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On the Freedom to Learn movements National Day of Action, May 3, Candlewick Press will discount the ebook editions of Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrator Yas Imamuras picture book Love in the Library and married pair Frederick Joseph and Porsche Josephs YA collection, Better Than We Found It: Conversations to Help Save the World.

Love in the Library tells the story of Tokuda-Halls Japanese American grandparents, who met in Idahos Minidoka incarceration camp during World War II. Better Than We Found It offers perspectives on social justice action from more than 20 activists, celebrities, and political thinkers. Readers can download the ebooks for 99 cents apiece on May 3 only.

Both books provide anti-racist and equity-oriented information to young readers, reinforcing the goals of the Freedom to Learn National Day of Action. Freedom to Learn was launched by the African American Policy Forum, whose co-founder and executive director is Columbia Law School professor Kimberl Crenshaw, who coined the terms intersectionality and critical race theory. AAPF and Freedom to Learn aim to gather a coalition to resist book bans and other threats to inclusive education.

In an open letter, Freedom to Learn opposed the attacks being waged on educational curricula in the United States and elsewhere against intersectionality, critical race theory, Black feminism, queer theory, and other frameworks that address structural inequality. In particular, they called out the College Boards watering down of its Advanced Placement African American Studies curriculum.

As AAPF and Freedom to Learn organized for May 3, Tokuda-Hall faced her own curriculum-related challenge related to Love in the Library. In mid-April, she wrote on her blog that Scholastic had invited her to publish Love in the Library as part of a Rising Voices Libraries school materials collection, Amplifying AANHPI, on the condition that she remove a paragraph about racism from her authors note. Tokuda-Hall refused, her blog post went viral, and hundreds of authors signed an online anti-censorship petition to support her. Scholastic soon apologized, and CEO Peter Warwick expressed a sincere hope that we can start this conversation over and still be able to share this important story with the authors note unchanged. (Tokuda-Hall still has not decided whether to accept Scholastics offer.)

After the controversy arose, AAPF reached out to Tokuda-Hall. I was really honored, Tokuda-Hall said. AAPF doesnt mince words about what theyre fighting for and against, something I find both absolutely necessary and deeply refreshing. Theres no call from them to cede ground to those whod demand we rewrite or erase history, no neutrality about the rise of fascism. The organizations firm stance, she said, encompasses why I stood up publicly to Scholastic. Their visiona multiracial democracyis my dearest hope.

Tokuda-Hall informed Candlewick about the impending Day of Action, suggesting it could be a great opportunity to popularize their invaluable work. Candlewick president and publisher Karen Lotz was listening. We have been in close conversation with Maggie for the past several weeks about how best to amplify her message and her powerful indictment of the historic and present reach of racism, especially during Mays AAPI Heritage Month, Lotz said. It made perfect sense to plan the promotion for May 3, and to add Better Than We Found It, another title that encourages us to interrogate the failures of the past and present and to pursue a more equitable future.

Candlewick already works with organizations including the National Coalition Against Censorship, Unite Against Book Bans, and PEN America. In addition to these channels, were always looking for new and creative ways to ensure that readers can access challenged books, Lotz said.

The flurry around Tokuda-Halls afterword also sent Love in the Library back to press. Weve been thrilled to see increased demand for this book, and have expedited a reprint, Lotz said. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our production department, we were able to rush domestic printing and anticipate well have more stock available in just a few weeks. In the meantime, the book is still available from some retailers, and we hope many people will use this opportunity to read the ebook and to preorder the reprint. Although learning isnt entirely free in this case, its a bit more affordable, and the promotion uplifts the Freedom to Learn project.

Continued here:
Turning a Censorship Controversy into a Learning Opportunity - Publishers Weekly

Every year, the American Library Association unveils its list of the top 10 most-challenged books for the previous year. And this year, Number One is the same as last years Number One: the book Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe. Other books that achieved this distinction were Toni Morrisons classic The Bluest Eye, All Boys Arent Blue by George M. Johnson, and other titles dealing with race, gender identity, sexuality and coming of age in other words, real life.

