Let's Talk About Banned Books

In this episode of Pouring Over Books, LaShawn talks about the scary trend of book banning in American schools. She discussed how this affects students and points out the importance of seeing yourself in books.

LaShawn dives deep into books by Black women that have been banned, like Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and more.  She stresses how important it is for communities to fight against censorship and support the right to read diverse stories.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Book Bans in America
06:05 Highlighting Banned Books by Black Women
11:49 Exploring Specific Banned Books
17:15 The Importance of Representation in Literature
22:48 Personal Reflections and Current Interests



Books Discussed

The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison

Monday's Not Coming By Tiffany D Jackson

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou

Hood Feminism By Mikki Kendall

A Raisin in the Sun By Lorraine Hansbury

Other links for reference

20 Banned Books by Black Women

 Banned and Challenged Books from the American Library Association

United Against Book Bans Dot Org

Show notes can be found here at Pouring Over Books

Follow LaShawn on IG @lashawnwiltz and Threads @lashawnwiltz
Substack: Letters From LaShawn

Follow The Pod on IG @pouringoverbookspod

Transcript

Welcome back to the Pouring Over Books podcast. I am Lashawn, your book loving host, friends. Friends.

Okay, I was preparing to record a podcast on another subject, one that rest assured we will come back to at another time. But I felt like today's topic, one that is near and dear to my heart was more appropriate in light of.

Thanks. So today we're going to skip all of the chit chat and go right over to our bookish water cooler. And we're going to talk about school book bands here in America. During the 2023-2024 school year, PEN America recorded 10,046 instances of book bands. Let's let that sink in. 10,046. PEN America says that book

A book ban or challenge happens when a book is taken off the shelves or limited because people complain about its content. This could be due to parents, community groups, school officials, or even politicians. It's important to remember that books in schools are carefully chosen by our librarians and teachers who went to school for this. So when these choices are overruled and books are banned, it's really a big deal.

Even if a book is only banned for a short time, it can still have a big impact on the students. Those years in middle school and high school, guys, they fly by and limiting access to these books can hurt their learning and understanding of the world. I'm going to give you a few fun facts here. The 2023-24 school year recorded the highest instances of book bans and the highest number of unique titles banned. There were over

LaShawn Wiltz (02:04.632)
over 4,000, I just wanted to repeat that, unique titles removed in over 10,000 instances of book bans. A greater percentage of books face more severe bans in 2023-24 than previous school years, with books being completely removed from district library collections. Next fact, Florida and Iowa

recorded the highest number of book bans during the 23-24 school year, with over 4,500 book bans in Florida and over 3,600 in Iowa. Next fact, books that are banned overwhelmingly include books with people and characters of color, about 44%, and books with LGBTQ plus people and characters, that's about 39%.

Over half, 57 % of the banned titles in this subset include sex-related themes or depictions due to ramped-up attacks on sexual content.

Also, nearly 60 % of these banned titles were written for young adult audiences and depict topics young people confront in the real world, including grief, death, and experiences with substance abuse, suicide, depression, and mental health concerns, and sexual violence. Let's be real. get banned for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes it's because books find the content too controversial or upsetting. Other times...

is for political or ideological reasons. And even though these books have been banned in some places, they're often considered really important works of literature that have shaped our culture. I read this quote in an article that I will link in the show notes. It's from Dr. Frederick Ingram, Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers said, education should be the space where you can learn about everything.

LaShawn Wiltz (04:16.746)
and anything that you want." Ramsey told, this is what he said. So the court continues, there should be no limits to the creativity of the ideas and the dreams that you inspire into every child.

The is that it is at a point where teachers can no longer teach books that have been taught as curriculum in English classes for years. I just want you to think about it. Some of the books that you grew up having to read, you may not have liked them, but you learned. Some of your kids can't read these books anymore because, you know, thoughts change. Is that what we want? Do we really want a generation of children who grow up not having any idea?

or experiences that are not their own? Do we want them to see the world in a one-dimensional way? This is a real question that I have every time I see a parent or a school district contest a book, which is why today I want to share with you banned books written by Black women. Why? I believe in representation. I believe that

Black writers should tell their stories and that children and young adults should have the freedom to read and access these stories and ideas. But of course, due to the increasing political climate and debates over critical race theory and wokeness, more books by Black authors are being banned than ever before. Books about the Black experience here in the United States are being targeted, and that is facts. If this podcast reaches just

one person who needs it today. I have done my job. So here are five books, five banned books by black women, written by black women that I want you to know about and to read. Okay? Don't just listen to this and then forget it. Quick note, some of these books have been challenged and then allowed in school libraries where you have to have parental permission to check them out.

