Book Recaps

George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue, published in 2020, is a memoir-manifesto about growing up Black and queer in America.

How to Be an Antiracist, published by Ibram X. Kendi in 2019, has become one of the most frequently challenged books in American schools and libraries. The reason is often dressed up as concern for age appropriateness or political neutrality. The reality is simpler.

Kindred remains one of the most frequently challenged works by Octavia Butler. Official reasons cite violence, sexual assault, and harsh depictions of slavery. The deeper fear runs far deeper. Butler refused to let the past stay distant. She forced readers to see how history shapes identity and power in the present.

Homegoing stands out as one of the most powerful examinations of history’s long reach. Yaa Gyasi did something that made censors deeply uncomfortable. She refused to let the past remain isolated. She traced how trauma, displacement, and resilience move through families across centuries.

The Color Purple has been banned for more than forty years, which is remarkable considering what the book actually does. Alice Walker wrote a story that refuses to let Black women be silent. It refuses to let trauma be hidden. And it refuses to let love, especially queer love, be defined by the people who benefit from erasing it.

The book Stamped is not radical because it invents new ideas. It is radical because it tells the honest story of how racism is embedded in American policies and systems, not just in individual actions. This honesty challenges the comforting myth of American innocence and that is what makes the book dangerous to some.

In 2010, Michelle Alexander published the influential book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. This work has since sparked crucial conversations about race and the criminal justice system in America. Its main argument is striking: “We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” This bold statement questions our understanding of race and justice today.

In 2019, Nikole Hannah-Jones launched The 1619 Project, a pivotal initiative that reexamines American history through the lens of slavery. By putting the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in Virginia in 1619 at the forefront, the project challenges the oversimplified and often romanticized narrative of American origins. It exposes how slavery has been a vital force in shaping the United States. This bold assertion has led to significant controversy resulting in the book

And that’s why they’re banned. This series reads the books they don’t want you to. We’ll explore why each work was censored, what truth it threatened, and how those same forces still shape today’s political, racial, and cultural battles. You’ll see patterns. You’ll recognize language. And you’ll realize that the fight against banned books is the fight for memory itself.

Most U.S. history textbooks present a sanitized, simplified version of the past, one that often glosses over or outright erases the voices of ordinary people. Instead of telling the full story of struggle, resistance, and resilience, these narratives tend to focus on political leaders, wars, and economic milestones, while leaving out the stories that truly shape our society.

In the rich tapestry of African American history, the struggle for freedom has been a defining theme.

Today, we’re diving into powerful stories and truths that challenge what we've often been taught about American history.

Black education in America has long been a crucial act of resistance and empowerment.

This initiative has the potential to reshape our political landscape in significant ways, impacting elections & global relationships.

Various social issues like reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, racial equity, & immigration policies are shifting into critical focus.

A key trend within the Republican Party is the centralization of authority.

we’re diving into some policy proposals under Project 2025 that might raise some eyebrows.

Project 2025, focusing specifically on voter suppression and its impact on Black and Brown communities

As we turn our attention to Project 2025, it’s essential to understand its implications, especially for people of color.