Give our children the right to read

By Zenobia Judd-Williams
Special to the AFRO

Frederick Douglass famously said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

Unfortunately, some Americans don’t want everyone to read. While the tactics may have changed since the 19th century, there are still well-organized efforts to take away the fundamental right of literacy from Black children.

A well-orchestrated campaign to ban specific books in schools has the potential to undermine the reading development of Black children. If this effort is successful, it will deprive our students of valuable knowledge and undermine their interest in learning to read. Far too often, those proposing book bans target books by Black authors and about the Black experience.

As the leader of the Baltimore region of a national literacy organization, our model encourages tutors to pick books relevant to children’s lives. When students read about characters and experiences they identify with, they relate to the story and take away life lessons. They’re also more engaged when books reflect their cultures and tell their ancestors’ stories.

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation has documented that 30 percent of books that are censored include characters of color and themes of race and racism – a number that is disproportionate given the far lower percentage of published children’s books overall that include primary characters of color.

Other organizations, such as the American Library Association and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have identified books about Black history, such as picture books about the 1619 Project and The Tulsa Race Massacre, as common targets. The novels of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison are also often targeted as books to be banned.

When asked about how students respond to culturally relevant materials, one Reading Partners tutor said, “I especially enjoyed seeing my student so amazed to see his heritage represented in the books that I found for him…. He wanted to know all about the author as well as wanting to read it over and over again. Representation really matters.”

The state legislature passed the Maryland Right to Read Act this spring. Outlawing censorship in public libraries is a step in the right direction and a beacon of hope for Maryland’s communities. But the next step is to ensure our students have the right to read great works by Black authors and about great Black artists, inventors and leaders like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.

Our community has to stand guard. The book banners want to put up roadblocks to the reading development of our children and keep censoring the history and art of the Black experience in America.

We must be prepared to stop an organized effort to block books about Black experiences, which would rob our children of the opportunity to engage with books that would make them enthusiastic about reading and give them a rightful sense of belonging.

Zenobia Judd-Williams is the executive director of Reading Partners Baltimore. She has over 20 years of nonprofit leadership experience across healthcare, housing, education, and family investment sectors. A dedicated community advocate, Zenobia is passionate about empowering organizations and individuals to achieve their full potential.

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