LaShawn Wiltz (06:30.634)
And some of these books are still banned in school districts around the country. I'll try to make a note when I talk about them. But let's start. First book I want to talk about is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Published in 1970, Toni Morrison's first novel, The Bluest Eye, is set in Lorain, Ohio, where Morrison herself was born. The story follows a Pekola Breedlove, an 11-year-old Black girl who's convinced she's ugly.

and dreams of having lighter skin and blue eyes. She thinks this will somehow make her life better. The summary of this book is much more complex, but we don't have the time to get into that today. Maybe on a future episode, we'll do a deep dive into the bluest eye. But let's get into why it has been banned. The bluest eye stays in the top 10 most challenged books year after year.

In the 2023 school year, it had 62 challenges. The reasons being rape, incest, and it claimed to be sexually explicit. This is a hard book. I'm not gonna lie. It is, I reread it last year for the first time since high school. And it was just as hard last year as it was when I first read it and didn't really understand everything that I read. I got it, but you know.

with the eyes of experience now, I really get it. It's a hard book. It is a hard book. But it was taught in one of my classes. I think honors English is one of the classes that I took it in. I can't even remember. I think for late middle school and high schoolers, this book is fine, especially for high schoolers because despite what people think, high schoolers, are critical thinkers. Hell, most middle schoolers.

They are critical thinkers. They can understand and comprehend, especially when it's a guided discussion, like it's supposed to be in school. Okay. Our second book that we're going to talk about is Monday Isn't Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson. So a black teenage girl, Monday, goes missing and her disappearance is never investigated. This is the story told from her best friend's point of view.

LaShawn Wiltz (08:53.942)
The book is based on real life missing Black girls who fail to receive attention from media or police. We read this last year when I had my band book club and it was heartbreaking. And I always suggest this book because it brings to light the problem of missing Black girls and how the media and the police don't put as much attention on them as say, blonde, blonde haired, blue eyed missing girl.

So let's talk about why it was banned. This book has been challenged and removed from school libraries for a number of reasons, including sexual content. The book includes explicit language about sex and description of sexual encounters between children. And I must note that these encounters were in fact rape. Some school members have taken issue with the book's profanity, obscenity, and other behavior.

that they call risky due to its intense discussions about racism, justice, poverty. The book, which was released in 2018, has been pulled from classrooms and school bookshelves seven times alone in the last school year. This was, as I said, an excellent book.

It brings to light so many issues that need to be discussed and so many things, especially teenage girls and teenage boys, just need to read about. But, The third book I want to talk about is A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. Yes, that, A Raisin in the Sun.

A Raisin in the Sun explores the dreams and struggles of African-American family living in Chicago during the 1950s. The play centers around the younger family who received a significant life insurance check after the death of the family's patriarch. Each family member has their own hopes and dreams for the money. Mama dreams of buying a house and a better neighborhood. Walter Lee aspires to invest in a liquor store and improve his family's financial situation.

LaShawn Wiltz (11:12.032)
and Benita wants to use the money to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. As the family navigates their hopes and disappointments, they face the harsh realities of racism and discrimination. The play delves into the themes of family, dreams, and what exactly is the American dream, ultimately highlighting the challenges faced by African Americans in their pursuit of a better life. A Raisin in the Sun was revolutionary, guys. It was the

first play written and directed by a Black woman to be performed on Broadway. It won numerous awards. I've seen it many times. It's a classic. So why was it banned or challenged? The book was first challenged in 1979 by an anti-pornography group for its references to abortion.

In 2004, it was challenged in Illinois for being degrading to Black Americans, which could be due to the play's inclusion of racial slurs. I don't know one Black person who thought it was degrading to Black Americans. There are so many more things out there that are degrading to Black Americans, and this book is not one of them. Most recently...

A Raisin in the Sun was banned from an Oklahoma school district along with other notable works by Black authors including Maya Angelou's I Know What a Cagebird Sings, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, and Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give. These bans were the result of HB 1775, an Oklahoma law that restricts the teaching of certain concepts related to race and sex in schools. While it doesn't...

directly banned specific books, it has led to an increased scrutiny of education materials and self-censorship by teachers in schools because they don't want to go to jail. Okay? This is where we are. We're sending teachers and librarians to jail. Okay, moving on. The next book we're going to talk about is Hood Feminism by Mickey Kendall. Hood feminism is a critical examination of mainstream feminism

LaShawn Wiltz (13:31.22)
arguing that it often overlooks the needs and experiences of marginalized women, particularly Black women. Kendall highlights the disparities in how the feminist movements prioritize issues like reproductive rights, body image, and workplace equality. She argues that these issues are often framed in a way that benefits privileged women while neglecting the concerns of women from lower income communities and women of color.

