Connect with us

Education

Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries, including Toni Morrison, Richard Wright and Maya Angelou

Published

on

Florida book bans, Florida school libraries, books pulled from Florida schools, Florida school book bans, Toni Morrison book bans, Maya Angelou book bans, George M. Johnson book bans, Richard Wright book bans, LGBTQ book bans, queer book bans, Black book bans, theGrio.com

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.

According to the newest information, all of them have been withdrawn from the shelves of some Florida schools list developed by the Florida Department of Education and containing books removed by local school districts.

Recent changes in state law have made it possible for fogeys and residents to take this motion challenge books to school libraries and required districts to submit an annual report to the state detailing which books were restricted of their schools. Florida continues to steer the nation in withdrawing books from school libraries, in accordance with an evaluation by the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America.

“Restricting access means limiting the freedom to read,” said Kasey Meehan of PEN America. “Students are losing the opportunity to access books that reflect their own life experiences, to access books that help them learn and to empathize with people who… have different life experiences.”

The list, published for the 2023-2024 school yr, includes titles by American literary icons similar to Maya Angelou, Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wright, in addition to books which have turn into top targets for censorship across the country as a consequence of LGBTQ+ characters, discussions about gender and sexuality and descriptions of sexual encounters, e.g. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson and “Gender Queer” by Maja Kobabe. Supporters of conservatism have described such content as “pornographic.”

The list of books removed from libraries also includes Holocaust accounts similar to “The Diary of Anne Frank: A Graphic Adaptation” and “Sophie’s Choice.” It’s an analogous story with the graphic novel, an adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s groundbreaking work on censorship and surveillance.

“Everywhere from Toni Morrison to Alice Walker to Slaughterhouse-Five to George Orwell,” said Stephana Farrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which tracks book challenges within the state. “If you take the time to look through this list, you will see that there is a problem with… this movement.”

Will one of Denzel Washington's last films be

In an announcement to the Associated Press, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Education maintained that no books have been banned in Florida and defended the state’s efforts to remove “sexually explicit material” from schools.

“Once again, far-left activists are promoting the book ban scam to Floridians. “The better question is why these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit material,” spokeswoman Sydney Booker said.

The list shows that the number of book withdrawals varies widely across the state, with some districts reporting no restrictions and others reporting hundreds of titles pulled from shelves. Farrell of the Florida Freedom to Read Project said that based on the group’s evaluation of public records, the department’s report is an undercount since it doesn’t include books removed in consequence of an internal staff review, only those withdrawn in consequence of a grievance filed by a parent or resident.

Farrell believes that almost all Florida parents want their children to have broad access to literature.

“We live in a country where parental rights should be recognized, heard and taken into account,” Farrell said. “We are asking for accountability and an accurate record of the impact of these laws on our children and what is available to them.”

Schools have restricted access to dozens of books by Stephen King, a master of the horror genre known for bestsellers similar to “It” and “Pet Sematary.” Clay County officials also found his book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” inappropriate for college kids.

King, who spends part of the yr in Florida, talked about attempting to get his books out of students’ hands, urging readers to run to the closest library or bookstore.

“What the hell?” In August, King posted on social media reacting to the choice of some Florida schools to drag his books from shelves.

Multiple school districts in Florida have filed legal challenges for restricting students’ access to books, including Escambia County, which is being sued by PEN America and Random penguin housethe biggest publisher within the country.

Nassau County School District in September settled lawsuit brought by the authors of “And Tango Makes Three,” an image book based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Under the terms of the settlement, the district needed to return three dozen books to the shelves.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Education

Issa Rae meets with Georgia law students

Published

on

By

Issa Rae, georgia state university

Rae will speak to students about legal issues related to her success.


Georgia State University College of Law announced that Issa Rae will meet with students to debate the legal elements of her successful profession as a part of the course “The Legal Life of Issa Rae.”

On November 7, the producer-actress will hold a hearing at Rialto Art Center. The visit is the culmination of a course exploring Rae’s decades-long profession within the entertainment industry. Rae’s profession provides a wealth of legal diversity to explore as her profession extends beyond visual entertainment.

The classes are held as a part of the “Legal Life…” series. The series was created by George State University law professor Moraima “Mo” Ivory.

As a professor at Georgia State College of Law, Ivory curated a series that examined the legality of maintaining a prestigious profession. As reported, Rae is a course subject this semester BLACK ENTERPRISES.

The creator’s team worked with Ivory to take an in depth take a look at the contracts that helped Rae secure her deals.