This years list also follows the Associations announcement that demands to censor library books reached 1,269 last year nearly doubling demands from the previous year. Thats a record high in all the years since ALA began compiling data more than 20 years ago. And because censorship demands now often include numerous books, a record-high number of individual titles made the list of targeted books last year: 2,571. The ALA says of those, the vast majority were written by or about people of color or the LGBTQ community.

This is a tragedy for students, and not just students who come from the communities the censors want to silence. Those students lose the sometimes life-saving experience of seeing themselves in a story and knowing they are neither abnormal nor alone. Meanwhile all students grow up knowing less about the world. Censorship stunts their intellectual growth.

Art Spiegelman is the creator of Maus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel that depicts his familys experience of the Holocaust and is frequently targeted by censors. His experience as a target of censors has made him a leading activist against book banning, and he believes the answer to the book-banning craze is to get involved in local politics including school board elections, where the battles over censorship are waged. Spiegelman made it clear in a recent CBS News interview that he recognizes the right of a parent to say their own child can or cant read a book, but to make that decision for other parents kids is suppression and authoritarianism.

Spiegelmans position seems entirely reasonable to me. We can honor the rights of individual parents to make decisions about their kids exposure to books, art and other cultural materials without mandating decisions for everybody else. That seems like rational ground we should all be able to occupy.

But rationality left the room a while ago when it comes to the Far Rights attacks on the freedom to learn. The main group leading the charge on banning books, Moms for Liberty, has become something akin to a terrorist organization. Reports now abound of group members carrying out harassment campaigns in their communities, calling for librarians to be shot and making unfounded public accusations of child abuse and pedophilia against their perceived enemies. The group has also become a significant force in Republican politics. And its growing.

All of which makes it intimidating to think about getting involved in school board politics if you want to fight censorship. And thats exactly the point.

What we need now are not just brave and principled people on school boards, but also bigger, more powerful organizations that are willing to support them. The organization I lead, People For the American Way, has a cadre of school board members in our Young Elected Officials network. We are engaged in outreach to these folks, especially in states that are hotbeds for book banning like Florida and Virginia. Were asking them what they need, including on the security front. We want to empower them to stay in their roles because we need them more than ever to stand up to the onslaught of groups like Moms for Liberty.

If the American Library Associations findings are any indication, this is just the start of a new struggle for the freedom to learn, one that hasnt yet reached its peak. We owe it to the next generation not to stand on the sidelines; please think about how you can help.

Svante Myrick is president of People For the American Way.

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MYRICK: Time to Fight Back Against Censorship - The Washington Informer

Kohn said in the first week TikTok removed one of the videos for violent and graphic content. He said the video showsHong Kong police teargassing and beating protestors in the streets.

We appealed that decision, noting that this content had been shared on numerous other social media platforms without any problems, Kohn wrote, adding that the video was restored in a few hours.

Then on Tuesday Actons account was abruptly shut down, he said.

No notice was given to us. No warning was given. No explanation was given. But we know why, Kohn tweeted. TikToks paymasters in the Chinese Communist Party dont want people to hear the truth about #Jimmylai and #HongKong.

Kohn tweeted Wednesday night that Actons account was partially restored but noted that two of its videos had been removed for violating community guidelines.

Lai is a 75-year-old media tycoon, Catholic convert, and outspoken pro-democracy activist. He is in prison in Hong Kong for participating in a vigil there marking the 1989 Tiananmen massacre in Beijing, as well as for a fraud conviction in December 2022. Lai is scheduled to go on trial in September on additional national security charges and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

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Shutdown of Jimmy Lai filmmakers TikTok account reversed after censorship outcry - Catholic News Agency

Deniz starts his daily commute by opening the Youtube app to understand whats happening in the country around him. Apart from a brief newsletter that provides the top headlines, the 25-year-old business analyst has taken to getting his news almost exclusively in video form. Its easier to get the full story, Deniz, who preferred to use a pseudonym given the political climate, tells Index on Censorship. The young professional said that following journalists and information creators on YouTube he finds is the only way to get a balanced view.

Print journalism and social media presence has come under close watch after the government issued legislation last October that jails journalists and social media users for spreading disinformation. In the months since, one journalist, Mir Ali Kocer, was detained for his reporting on the February earthquake which struck southern Turkey and northern Syria.

Getting information in video format isnt necessarily a new concept for Turks. In 2021, for example, Cuneyt Ozdemir, a Turkish journalist whose main platform is YouTube, aired interviews with major government officials before other mainstream media sites. But today more and more younger Turks are gravitating towards video-format news. The theory is it can present less bias as creators are separate from traditional news outlets.

Asli, a 23-year-old undergraduate student, said she is an avid Ozdemir watcher, being one of his 1.48M subscribers. She also watches Nevin Meng, an independent journalist who attracts 150 thousand people to her YouTube news hour every day. She hears about topics on TikTok, often featuring shorter video content than YouTube, and then turns to YouTube for a longer, more informative video essay.

Asli and Deniz video news habits are becoming common for young Turkish media consumers, who are growing tired of a media scene which, according to an independent newspaper BirGn, is 90% in line with the government, Popular broadcast CNN Turk and newspaper Hrriyet, for example, are owned by Turkish conglomerate Demirren Holdings, the largest media group, and are known for their pro-government line. The two often avoid government criticism altogether and publish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans speeches in full. In broadcast videos with Erdogan, programmes give the president full rein, avoiding questions altogether and giving him the time slot to just speak.

In this environment its no surprise younger people are turning to alternative sources. According to MOM, or the Media Ownership Monitor Turkey, YouTube is the second most popular social media site in Turkey after Facebook. And according to DataReportal, there are 57.9M active YouTube users.

Damla, who is a recent graduate, told Index that she approaches traditional media with deep suspicion.

Theres no in between, the bachelor of economics student said. The foreign media paints Turkey only in a developing light; the Turkish media says its their [western medias] fault. Damla said that while she reads Turkish media, anything that more directly questions the government, by Turkish speakers, tends to be in video format, something she thinks may be due to it being harder to monitor the video content versus traditional, written news, which can be more easily pruned and filtered.

Video platforms also feel like a safer place of sorts. Following the passage of the disinformation bill, many people, Deniz included, have questioned whether to favourite certain tweets and think twice before sharing on Instagram. While Deniz worries about actively sharing thoughts on platforms attached to his name, he said he felt safer commenting on YouTube where one wasnt pressured to have a profile photo or build an online presence but could just be a viewer.

Where and how Turkish citizens are consuming their news matters as the 2023 presidential elections approach this May, heralded by many as the most important in the world this year.

Voters will head to the polls on 14 May, with Erdogan facing some of the greatest challenges he has seen in years. Polls are predicting a record voter turnout, as Erdogan faces his main opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and presidential nominee for the six-party Nation Alliance bloc.

In an environment of fury over the earthquake, a serious economic crisis and the continued erosion of civil liberties, Kldarolu is popular. He leads Erdogan in some polls. He is using the video platforms too. He has attracted wide viewership to his videos (many of which are on Alevis, a religious minority group, and the drastic price rise of onions). Erdogans AK Party has also taken to YouTube production over the past few months, creating specific videos for over 60 cities, but has significantly lower followership than other channels. The AK Party and Kldarolus CHP both have TikTok accounts, though once again they were struggling to achieve the hits that the non-partisan commentators in Turkey are getting.

None of this makes YouTube or TikTok immune from the government. They could ban access, as they did with Twitter in the earthquake aftermath.

Still, for now YouTube is proving invaluable as the elections approach.

