In this episode of Pouring Over Books, LaShawn talks about the scary trend of book banning in American schools. She discussed how this affects students and points out the importance of seeing yourself in books.
LaShawn dives deep into books by Black women that have been banned, like Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and more. She stresses how important it is for communities to fight against censorship and support the right to read diverse stories.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Book Bans in America
06:05 Highlighting Banned Books by Black Women
11:49 Exploring Specific Banned Books
17:15 The Importance of Representation in Literature
22:48 Personal Reflections and Current Interests
Books Discussed
The Bluest Eye By Toni Morrison
Monday's Not Coming By Tiffany D Jackson
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings By Maya Angelou
Hood Feminism By Mikki Kendall
A Raisin in the Sun By Lorraine Hansbury
Other links for reference
20 Banned Books by Black Women
Banned and Challenged Books from the American Library Association
United Against Book Bans Dot Org
Show notes can be found here at Pouring Over Books
Follow the Podcast on IG @pouringoverbookspod and YouTube
Follow LaShawn on IG @lashawnwiltz and Threads @lashawnwiltz
Substack: Letters From LaShawn