“With the support of her team, we will also have the unique opportunity to analyze her real-world deals and discuss how her approach to deals is shaping today’s entertainment landscape. We are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity,” Ivory told .

It was classy access for 10 years value of contractual agreements to be analyzed.

“This is the first class where every contract was an actual contract with the artist,” Ivory said. “Students can see how real deals actually happen and what real entertainment lawyer Issa Rae has been doing over the last 10 years.”

Ivory, a professor and Fulton County commissioner, believes that the language of the law is vital and that the power to see the language in connection with a noteworthy product allows students to beat the barrier of unfamiliarity.

“You have to look at what people are actually doing and what is happening at the moment. The more familiar they become with the language, the faster they will be able to master it and start representing clients.”

According to Ivory, Rae’s family and business partners were instrumental in checking out the complicated details of her business. The course was attended by “Rae’s mother, siblings, network executives and members of her staff.”

The longtime artist began her profession on YouTube with “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” The show’s success led to a collaboration with host Larry Wilmore and a multi-show deal with HBO. Outside of television, Rae is a successful actress and producer of many shows including (2022). She also created her own media company HooRae media and music label Raedio.


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
Continue Reading

Education

Inside a 1760 school for black children lies a complicated history of slavery and resilience

Published

on

By

Williamsburg Bray School, theGrio.com

 

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) – The Virginia Museum is nearly finished with renovations the oldest surviving school within the country for black childrenwhere a whole lot of students, most of them enslaved, learned to read a curriculum justifying slavery.

The Colonial Williamsburg Museum also identified greater than 80 children who lined the pine benches within the 1760s.

These include 5-year-old Aberdeen, who was enslaved by a saddle and harness maker. Bristol and George, ages 7 and 8, were owned by a doctor. Phoebe, age 3, was owned by local taverns.

Another student, Isaac Bee, later emancipated himself. In newspaper advertisements calling for his capture, his slave warned that Bee “can read.”

The museum is scheduled to dedicate the Williamsburg Bray School on Friday and plans to open it to the general public within the spring. Colonial Williamsburg tells the story of Virginia’s colonial capital through translators and a whole lot of restored buildings.

The Cape Cod-style house was in-built 1760 and still includes much of the unique wood and brick. It will anchor a complicated story about race and education, but additionally resistance to the American Revolution.

The school rationalized slavery through religion and encouraged children to simply accept their fate as God’s plan. Yet literacy also gave them greater freedom of motion. Students then shared what they learned with relations and other enslaved people.

“We are not shy about the fact that this was a pro-slavery school,” said Maureen Elgersman Lee, director of William & Mary’s Bray School Lab, a partnership between the university and museum.

However, she said that within the twenty first century, school takes on a different meaning.

“It’s a story of resilience and resistance,” Lee said. “And I put the resilience of Bray School on a continuum that takes us to today.”

To emphasize this point, the lab has searched for descendants of students with some success.

Featured Stories

They include Janice Canaday, 67, who can also be the museum’s African-American community engagement manager. Her lineage goes back to the disciples of Elisha and Mary Jones.

“It grounds you,” said Canaday, who grew up feeling little connection to history. “That is where your power lies. And that’s what gives you strength, knowing what your family has been through.”

The Bray School was established in Williamsburg and other colonial towns by suggestion founding father Benjamin Franklin. He was a member of a London-based Anglican charity named after Thomas Bray, an English clergyman and philanthropist.

Bray School was unique for its time. Although Virginia waited until the nineteenth century to enact anti-literacy laws, white leaders in much of colonial America prohibited the education of enslaved people for fear that literacy would encourage them to hunt freedom.

White school teacher in Williamsburg, a widow named Ann Wagertaught roughly 300 to 400 students aged 3 to 10. The school closed together with her death in 1774.

Williamsburg Bray School, theGrio.com
A Williamsburg Bray School classroom, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Williamsburg, Virginia (AP Photo/John C. Clark)

The school constructing became a private home before being incorporated into the growing William & Mary campus. The constructing was relocated and expanded for various purposes, including student housing.

Historians identified this structure in 2020 using the scientific method of examining tree rings within the wood. Last yr it was transported to Colonial Williamsburg, which incorporates parts of the unique city.

The museum and university focused on restoring the school constructing, examining the curriculum and finding descendants of former students.

The lab was capable of link some people to the Jones and Ashby families, two free black households where students on the school lived, said Elizabeth Drembus, the lab’s genealogist.

However, these efforts faced significant challenges: most enslaved people were stripped of their identities and separated from their families, so limited records exist. And only three-year school plans survived.

