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Laws fighting book bans may have unintended consequences — penalties for libraries

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Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images / Contributor / Getty Images

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If good intentions go awry, anti-book ban laws could have a potentially unintended consequence: library fines.

The American Library Association (ALA) released a brand new report last week revealing that “[t]the number of censored titles increased by 65 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching the highest level ever documented by the American Library Association (ALA). New figures show efforts to censor 4,240 unique book titles in schools and libraries.” For additional perspective, this almost doubles the 2022 figure of two,571.

According to free speech, about 30% of book titles challenged in schools last yr included characters of color or discussed racism or race, and one other 30% included LGBTQ characters or themes. advocacy group PEN America. Additionally, almost half of those books contained themes of violence or insults, and a 3rd contained texts about sexual experiences between characters.

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Like the GOP censorship efforts spread across the country, with Democratic lawmakers attempting to fight book ban laws. California and Illinois have already passed laws banning books, and Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Washington have introduced bills on the state level.

But now experts have gotten concerned because “some laws penalize school districts or withhold library funding for noncompliance, such as in Illinois and California. They argue that enforcement measures may particularly pose a threat to schools and public libraries, which are underfunded and understaffed.” NBC News reports.

Director of ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom Deborah Caldwell-Stone says: “When you risk financing for any reason, there is always a concern.”

“We would not like to see overly prescriptive bills that make it more difficult for smaller communities or rural communities to receive funding,” he added. Caldwell-Stone uninterrupted. “Our greatest concern is not to create a system that makes compliance with the Act so burdensome that it would make it more difficult for libraries with fewer resources.”

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Not everyone seems to be so concerned about the potential for uncomfortable side effects. Emily Knox, associate professor on the University of University of Illinois within the Urbana-Champaign School of Information Sciences believes the funding link is a key element of the Illinois bill.

“That’s what gives the bill any teeth,” he said Knox. “Libraries and schools need more cash, but because funding is so worthwhile to public institutions, you do not need to do things that jeopardize your ability to get funding from a source just like the state. So it makes a giant difference.

Currently, targeted bills in California and Illinois still involve withholding funds libraries in the event that they don’t have specific rules and materials on the shelves. However, within the face of those growing concerns, some states have already reconsidered penalties against libraries. For example, New Jersey lawmakers have already removed financial penalty language from their proposed bill, and bills that don’t include financial penalties are being introduced in Oregon and Washington.

Either way, libraries and librarians are on the front lines of the book banning war. On the opposite side of the aisle, the Republican governor of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders “signed a bill that would do many things, including creating the potential for criminal liability for librarians.”

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This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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Politics and Current

Metro Atlanta City of Decatur to start the compensation task group

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The city of Decatur in Metro Atlanta unanimously approved the creation of a compensation task group.

According to Decatur City Commission adopted a resolution On May 5, the 11-person task group will publish a report in three years, including recommendations regarding policy for black city residents.

The message appears a yr after the city leaders signed a contract with Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights to “discover the heritage of racial damage” in Decatur. The alliance managed research work in the field of compensation, organizing community meetings and listening sessions about how racial injustice has financially and systematically hurt these residents.

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Their research described the role of decatur in slavery and segregation, in addition to red and real estate against the black community. Decatur also showed many monuments of the confederation, especially one earlier in the court of Dekalb.

The city not only recognized its oppressive tactics towards its black inhabitants, but additionally apologized for the actions that suppressed their progress.

“The city of Decatur formally recognizes its earlier role in the systemic oppression of people of African origin through enslavement, trafficking in human beings, conviction, discriminatory zones and development, underestimation in African -American communities, school segregation, racist police operation, destruction of African American estate, business and institutions and erosion and erosion and erosion and erosion, population, population population, population, population, population, population and culture – we read in resolution.

The city goals to designate 11 members, with the help of Beacon Hill Black Alliance, in the next 60 days. They will bring a various specialist knowledge group, and members consist of historians, legal experts and youth supporters. Over the next three years, the Task group will develop records regarding the loss of black land and real estate, being attentive to economic resettlement, while interviewing the descendants of those to which these oppressive tactics affected.

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City officials added: “The city is expanding the full and public apology to the black residents of Decatur – Past and Present – and their descendants for its role in consolidating discrimination, pressure, subordination and the resulting damage, drawing on the principles rooted in the white supremacy system.”

The Compensation Task Group may even propose the commemorative projects sponsored by the city, economic tools and other investment strategies and community initiatives to treatment its racist past. This move will happen from other communities, even in the Atlanta Metro, which introduced initiatives regarding the repair of black residents. In the neighboring Fulton, his task group will resume the meeting this yr.

While the plan appears amongst the domestic shuffle of anti-dei attributable to the Trump administration, local leaders remain involved in the same efforts of the judiciary that began before taking office by Trump.

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(Tagstranslate) compensation Task group

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Social media reacts to a series of funny faces of George W. Bush during the inauguration of Trump, when Barack Obama jokes that “he could barely behave

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5 Ways Barack Obama and George W. Bush Are Pretty Much The Same

Former President Barack Obama jokingly told the reporter that former President George W. Bush “barely” behaved during the inauguration of President Donald Trump on Monday.

