Banned and challenged books: This and that... author interviews, links, music censorship
Featured resources
Book bans and challenges around the United States
- Seattle librarian worries about recent wave of book challengesCelebrity Librarian, Nancy Pearl, on the recent 2022 wave of book challenges and bans.
- Mass incarceration book ban lifted at New Jersey prisonsNew Jersey corrections officials, challenged by a civil rights group, announced Monday that best-selling book, )“The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander), on mass incarceration and racial discrimination that had been banned at two state prisons would now be available to inmates at all state correctional facilities."
- New Florida law expected to increase textbook challenges"(In) Florida, some say global warming and evolution are a hoax and should not be taught in textbooks unopposed. Others say their local school’s textbooks shortchange Islam’s role in the world, while their opponents argue it’s the danger posed by Muslim terrorists that’s underexposed."
- Canceled Deals and Pulped Books, as the Publishing Industry Confronts Sexual Harassment"Elizabeth Rusch’s picture book about Mario Molina, the Mexico-born chemist who won the Nobel Prize for his work studying the destruction of the Earth’s ozone layer, was a decade in the making. It took her nearly 30 drafts to get it right, and she was thrilled when the children’s publisher Charlesbridge acquired it in 2013. The book was finally due out next month.
Then...news broke that the book’s illustrator, David Diaz, had been accused of sexual harassment." - Cosby books on library list for ‘most challenged’ works"Cosby’s “Little Bill Books” series is among those making the American Library Association’s annual top 10 “challenged books.” The reason is unique for the list, which the ALA announced Monday: not the books themselves, but the multiple accusations of sexual assault against the actor-comedian."
- Author's works or reputation?This article grapples with the question: Do books (and other works) by authors and artists who have a history of committing sexual abuse belong in educational settings?
- Texas Prisons Ban 10,000 Books. No ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ for Inmates"The nearly 150,000 inmates in Texas prisons are barred from using Facebook, possessing cellphones and receiving snacks in the mail. They are also prohibited from reading the pop-up edition of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” “The Color Purple” and the 1908 Sears, Roebuck catalog."
- Miami-Dade School Board Bans Cuba BookA children's book about Cuba will be removed from Miami-Dade County school libraries because a parent objected to its contents, saying it contains deceptive information and paints an idealistic picture of life in Cuba.
- Children’s Book Authors Are Selling More Than Books. They’re Taking a Stand."Children’s books have always been political, of course — that’s why they are fixtures on lists of banned or censored books. And the welfare of children has long been at the forefront for authors who write for them. But current children’s book creators are finding new outlets for their concerns, often banding together, with the support of social media, to increase their impact."
- By the way: New York Times subscriptionDid you know that as a student you can get a free NYT subscription? Go to the listing of TCC Library databases, navigate to New York Times listing, read the instructions, and set up your subscription
Video
alll videos above fall under the standard YouTube license
Censorship: Music
Music Censorship
Of course books aren't the only media to run afoul of censors. Music has had a long history of censorship and banning efforts. Many rock n' roll and blues classic lyrics have been written as a direct response to avoiding censorship issues with amazing metaphorical results, so maybe it's not all bad (jk)... here are a couple of links to good sources about efforts to censor music, and the artists' efforts to dodge or fight them.
- Fight for your right: The battle over music censorhip"A question of boundaries lays at the heart of music censorship, but artists have always pushed back, fighting for the freedom to express themselves"
- National coalition against censorship: MusicIncludes an interactive timeline and a list of 40 banned and censored songs
Censorship: Video Games
Video game censorship
Video games are the targets of some of the most vocal, mobilized, and doomsayer challenges.
Censorship: Movies
Movie rating: Censorship or guideline?
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has had a rating system in place since the 1930s, and has often been criticized for being in aid of US Government censorship efforts (as the US government is largely prohibited from imposing censorship per the First Amendment). The MPAA rating body is a highly secretive, opaque, organization, which does not do anything to deflect such a charge. What do you think? Censorship body, or simply providing viewing guidelines?
- The Persistent Trouble with Movie RatingsVanity Fair, 2018 (you get one free view of an article from Vanity Fair before they ask you to subscribe)
- Video: How are MPAA movie ratings decided and enforced?This video also includes the history of movie codes and the rating system.
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