Drembus talks to the region’s inhabitants about their family histories and backward work. He also examines 18th-century property records, tax documents and slave diaries.

“When you’re talking about studying people who were formerly enslaved, the records were kept very differently because they weren’t considered people,” Drembus said.

Reviewing the curriculum just got easier. The English charity cataloged the books it sent to colleges, said Katie McKinney, assistant curator of maps and prints on the museum.

The materials include a small spelling primer, a copy of which was in Germany, starting with the alphabet and progressing to syllables, e.g. “Beg leg meg peg.”

The students also received a more refined spelling book, certain in sheepskin, in addition to the Book of Common Prayer and other Christian texts.

In the meantime, the school constructing was mostly restored. About 75% of the unique floor has been preserved, allowing visitors to walk where the children and teacher once set foot.

Canaday, whose family roots return to 2 Bray school students, wondered during a recent visit whether any of the children “felt safe here, felt loved.”

Canaday noted that Teacher Wager was the mother of not less than two children.

“Did some of her motherhood translate into what she showed these children?” Canaday said. “There are times once we forget to follow the principles and humanity takes over. I’m wondering how persistently this has happened in these spaces.

 

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
Continue Reading

Education

Howard’s Calvin Hadley urges black men to enroll in HBCUs

Published

on

By

Howard University Student, car crash

The raw variety of black men attending HBCUs has dropped to its lowest level in nearly 50 years, and administrators at HBCUs are starting to take notice


The raw variety of black men attending HBCUs has dropped to its lowest level in almost 50 yearsand administrators at HBCUs are starting to notice this disturbing trend.

According to , black men currently make up only 26% of scholars enrolled at HBCUs, a major drop from the 38% they made up in 1976.

An evaluation by the American Institute for Boys and Men shows that the variety of black men attending HBCUs is: countless aspects influence.

According to their study: “The decline in the number of black male students is influenced by factors such as inadequate preparation for elementary and middle schools, a lack of black teachers, and financial barriers, both individual and institutional.”

Joanna Summers spoke with Calvin Hadley, associate vice chancellor for tutorial partnerships and student engagement at Howard University, concerning the university’s issues.

Hadley, a graduate of the university where he now works, told Summers that in his undergraduate years at Howard, he noticed a disparity in the variety of men and girls admitted.

“I’m a Howard graduate and I remember as a student that the numbers were pretty stark back then. I think when I was a student from 2004 to 2008 the number was around 33-34%. “Currently, as you announced in your introduction, Howard University is approximately 25% male,” Hadley said.

He continued: “And I think the latest statistics are that (Howard is) about 19% black men. It’s felt on campus, I think in our social clubs and in the backyard. “I think a lot of our students have found that in some classes they are the only men in the class.”

Hadley continued, expressing his concerns. “In every educational institution, we want diversity of experiences. So when there are not many men in the classroom, it significantly affects the diversity of experiences. It gets even scarier when we follow it further, doesn’t it? I think we’re seeing some really unique statistics right now. “Black males graduate at significantly lower rates than black females.”

Hadley also identified that this problem isn’t limited to HBCUs.

“And that’s why this decline over the last decade has been more drastic. But the reality is that this is not Howard’s problem. This is not an HBCU problem. This is not an IPR issue. This is the problem with American education.”

Hadley also identified that, compared to Black men applying to Howard, the variety of Black women who applied to the university far outpaced even the numerous increase in applications from Black men in the course of the 2022-2023 academic 12 months.

Hadley ended the interview with a direct appeal to Black men to come to Howard after stating that Black men are being left behind in American society and potentially negatively impacting their future families due to their lack of upper education.

“You attend an HBCU to get an education, not a degree, and as an associate chancellor, that is not a popular statement. The education you receive at an HBCU goes beyond the classroom experience. It goes beyond the relationship you have with your professor. Education exists between the lines of pages. HBCUs shower you with a sense of belief. We talked about the importance of having that belief at the forefront and the belief gap that exists in children from K to 12,” Hadley said.

He concluded his case this fashion: “HBCUs were created to instill in you the belief that you can be even greater than you can dream. Howard University and the HBCU community have made me – and many others like our vice president – ​​feel like I am enough. I can succeed academically. But my world is not only about academics. I can be enough and I can contribute to this society, in this space, in a way that allows me to feel whole and allows me to contribute to something much bigger than myself. The HBCU community needs you. And so, when I talk to this young man in 2024: Come, because we need you. Come because you are important. Come, because without you our community is hurt.”


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending