Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #FReadom
Most recents (13)
To be clear, the “left” did not ban the Bible from Davis School District. If you disagree, please hang in there for my explanation. 🧵 (1/7)
A parent in Davis School District challenged the Bible to highlight the absurdity of HB 374: Sensitive Materials in Schools, which says that any “description or depiction of illicit sex or sexual immorality" (which, according to the law, includes “arousal” and “fondling”)...(2/7)
makes a book perversely vulgar and harmful to minors. This Utah law contradicts long-standing federal laws defining obscenity and has resulted in hundreds of books being challenged in Utah that no reasonable person would consider removing from library shelves. (3/7)
NEW. An updated book ban report for the current school year from @PENamerica shows how new state laws are supercharging book suppression in schools, esp in Florida. 🧵 #FReadom #EdScare #BookBans
nyti.ms/41DFeJC
nyti.ms/41DFeJC
As I told @nytimes: "This is much bigger than you can really count... People need to understand that it’s not a single book being removed in a single school district, it’s a set of ideas that are under threat just about everywhere.” /2
Read and share:
pen.org/report/banned-…
Read and share:
pen.org/report/banned-…
Critically, although the book ban movement began with individuals and groups acting locally, they're efforts have been enhanced by the passage of state laws, which have together created an unprecedented chilling effect on schools, which we @PENamerica call the #EdScare. /3
It was a long week in the “free” state’s censorship news. Did you catch it all?
We’ll repost the stories you need to know to fight censorship here in the thread below for you.
#FreeTheBooks #FReadom #DeSantisDestroysFlorida
We’ll repost the stories you need to know to fight censorship here in the thread below for you.
#FreeTheBooks #FReadom #DeSantisDestroysFlorida
Here is @JuddLegum story that reveals DeSantis’ lawyers have gotten away with arguing one thing in court so HB1557 is not infringing on constitutional rights while the FLDOE does what could otherwise be considered unconstitutional.
Over 20,000 titles have been banned from FL prison libraries. This number is unlike anything seen in any other state.
It’s almost as if the DeSantis Administration wants to discourage rehabilitation.
It’s almost as if the DeSantis Administration wants to discourage rehabilitation.
We were exposing the sexualization of children by @ALALibrary. Their response: Block us. #Groomers must be exposed. Children must be protected. 
When a Utah school district decided 52 award-winning books they hadn't even read "lacked literary merit," @jonfreadom and @PENamerica sounded the alarm... and authors, activists, parents--and students--rose up in protest.
FUN FACT: IT WORKED.
FUN FACT: IT WORKED.
Banning books in America is never a good idea.
When I interviewed him in Feb., @jonfreadom told me it's not even a good idea to ban The Bible just because of all it teaches kids about slavery, adultery, homosexuality, incest, murder & bestiality thedailyedge.substack.com/p/bonfire-of-t… #Freadom
When I interviewed him in Feb., @jonfreadom told me it's not even a good idea to ban The Bible just because of all it teaches kids about slavery, adultery, homosexuality, incest, murder & bestiality thedailyedge.substack.com/p/bonfire-of-t… #Freadom
"Books haven’t really gone on trial for #obscenity since landmark 20th-century cases determined that... James Joyce’s Ulysses, and... Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer, could not be banned."
@jonfreadom talks to @dankois about the new GOP war on #FReadom: slate.com/culture/2022/0…
@jonfreadom talks to @dankois about the new GOP war on #FReadom: slate.com/culture/2022/0…
🧵 In light of the national book banning trends, I’ve been researching student engagement with controversial literature. For some context, last spring, I faced an emotionally taxing curriculum challenge over a book I taught in my AP Literature course.
I decided to use my summer grad courses to research, write, and reflect upon my experience to help others. Here are a few interesting findings.
Reading controversial literature helps students engage in civic dialogue.
This is a real comment on our FB page in a thread about MFL book ban attempts.
We're calling dibs on branding "nefarious librarians" - stay tuned for the t-shirt order link.
#librariantwitter #librarians #EdTwitter #publiced #teachertwitter
We're calling dibs on branding "nefarious librarians" - stay tuned for the t-shirt order link.
#librariantwitter #librarians #EdTwitter #publiced #teachertwitter
we made a thing.
More info on the Hillsdale K-12 charter application sitting with @WCSedu for review - a 🧵. You can find the official application linked here (all 317 pages of it) but let's talk about where @Moms4LibertyWC comes into play....
docs.google.com/document/d/1KH…
docs.google.com/document/d/1KH…
When @Moms4LibertyWC advertised the new Hillsdale charter school in their Facebook group, it showed the 1776 curriculum. "1776" is literally not found once in the 317 pages of the detailed charter curriculum application.
Some @Moms4LibertyWC got VERY excited about this 1776 curriculum which they said was created to defend against CRT and, specifically, the 1619 Project.
Students and parents lined up to speak out against removing books from Granbury ISD libraries. This was the response from the superintendent.
Looks like we are being called gaslighters and radicals. Projection perhaps?
Looks like we are being called gaslighters and radicals. Projection perhaps?
When Granbury ISD is looking to “review books”, here is the list they are looking at. It’s 125 books directly from the Krause list (you have to assume they were the ones GISD had from the full list) and 5 I guess they stumbled upon. (1/2)
When Granbury ISD is looking to “review books”, here is the list they are looking at. It’s 125 books directly from the Krause list (you have to assume they were the ones GISD had from the full list) and 5 I guess they stumbled upon. (2/2)
When it comes to school book bans, we need a powerful community response that puts students first and backs up teachers and librarians. That response starts with a clear understanding of what is happening. Here's what I see going on as of 12/4/21.
Attacks on youth access to books in schools often use misleading terms like “pornographic,” “inappropriate,” “controversial,” & “divisive” to describe books by or about non-white or non-dominant people, &/or that address experiences such as sexual assault or police brutality.
The scope of these attacks varies from 1 book to TX State Rep Kraus’s bogus interrogation of school districts about whether 850 allegedly problematic books are in their libraries. (Kraus's list is a sloppy combo of keyword searches like "LGBTQ" & "race.")
Authors! Book bans are surging across the country. This surge is not random. It has in part been driven by organized online forums and even some political campaigns. If your book has been challenged, here’s a thread on what you can do. #bannedbooks #freadom #booktwitter
Consult these two guides from @ncacensorship on defending LGBTQ stories (bit.ly/3deophs) and responding to book challenges as an educator (bit.ly/3Emn0B7).
Speak out! Your voice matters. Check out this powerful essay by Carmen Maria Machado who signed PEN America’s letter to the Leander school district w/ other authors whose works were targeted for removal, demanding the Texas district reinstate their books. nyti.ms/3hhGWfT
After a year of "review" Leander ISD in Texas has now banned 11 books from its optional book club reading lists -- and will be proceeding to ensure no student has access to them in classroom libraries. A profound shame. #FReadom
Here's the 11 banned books. Sorry to see them remove works by @MargaretAtwood @ashleyhopeperez @ShaunieDarko @amyreedfiction @ashleyhopeperez @JackieWoodson @miles_hyman @halseanderson. But they have kept works by @nikkigrimes9 @colleenaf @aaron007 @marikotamaki and others.
Some of these banned 11 books are still accessible in school libraries in Leander; but Machado's 'In the Dream House' and Hutchinson's 'Brave Face' are not in the library collections, so they're effectively inaccessible in the district now.
docs.google.com/document/d/1UD…
docs.google.com/document/d/1UD…
Writing OUT OF DARKNESS broke my heart many times. It also gave me tools for navigating painful circumstances over the last several years.
(I want to think about how difficult books are a resource, and I suppose that means getting personal.)
(I want to think about how difficult books are a resource, and I suppose that means getting personal.)
I "finished" writing OUT OF DARKNESS in 2015, but my characters are still so present to me, their minds & hearts full of determination to create belonging, joy, & connection in the few spaces of relative safety they can find, given their circumstances.
I come back to the lessons of that book repeatedly, especially when I feel that the pain or injustice of a situation is too much. It helps me think concretely about orienting toward what is possible, about making space in the world for others' joy.