The book emphasizes the importance of intersectionality, recognizing that race, class, and gender intersect to create unique experiences of oppression. By focusing on issues like poverty, food insecurity, police brutality, challenges the narrow focus of mainstream feminism and calls for a more inclusive and justice-oriented movement. I have this book and it is excellent. Now,

Why was it banned? Mickey Kendall's 2020 nonfiction book Hood Feminism has been banned and challenged in Florida and Texas, of course, due to concerns about race, sexuality and critical race theory.

LaShawn Wiltz (14:45.73)
Yeah, that's all I gotta say about that. And the next book we're gonna talk about is called Dear Martin. Justice is a good kid, a smart student and always there for his friends. But none of that matters when a cop arrest him. Even though he's trying to leave his old bi-

LaShawn Wiltz (15:08.022)
Our next book is Dear Martin by Nick Stone. Justice is a good kid, a smart student and always there for his friends, but none of that matters when a cop arrests him. Even though he's trying to leave his old neighborhood behind, he cannot escape the judgment of others. He turns to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.' teachings for guidance, wondering if they still hold up today.

So basically one day Justice and his best friend are driving with the music blasting when they get pulled over by an off-duty white cop. Things escalate, shots fired, and Justice and his friend are caught in the middle. And there's a media frenzy that paints Justice as a villain, even though he is the real victim. This one, raising, guys, this one. Raising a Black son, this book has always been my worst nightmare. But that doesn't mean that I would not tell him to read it.

because it's a tale basically as old as time and one he needs to read. that white teenagers need to read because again, need to see the perspective. Books help people see perspectives that are not their own. They help them see realities that are not their own. And I feel like we are losing that here. Why has this book been banned?

Basically language and sexuality. Some say the book's use of adult language and sexuality is an argument for banning it. The next reason was racial tendencies. Others say that the book depicts racial tendencies as a negative attribute to society. Micro and macroaggressions. The book depicts the micro and macroaggressions that teens face, and for some reason they feel like should be, that teens shouldn't read about it.

Police brutality. That's another reason why it was banned, because the book includes police brutality. Also another reason why it was banned, racism. The book is about Justice McAllen. I mean, he's a Black man who experiences racial discrimination and systematic racism. It is also banned for gangs and gun violence, because there are gangs and gun violence in it.

LaShawn Wiltz (17:31.948)
Yeah. And the last book that I'm going to bring to you today is I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou. I Know Why the Caged Birds Sing is Maya Angelou's powerful memoir about her childhood. She shares her experiences growing up in the South during the Great Depression, facing racism and poverty. She talks about her family, her struggles in school, and the impact of the adults in her life, both good and bad.

One of the most significant themes in this book is the power of words. She explores how language can both hurt and heal and how it can be used to shape our understanding of the world. She also delves into the importance of resilience and of the human spirit, showing how even in the face of adversity, it is possible to find strength and hope.

I want to go on record as saying that if it wasn't for me finding this book at the Francis Gregory Library in Southeast DC one day after school in the sixth grade, I would not be the reader I am today. I stood in the aisle and read this book standing up about two to three chapters a day for maybe a week.

And finally, the librarian who I can't remember her name for the life of me, I can see her face. She was a Black woman and she told me, baby, just check the book out. I remember that. She gave me permission to read that day and I will forever be grateful.

LaShawn Wiltz (19:12.086)
So why has this book been banned? According to the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom, I know why the Cageburgs' thing by Maya Angelou has been frequently challenged and banned in schools over the years for allegedly sexually explicit scenes, offensive language, LGBTQIA plus content and being, this is the one that got me, anti-white.

If you read the book, you know that just that description that I just read is offensive as hell. Just, just, I don't have any other way to put it. That was just offensive. All right. Now, if any of these books interest you and you are looking for more books, more banned books that are by Black women authors,

I'll leave a link to a post that I wrote over on the blog about 20 banned books by Black women. It's over on the Porn Overbooks blog. And like I said, the link will be below in the show notes. Do yourself a favor, go check them out of the library, buy them someplace other than Amazon, and share the age appropriate ones with your tweens and teens. That is my missive and my...

