Read For Your Rights!
Customizing objects that have a use in everyday life is one of my great joys, so imagine my delight when given the opportunity to paint a Little Free Library for a home in my neighborhood of Trinidad in Northeast DC. “Did you cover it in vulvas?” I hear you ask. Sadly no, however, I am extremely available should anyone reading this need that service.
Instead, I was asked to paint it in the theme of Andrea Beaty’s Questioneers Picture Book Series, illustrated by David Roberts. If you have kids, you’ll know the ones I mean – Netflix even has a show called Ada Twist, Scientist in case you don’t like to read. They’re a series of books celebrating science, technology, engineering, art, math, perseverance and passion through the eyes of a diverse group of second graders. Therefore, naturally, they are opposed by some supporters of the current administration.
But why? Surely these adorable guys aren’t being illustrated bullying their buddies or giving the one-finger salute right in their poor teachers’ face…are they? No, it’s something that today is deemed far worse.
The abuelo of Sofia Valdez, who is (fingers crossed) our future President, is wearing a badge on his hat showing a PINK TRIANGLE.
If you’re not sure why this is offensive to a group of people who routinely yell ‘snowflake’ at anyone who disagrees with them, then listen up. During the Holocaust, Nazis used an inverted pink triangle to identify and persecute gay men in concentration camps. In the 1970s, the LGBTQ+ community reclaimed the symbol, turning the triangle right-side up and using it to represent LGBTQ+ pride, activism, and remembrance of past persecution.
Not only that, but not-so-innocent Sofia has a transgender pride badge on her bag and – you’ll need to sit down for this one – there is the brief appearance of a character who has both a beard AND nail polish.
Sofia Valdez, Future Prez has been banned from The Clay County and Indian River County School Districts in Florida thanks to the chair of the local Moms for Liberty chapter, Jennifer Pippen. When I first read this story I thought, wow, I’m a mum and I wish I had that much time on my hands. How does she read all these books? Well, she doesn’t. In her challenge form, Pippen says that she’s never even read the book.
Aaron Slater, Illustrator was pulled from shelves in Boyle County School libraries in Kentucky, but try as I may, I can’t find the official reason why. Aaron, as the title suggests, is a talented illustrator who is also dyslexic. The book is about his realization that his dyslexia may inform who he is, but it does not define who he is, and that there are many ways to be a gifted communicator. One Instagram post suggests the ban is due to Aaron’s home life featuring two women. He is also black.
PEN America, a nonprofit group that advocates for free expression in literature, found that more than half of books banned during the last school year featured or were about people of color or members of the LGBTQ+ community.
You may think, ok, but there are reasons I don’t live in Florida or Kentucky and now I have one more. Isn’t this old news? Hasn’t the US government been poking its nose where it isn’t wanted and banning books for decades? Yes, it has: The Comstock Act of 1873 criminalizing the transport of “obscene, lewd, and lascivious” materials, including information about abortion and family planning; the Red Scare and anti-communist hysteria of the mid-20th century; and state and local government involvement in Civil Rights and ‘culture wars’ since WWII.
But, Jonathan Friedman, Sy Syms managing director for US free expression programs at PEN America says, “What we’re seeing right now mirrors elements of different historical periods, but this has never all happened at once. That is what makes this moment so unprecedented. We are seeing multiple levels of law, of political officials from local school boards to the federal government all trying to exert new ideological control to censor what can be taught in schools.”
We should all care about banned books – no matter where we live – especially when it’s downplayed as an “appropriate removal” or “withdrawal” instead of censorship. Governments that ban books stifle intellectual freedom and critical thinking, prevent exposure to diverse perspectives and experiences, and prevent understanding of history and social issues.
There is only one reason you would want to do that: to maintain power and control by suppressing dissent, controlling information, and silencing marginalized voices. Little Free Libraries might look cute, but in some places, they are powerful acts of protest and rebellion. Moms for Liberty cannot touch them if the rest of us protect them.
Banned Books Week takes place from October 5th to 11th under the theme “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.” For more information, data, and free resources visit https://www.ala.org/bbooks
References
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/07/book-bans-pen-america-censorship
https://www.onceuponaban.com/p/marchs-featured-book-sofia-valdez