Days before casting my vote, I want access to all the information: governmental and what the government may deem misinformation, Damla said.

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Turkish youth turn to YouTube amid stifling of information - Index on ... - Index on Censorship

Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr is coming off a wild legislative session,one that ended with her being silenced. How does she feel now, after the session came to a close on May 2? Chin up, eyes forward to what comes next, she tellsTeen Vogue in a phone interview the following day.

On April 26, Montana conservatives made headlines for deciding to censure Zephyr. The reason given at the time was decorum.Teen Vogue spoke to Oklahoma Rep. Mauree Turner last week, who was censured nearly two months before Zephyr. (Zephyr and Turner are the first openly trans and openly nonbinary representatives in their states, respectively.) They are writing policy that will eradicate communities," Turner toldTeen Vogue. "That is what they are looking for: authoritarian rule and eradication of life. And you're worried about folks speaking up? That's not decorum for you?

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Following Zephyrs censure, 52 LGBTQ+ legislators from 19 states sent a letter of solidarity (coordinated by theState Innovation Exchange) to the State House leadership of both Montana and Oklahoma in support of both Zephyr and Turner. While it may be uncomfortable for some lawmakers to be confronted with public outcry and forthright debate, that is the purpose of the legislative process and the freedom your constituents and duly elected representatives inherently have in your state capitols and every state capitol in our nation, theletter reads, in part. As LGBTQ+ lawmakers, we refuse to be silenced.

Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr.

A sense of decorum was certainly not what defined the coming days as Zephyr attempted to legislate from outside the chamber. She chose a bench to work from and on Monday morning,three older white women, who told the press they were related to Montana legislators (one of whomallegedly is the mother of the House speaker who targeted Zooey and is part of aconservative political dynasty in the state), occupied the bench, laughing, meaning Zephyr couldnt sit there. Anda New York Timesstory out today says the speaker, Matt Regier, after winning the title in a private caucus vote last fall, asked other women legislators if they were afraid to share a bathroom with Zephyr.

In response,Montanans worked together to protect the bench for Zephyr. Zephyr challenged the censure in court with the help of the ACLUand on May 2, a judge rejected Zephyrs attempt to return to the floor. The legislative session is over, but the impact of the last few weeks isnt. On Tuesday, both Zephyr and her girlfriend werethe victims of SWATting attempts (currentlyalso plaguing schools and colleges). The nation has not turned away from Montana, focusing a level of scrutiny that Zephyr couldnt possibly have prepared for.

Zephyr spoke toTeen Vogueabout Republican censorship and the support she's received.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

Teen Vogue: The eyes of the nation have been on you. Youve experienced widespread support and also threats and harassment. How are you feeling?

Zooey Zephyr: We saw how willing folks on the right were to toss away democracy in order to achieve their goals [by censuring me] and I think when that happened the eyes of the world turned toward Montana and said,That is wrong. That is wrong likeit was wrong in Tennessee, its wrong likeit was wrong in Oklahoma. That is wrong and it is not the way our country should be run. That goes against everything our country stands for.

At that moment, it feels like there is an opening in the machinery of politics where change becomes possible. I feel a sense of community and drive that feels unprecedented, and I am excited and determined to make sure that I can be there to help folks as we try to stand together and make this a place we could be proud of, this place being Montana, and the country, as well.

TV: I want to ask about what looked like a really celebratory moment: When you returned to your constituents in Missoula andthey celebrated your strength and bravery in a show of solidarity, last Friday.

ZZ:On that Friday when I went back to Missoula, people saw what I've been saying: that I represent my community. Those are the people who sent me here and they were the ones demanding that their voices be heard in the Capitol. When I went home, I was rooting myself back in the community that I love and that I'm a part of.

I was overwhelmed with joy and love in a way I did not anticipate because as you move through something like the anti-democratic cruelties of this legislative body, you move so quickly and you rarely get time to sit back, reflect, and process your emotions and what's going on. That is doubly true for me more than doubly true in a moment where there's so much press and so much heightened awareness around Montana.

