Students across the country are organizing to protest book bans by distributing titles themselves.

Students across the country are organizing to protest book bans by distributing titles themselves. We told you about the recent Tennessee book ban of Art Spiegelman’s Maus and how it quickly rose to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list as parents and students protested the ban. Students across the country have been organizing to push back against book bans, forming groups to distribute titles that represent the stories / issues they think should be discussed in schools. A group of students in the Houston suburb of Katy formed “FReadom Week” with student members of the nonpartisan group Voters of Tomorrow to distribute nearly 200 books featuring LGBTQ+ and BIPOC stories at four district high schools, and spoke out against book censorship at a recent Katy ISD board meeting; students in Pennsylvania overturned a book ban of anti-racist books and educational resources by and about people of color in November 2020 and continue to fight for a diverse curriculum list featuring minority authors; Texas middle schoolers formed the Round Rock Black Students Book Club to fight for literature lists that represent their identities; and Missouri students are currently suing their school district over a list of banned books including Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. Meanwhile, high school students in Pittsburgh started a podcast (Bridges and Books) to talk about books that have been banned / challenged in school curriculums. Though school book bans are nothing new, the current wave of students organizing against them is yet another example of how this activated generation isn’t afraid to not only speak out on issues they care about, but be the ones demanding change. (Ed Surge, Teen Vogue)