Hi I’m Jackson Bird and this is the video
they don't want you to see.
[upbeat music]
So remember how outraged we all were when
we discovered that age-appropriate LGBTQIA+
videos were unavailable in Restricted Mode
on YouTube and how they continue to be marked
as not ad-friendly sometimes?
The reason we were all outraged is because
young queer, gender nonconforming, and questioning
kids need access to the resources and role
models in those videos so they can learn about
themselves and know they’re not alone.
Unlike a lot of other cultural groups and
identities, most kids grow up without other
queer or trans people in their lives so having
somewhere they can learn about who they are
and see themselves reflected is crucial.
And this doesn't just come from YouTube videos.
It can also happen with books.
So when schools exclude LGBTQ+ books from
their shelves, they’re not only sending
a message that LGBTQ+ students aren’t welcome
there, they’re preventing some kids from
getting the resources that they need.
And they’re continuing to remove us from
the narrative.
Of history.
Or herstory.
Or Queerstory.
Kids who grow up seeing themselves reflected
positively in media grow up with a positive
sense of self and identity.
And that exposure to positive LGBTQ+ culture
from a young age also creates future allies.
I remember what it was like to have no idea
who or what I was when I was growing up.
To have feelings I didn't have words for.
To think I was all alone.
And I remember how good it felt to find like
the one, rare gay book at Barnes and Noble
and how I would hide it inside of other books
so no one would see me reading it.
But that sense of shame and the confusion
from a lack of resources had lasting effects
on my life.
And nowadays there is so much awesome representation
out there so to see people trying to take
that away from kids is SO AGGRAVATING.
Of the top ten most-challenged books last
year, HALF were due to LGBTQ+ themes, including
This One Summer, GEORGE, and Two Boys Kissing.
I mean, basically just like my entire book
collection has been banned.
But books are banned for more than just LGBTQ+
reasons.
Some books regularly banned by racists include
Invisible Man, Beloved, The Color Purple,
Of Mice and Men, Their Eyes Were Watching
God... basically any book that features people
of color or was written by a person of color.
Books like The Curious Incident of the Dog
in the Night-time and Flowers for Algernon
are ostensibly challenged for things like
profane language or sex or drug references,
but like the other books I’ve mentioned,
regardless of why they're challenged, excluding
them from libraries erases a minority group
from being represented.
Books are often banned due to sexual content
– including straight up sex ed books – and
it’s crucial for people, especially kids
and teenagers, to have exposure to this information
so they grow to be confident in their body,
their sexuality, and their relationship to others.
But a lot of times books are banned due to
one or two mentions of something sexual without
a consideration of the value of the book as
a whole.
Like Looking For Alaska by John Green.
Or, one of the most banned books of all time,
the Diary of Anne Frank.
Because nothing says "inappropriate for teenagers"
like a book written by a teenager.
And just so we're clear on a couple of things:
when I say a book has been challenged, that
means a complaint has been made about at a
school or library asking for a book to be
removed from the shelves.
And overwhelmingly, this is parents asking
that a book be removed from a school library.
Now when a book has been banned, that means
the challenge was successful and the book
has been removed from the shelves.
Sometimes, books get banned from entire countries.
Like when Green Eggs and Ham was banned from
China because of its Marxist undertones.
But usually it just gets banned from one institution.
Or lots of institutions.
And in the case of public schools and public
libraries, that is censorship.
Because as the First Amendment here in the
United States says, the government can make
no law abridging the freedom of speech.
And I know we’re all upset about freedom
of speech right now, since our president keeps
trying to infringe on it by doing things like
calling for the firing of Jemele Hill or NFL
players or who knows who else by the time
this video has gone live?
But people who work for the government, like
the president, aren’t the only ones beholden
to the first amendment.
Government institutions like public schools
and libraries are also bound from abridging
free speech.
Public schools ARE allowed certain exceptions
to protect the safety and education of students
– which is pretty much what’s being debated
anytime a book is challenged – but like
the National Coalition Against Censorship
says “schools cannot provide a comprehensive
education... without allowing students to
encounter a diversity of ideas."
But that diversity of ideas is kind of exactly
what people challenging books don’t want
students to read.
Which brings me to another part of the First
Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof.”
Sooooo many books get challenged on the basis
of religious beliefs.
They’re cited for calls to ban all of the
books I’ve mentioned above, especially the
LGBTQ+ ones, but also because some of these
people think that magic is real and kids are
going to learn about it from children's books
like A Wrinkle in Time or The Wizard of Oz
or Strega friggin’ Nona or, of course, Harry
Potter.
And y’know one reason I might personally
be so passionate about banned books is because
when I was a kid, I was treated to regular
viewings over the evening news of my favorite
book series being ACTUALLY set on fire by
grown up’s who thought it was nonfiction.
(groaning)
So what can you do about this?
Well, this week is Banned Books Week so there
are a ton of organizations out there celebrating
banned books and promoting ways that you can
take action.
I’ve put links to a bunch of those organizations
and their action items down in the description
box.
My favorite way to take action is simply to
read.
Do what most people who are challenging books
haven’t done and get the full context on
a book about why it's being challenged so
you can come to your own conclusions about
whether a book is really so dangerous and
disruptive that it needs to be censored.
Besides recommending every book I’ve already
mentioned, some other banned books that I
think are important to be reading right now
include: The Handmaid’s Tale, Fahrenheit
451, 1984, All the King’s Men, and Go Tell
It On the Mountain
And if you dig this Azkabanned Books t-shirt,
you can hop on over to the Harry Potter Alliance’s
store and get one for yourself.
All proceeds go to the work that we do around
literacy, leadership development, which you
can read more about in the description box.
And finally, if you liked this video, please
do share it on social media using the #BannedBooksWeek
tag, give it a thumb’s up, and subscribe
if you want to see more videos like this.
That is all from me for today.
Thank you so much for watching and I will
see you next time.
