variety of national organizations and grass-roots groups that support the freedom to read,
- Support and encouragement for the educators, librarians, parents, and students who are the first line of defense against censorship, and for the authors whose books are under attack.”
Thanks to AABB, I can do more to support the freedom to read than wear my “Censorship is so 1984” shirt and yap on about it to my kids. Just recently, I started volunteering with AABB to help with their social media on BlueSky. For better or worse, with all my time in bed I can easily check in on the account, respond to posts, and post new content. Our aim is to highlight actionable info — no action is too small, too local, so you if you know of anything going on where you live please let me know!
And if you are a creator of literature (“If your name has ever been printed in a book as a credit to its creators, you are welcome to join us. We are looking for writers, illustrators, narrators, translators – all the people who create literature. We are completely genre-agnostic and are open to traditionally and independently published creators.”), consider joining AABB and getting on their email list for updates and ways to help.
