PANEL: Banned But Not Silenced: Authors Tell Their Stories:
Jason Reynolds & Tiffany Jackson
Sarah Baker: "We all know censorship is affecting children's right to information and to live freely. It's the biggest challenge creators are facing today." But we were joined by a fantastic panel who were here to "speak to the power of resistance."
"The function of freedom is to free someone else."-Toni Morrison
Lesa: What role did libraries/librarians have on you as you were becoming into a reader?
Jason: To be honest, he didn't go to the library. He grew up as an "outside kid" where you could be yourself or whoever you were for that day and only went to his local library when it rained. It was the only building that would be open but when they were there, they'd tell them to be quiet so they would leave! Ah, well! He admits that he "wasn't a reader" but had an Auntie who would gift him books for Christmas. Mostly the classics— Treasure Island, Little Women, Little Men, Little Engine That Could. Jason found them recently and saw that she inscribed them. Mind you, he still didn't' crack them open, but heard a lot about them (LOL). Though he never read them, to have the objects in his room meant a lot. To have a home library.
Tiffany: Growing up in Brooklyn, Tiffany had a few library homes. She visited the library near Atlantic Terminal, and the big one at Grand Army Plaza. She loved visiting her school's, small, yet mighty library, that hosted the Scholastic Book Fair. That's where she found she could be a writer. Though she didn't have a specific librarian she connected to growing up, now having children (they visit the library 3 times a week), they are a part of her village.
Lesa: Book bans stem from fear, what are people really afraid of?
Jason: My theory is that they only take what they don't have. "People usually steal what they don't have." In this case, it is intellectual freedom.
Why? The fear lies in that, because you weren't give intellectual freedom, you want to take it away. You're afraid that you don't have the capacity to engage, and instead humbling yourself, you shut it all down. "I feel really bad for them, because I know what they don't have. There's no way you can have it and do this."
He continued to talk about those who have no idea they are a part of the machine. They are inheriting order given to them through a specific narrative and they are carrying out those orders, not knowing what the orders are for. They build this "thing" but don't know why. That's the danger.
Tiffany: They can't control kids in the way they think they can. Kids are incredibly intune. They have a high B.S. meter! They don't like that their kids are learning outside of their "bubble," and they hate that they can't control that. Things are taken out of context and we are in the middle of a terrible, childish game of "Telephone."
They try to get rid of books, internet— any contact to the outside world but Kids are creating their own safe bubbles and they're holding these adults accountable. We couldn't correct adult in the past, but these kids nowadays are making adults sweat.
A lot of the fear is about power and how to control that power.
Lesa: Why do you think marginalized stories, specifically stories about Black girls, are labelled disturbing instead of necessary?
Tiffany: Any story with a black girl on cover is flagged. And it's sad. What I write about is based on statistics, but when these stories are banned, you understand that there is something much larger at play here. It's erasure. Banning often is trying to get rid of Black girls—young children— banning it for made up reasons.
She truly didn't have "the words." It get her choked up because it's hard to talk about. Having to live with the fact that her book continues to be one of the top banned books, still shocks, and hurts. "There is no honor in being banned." It has "subverted my dream," a dream she has had since she was 4 years old. She has worked very hard to get here and now has to move very different due to the risks of being banned.
Lesa: How can conversation about banning be framed as an opportunity for dialogue rather than confrontation?:
Jason: Jason wonder, are there others ways to fight back? He wonders whether or not if we are being agitated enough. Given our countries history, we've seen many models but what it requires is— inconvenience.
"There are a list of words they use." If they find these words, then the book is pulled. The thing is—most of the words are pedestrian words. What happens when teachers say we can't teach anymore because of all these words being banned. He wonders—what is the big moment that will set things in motion? Just something to consider...maybe it will be a some young teacher who stands up in that way, but not until we are inconvenienced will change begin to come.
Tiffany: "I don't really have an answer." We are authors—we need to focus on our books. All she wants to do is writes stories about black girls and be left alone to write those books—not deal will all these bans, lawsuits, etc.
Her favorite thing to do lately is to 'tell adults they are clowns!" Kids will remember this. "Do you want to be put into a nice nursery home nor not?" Think of your legacy. These kids are very aware and it's important to remind that the kids will only be kids for so long.
Jason Reynolds is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books for children and young adults. A 2024 MacArthur Fellow, Jason is best known for his novels All American Boys (co-written with Brendan Kiely), the Track series, and Long Way Down, which received Newbery, Printz, and Coretta Scott King Honors. Among his many accolades, Jason was named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress for 2020-2022. He lives in Washington, DC. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.
www.jasonwritesbooks.com
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