When there have been presidents and other noteworthy VIP guests waited for the USA ceremony to sit in the US Capitol, a member of the staff asked 78-year-old Bush if he “behaved” and 63-year-old Obama at the back to answer on behalf of Bush with “No”.

5 ways of Barack Obama and George W. Bush are almost the same

A brief, viral clip shows briefly looking around the Capitol and smiling at the members of the audience during the inauguration, which the viewers considered funny.

When Obama left the American Capitol Rotunda after the ceremony, the same post reporter quickly asked Obama if Bush behaved and Obama replied: “barely” during a smile.

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The viewers had a day in the field with many Bush faces. One person joked: “Bro was beyond his mind”

The secular behavior of former presidents was, unlike incorrect boos imposed on Obama by Trump’s supporters watching the ceremony from the rally at the Capital One Arena in the center of Washington. Bill and Hillary Clinton and former Vice President Trump Mike Pence was also not spared heavy Boos.

The first lady Michelle Obama was noticeably missing amongst the chosen group of former residents of the White House, who confirmed that she wouldn’t participate on the days before the inauguration.

About her absence, unidentified source he said People: “There is no exaggeration of her feelings about (Trump). She is not one of the plasters on a pleasant face and she pretended that the Michelle protocol does nothing, because she is expected, protocol or its tradition.”

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The source said that Michelle “no longer feels the need to be public” and added that the verbal attacks of Trump on Obama and his offensive rhetoric addressed to colourful people could even be a factor wherein she decided to skip.

In addition to Michelle, every living former president and the first lady was present, including former President Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden, George W. Bush and Laura Bush, in addition to Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s swearing in the US Capitol for the first time in 40 years, the presidential inauguration took place, ignoring the customary configuration outside the Capitol, wherein 1000’s normally observe from the national shopping mall.

Officials stated that the polar vortex, which brought dangerously low temperatures to the part of the eastern coast, was the most important reason why the ceremony was moved inside.

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The last time the inauguration was moved in the room, when former President Ronald Reagan was sworn in for his second term in 1985.

(Tagstranslate) Barack Obama

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Governor Illinois Governor Julian Stratton will make us official in the Senate, slammed Trump “Crisis and Chaos” in the video start – Essence

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Governor Illinois Lieutenant Juliana Stratton has officially made the USA that Trump

Photo: Cook County Demes

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Lieutenant Governor Illinois Juliana Stratton Movement for the next office. On Thursday, she announced her offer to the US Senate, only at some point after the Dick Durbin Senator for a few years – which he had been in this place for nearly three many years – he presented that he wouldn’t search for re -election in 2026.

“I am Juliana Stratton and I run for the United States Senate,” she said in a two -minute film published on social media.

On Friday morning she received serious support from the Governor Illinois JB Pritzker.

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“At this dangerous moment in Washington, the spirit of Juliana’s struggle and commitment to improving life are exactly a kind of Illinoisans representation and I am proud that I support her for the United States Senate,” said Pritzker in an announcement by Stratton’s campaign, Reports.

In her starter, Stratton didn’t waste time on applying rates. She formulated her candidacy as a direct response to former President Donald Trump and GOP emphasis on deep cuts of expenses and economic policy, which, he claims, will not be in contact with on a regular basis Americans.

“I am applying for the Senate, because the only way out of this mess is to introduce new energy, new voices and new leaders who understand the lives of working people,” said Stratton. “Join our campaign and together we can stop Trump and stand up for Illinois.”

Stratton didn’t mention the words about “chaos”, which she sees in Washington.

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“Since Donald Trump took power, they were non-stop messages, non-stop chaos and non-stop crisis is not accidental,” she said. She also called on former president and billionaire Elon Musk for working on “distracted” American public opinion and “creating such a mess that we don’t even know where to start.” In her opinion, “the old textbook does not work”.

Instead, she pointed to her recorder’s recorder’s record, emphasizing her partnership with Pritzker as evidence of what effective leadership could appear like.

“While Trump and the Republicans in DC proposed a limitation of almost billions of dollars in healthcare in Illinois, we removed the medical debt. While their reckless tariffs make the prices increase rapidly, we eliminated the food tax for families in Illinois,” she said.

Stratton also shared her personal journey – developing on the southern side of Chicago as a navy teacher and veteran, raising 4 children and taking care of the mother after the diagnosis of Alzheimer.

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“My story is not a typical senator. On the other hand, typical is not what we need now,” she said. “My journey to public service was inspired by the function of my mother’s main guardian when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer.”

She said that her decision to make a policy was called by the then Gova. Bruce Rauner’s attempts limit health look after seniors like her mother.

“So I decided to apply for a representative of the state and won,” said Stratton. “I took the votes of working families with me.”

She also distinguished key achievements during her office – from increasing the minimum wage to USD 15 per hour and creating jobs through serious investments in infrastructure, to adopting provisions regarding the safety of weapons and rights to abortion.

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While Stratton has long been seen as a probable claimant to take a seat Durbine, he’s now officially the first one who jumped into the race. Her candidacy is historical: if she is elected, she could join the Lisa Blunt Rochester Senators from Delaware and Angel Alsobrooks from Maryland – and mark three black women in the Senate at the same time.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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