That is what I want you to do. That is the call to action today. Now let's talk about how to fight book bands. Frankly, friends, we have to be more involved as parents and community leaders. I mean, it starts on your local level. I'm talking about school board meetings, local county meetings. I'm talking about being mindful of who you vote for at every single level, starting at your local level. Check out united against book bands dot org.

and the American Library Association for more steps that you can take. Now, today and this week, we're heavy. I'm currently recording this on the Friday after election in Friends. I'm okay with saying that I feel away. And that is not even, that's not even the tip of the iceberg. I grappled with how I was,

LaShawn Wiltz (21:36.728)
personally going to show up in the world after Tuesday's results and I decided that this is one of them. I want to make sure that everyone is informed. I want to make sure that everyone understands the consequences of their actions, not just for the election, but going forward. Now, if this isn't what you signed up for, I won't keep you, but this is the work that this Black woman will be doing. Full stop.

Okay, so as we wrap up, let's talk about things I'm currently thinking about or trying to currently think about this week. I'm currently loving threads. I had to get off Instagram for a while. I just had to. But threads has been the bomb that I did not know I needed. I have been on there since it came about and I love it.

It has, it replaced Twitter for me the moment it came out. and after Tuesday, there has been an influx of people who also decided that they were done with Twitter and have joined us over on threads. And it is, it is a wonderful uplifting place. My algorithm over there is perfect. And I want to keep it that way.

Currently looking forward to. I'm looking forward to getting this marathon over with. If you didn't know, I'm running my first and most likely last marathon coming Saturday. And I am so glad because I am completely overthinking about running, thinking about eating for running.

prepping for running, washing clothes for running, and more importantly, just running. I'm just tired. I want it to be all over and I want to never do it again, please, and thank you. So I appreciate your Ts and Ps on next, I appreciate any and all Ts and Ps next Saturday, November 16th at around 7 a.m. until the afternoon, because yes, it will take me a long time because I am a slow runner.

LaShawn Wiltz (23:57.268)
I am coming back from running after a knee injury last year. So it has been hard. I have double arthritis in both of my knees. One worse that I have, what did I do? Abtorum meniscus and the other. So running itself is a miracle, especially since my orthopedist told me not to. But I can do it. I worked on it. I built up to it all year long. So I appreciate.

all the good juju, good thoughts that everything holds up for the about six hours I'm gonna be on my feet next Saturday. Okay? Thank you. Currently watching Hallmark Christmas Movies friends. I gave up on the news Tuesday at 10, 15 p.m. and have not been back. So now if my TV is on, I'm watching Hallmark.

Ory runs a fixer-upper or some documentary on Netflix because yeah, or I'm reading a book because they're really that's all I'm going to be doing for quite some time. I'm just, I don't know when I'll be going back to the news. I just don't know. I just don't know. And last but not least, let's talk about what I am currently reading. Well, remember

LaShawn Wiltz (26:01.193)
Okay, currently reading. So remember when we talked about that I was reading the blueprint by Ray Gianna Rashad? Y'all remember that? Yeah. So well, it turns out that was a bit too close to our current reality. So I've moved on to something that couldn't possibly be real. And I am reading Filthy Rich Vampire by Geneva Lee. This was recommended.

recommended to me by my book friend Emily who you will meet on another episode when we do a deep dive into our romantic or romance categories or both. She'll probably be on both. But anywho, it's the first in a series and there are four books out and it is a completed series. It's got vampires, it's got witches and the vampires are filthy rich which is, you know.

And he's sexy. you know, these are the things. It's sensual, it's dangerous, it's provocative. It's got everything that you want. I won't read you the description. Just go, go find out. I am currently reading it on Kindle Unlimited. The whole series is on Kindle Unlimited. Which is why one day I'm going have to do a whole episode of my, an ode to Kindle Unlimited because there's always something good on there. But anyway.

It is the perfect distraction. Like I said, it's the perfect distraction. Vampires, which is sexy times. my, it's great. After I finished that book, because I am almost finished, I think I'm like 70 % through, I'm going to continue my fantasy train with another fantasy series because reality bites. And if you get that Gen X reference, good for you. Excellent. Okay, friend.

That was a lot, but that's all I've got today. I'll talk to you next week, maybe a day late, depending on how my marathon went. Okay, friends, talk to you soon. Bye-bye.