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

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.

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.