From a global day of peace to a week celebrating the freedom to read, autumn ushers in two wide-reaching, community events.
Over the next week, two global events are happening to help bring the world together – encourage a more peaceful state of mind and call attention to censorship.
On saturday, 21 september, Peace One Day will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Peace Day is “self-sustaining, an annual day of global unity, a day of intercultural cooperation on an unprecedented scale” with the objective: A day of global ceasefire and non-violence. And with the hope: If the objective can be practiced for one day, how can it be made longer lasting?
Peace One Day continues to encourage organizations and individuals to reduce violence at home, in the workplace, at school, in our communities and towards our environment.
Actor/filmmaker Jeremy Gilley founded the nonprofit in 1999 as he documented his efforts to create an annual day of peace. In 2001, the member states of the United Nations along with the US Congress recognized his work by adopting the first ever annual Peace Day.
With a new visual identity for this 20th anniversary year, the big celebration takes place in London at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Featuring music, spoken word and discussions, the event will be live-streamed on the Peace One Day YouTube channel, and will include video of actions of peace from six continents.
Peace One Day’s impact can be found here. Since 2018, an app following the social media for social good model has been piloted.
A great day to commit to even the smallest change. #DoYourPeace.
Calling attention to the dangers of censorship, Banned Books Week is the annual event celebrating the freedom to read. It happens next week, 22 – 28 september 2019.
Launched in 1982 in response to an alarming number of challenges to titles in schools, bookstores and libraries, this event has grown significantly nationwide. Banned Books Week harnesses our shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas. Including those ideas some label unorthodox or unpopular.
Last year’s theme, Banning Books Silences Stories, makes way for 2019’s theme, Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark. The resource materials are designed around “Keep the Lights On.”
According to the 2019 American Library Association (ALA) report, The State of America’s Libraries, 347 titles were tracked in 2018. Here are the top 11 challenged and banned books, and the reasons:
George | by Alex Gino Reasons: Banned, challenged, and relocated because it’s believed to encourage children to change their bodies using hormones, and includes a transgender character
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo | written by Jill Twiss, illustrated by EG Keller Reasons: Banned and challenged for including LGBTQIA+ content, and for political and religious viewpoints
Captain Underpants series | written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey Reasons: Challenged because it was perceived to encourage disruptive behavior, and includes a same-sex couple
The Hate U Give | by Angie Thomas Reasons: Banned and challenged because it was deemed “anti-cop,” and for profanity, drug use, and sexual references
Drama | written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier Reasons: banned and challenged for including LGBTQIA+ characters and themes
Thirteen Reasons Why | by Jay Asher Reasons: banned, challenged, and restricted for addressing teen suicide
This One Summer | by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamak Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, sexual references, and certain illustrations
Skippyjon Jones series | written and illustrated by Judy Schachner Reason: Challenged for depicting stereotypes of Mexican culture
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian | by Sherman Alexie Reasons: Banned and challenged for sexual references, profanity, violence, gambling, and underage drinking, and for religious viewpoints
This Day in June | by Gayle E. Pitman, illustrated by Kristyna Litten Reason: Challenged and burned for including LGBTQIA+ content
Two Boys Kissing | by David Levithan Reason: Challenged and burned for including LGBTQIA+ content
I can't imagine an organization or person doing any of the following – but the report also details the five methods of censorship:
Vandalizing pages
Hiding resources
Requiring parental permission to access content
Removing materials
Burning books
While the majority of the 347 challenges came from public libraries – school libraries, schools, academic and special libraries also flagged titles. Read the full ALA report here.
Project Censored is a great podcast. Listen to an episode here.
Support your local library – and the freedom to read – keep your community strong!
Design and animation: © 2019 Janet Giampietro
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