So I was going from, Okay, what am I going to do here? Okay, I show up and there are people on the benches, how am I going to respond to that? This action took place and that action took place. How am I going to make sure I'm talking to my legislative colleagues when they're in the room and I can't go in that room? How do I get my constituents' voices represented? You just are going and you do not have time to sit and reflect and process your emotions. When I showed up, as I walked out to my community, the moment I grabbed the microphone, theystarted chanting, Let her speak. And I started crying because I knew I was back home.

Someone posted that she could never have imagined the moment that a trans woman would walk onto a stage in broad daylight in public, in front of smatterings of community members, and receive that kind of welcome. I don't remember exactly what they said, but I think what that moment shows is what trans people have been saying again and again.

The laws that these legislators are passing do not reflect the general community's understanding or care for trans people. These laws do drum up fear around trans people and there are real threats of harm to our community by individuals who use phrases like groomer or pedophile, buy into that damaging rhetoric, and target us. But, by and large, trans people are just part of our communities: friends, neighbors, colleagues. What I have said from the beginning is you're never far from someone who is trans or someone who loves someone who is trans. And in Montana that is true, whether you are in a coffee shop, in an office space, or in the governor's mansion.

TV: Quite literally. (Editor's note:David Gianforte, the child of Montana governor Greg Gianforte,asked their father not to pass anti-LGBTQ+ legislationlast week. Gianforte is nonbinary.)

ZZ:When you're in a moment like this, all I'm trying to do is rise to the next moment, bear witness to what happens, stand by your values, hold those in power accountable when they harm people, and meet each moment as it comes. And when you do that, especially in a moment like this, the days and the weeks blur together.

TV: On the other end of things, youve really experienced multiple levels of cruelty and harassment, from the high school antics of your colleagues wives and possibly mothers filling your seat outside the chamber, to being swatted.

ZZ:We see again how far people will go to achieve their very cruel ideological goals. We see the speaker silence me on the floor and in doing so take away representation from my 11,000 constituents. We see the speaker try to remove me from the public space that I was allowed in. And then when I was able to stay in that public space, we see other people sitting there and filling the bench, as they are allowed to do, as is their prerogative, obviously.

When I walked around the corner and there were people on the benches, I carried on. I went to the next available open space because that does not bother me. I'm not concerned. I came there to do the work. That's on that side of things.

The swatting attempts are an extension of that. Extremists on the far right, both politically and as individuals, will go to extreme lengths to try to ensure that trans people who, again, are just trying to live our lives in peace and experience the joy that we get when we are allowed to transition in that pursuit of happiness, they will go to extremes to try to silence us or harm us. But we will not be deterred is what I said and what I will say a thousand times.

TV: Do you have any final thoughts for those across the country watching whats happening to you and your community?

ZZ:What you saw here in Montana and what you saw in Tennessee is that political leaders are rising up and saying these policies get our community killed. They're not letting themselves get crushed by the political machinery. They're standing up in defense of their communities, calling out real harm, and holding the powerful accountable. And what we also see is that's what peoplewantfrom their political leaders. They want people who will stand for democracy. They want people who will hold the powerful accountable.

People say that was courageous of you, that was so brave of you. It should be easy to stand and do the right thing when you're standing on the side of what is just and morally right, when you're standing on the right side of history. When people look at this moment here in Montana and across the country, they see a glimpse of what my state, what our country, could be if we collectively have the courage to stand up for democracy, stand up for what is right and just.

Going forward, I hope if they do feel that glimpse, that drive, and want to help, that they turn toward their communities, toward the places they call home, and say, What room is my voice needed in? What room can I make a difference in? And I hope they go there and I hope they're invited in. Otherwise, I hope they find a way into those rooms, make their voices heard, and together, we're going to change the world.

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Read more from the original source:
Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr on Republican Censorship and Her Next Move - Teen Vogue