Banning books by and about Black people
Between 2021 and 2022, more than 1600 books about gender or race were banned in more than 130 school districts, impacting about 4 million students at 5,000 schools nationwide. One district in Pennsylvania even banned two children’s books about Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr.!
Studies have shown that book banning has been on the rise in recent years—and books by and about Black people have been increasingly targeted. More than 300 books written by predominantly Black authors about Black history, culture, or their experiences as Black people were banned just last year.
So you know what to do: Organize, petition local school boards and, of course, start buying, reading, and sharing those banned books today!