#banned history

[afriblaq]

Hidden History

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

This was removed from all Gannett papers. It's a travesty for many reasons, + though GT is surely fine, it's another example of how conditions for cartoonists keep getting worse + worse: positions eliminated, cartoons with bite being purged, fees decimated, outlets disappearing.

[Ward Sutton]

[soapdispensersalesman]

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

now that trump has tiktok, twitter, facebook and insta in his pocket, get ready for a massive wave of internet censorship. one of trump's greatest weapons has always been misinformation; it's going to become harder and harder to spread facts and criticism going forward. posts that aren't made invisible will be magically ignored by the algorithm. dissidents will have their accounts deleted and voices erased.

this is a suppression tactic. this is another stage of fascism.

[sami-onley]

Children in Gaza endure unbearable conditions, facing violence and preventable diseases caused by contaminated water, such as diarrhea and poisoning. Obeida, the young son of Sami, faces daily risks as he collects water from a distant source, endangering his health and safety.

Your donation can make a real difference. By supporting Sami's family, you will help provide clean and safe water, reducing the risk of diseases and ensuring better health and well-being for Obeida and his family.

Donate now to make a difference. This family has been vetted and listed as (#21) Sami Alkhlili by Gazavetters.

Thank you for your support and solidarity!

[philsmeatylegss]

I’m super shocked how little I’ve seen people (specifically Americans) care about the Tiktok ban on this website. It officially has passed as a law and I have seen nothing about it on here. I get this site hates Tiktok (for many valid reasons), but this should be terrifying that a country who supposedly loves freedom can ban one of the largest social media platforms in the country because they don’t like it. That should be fucking terrifying. I have yet to see a non-politician American support the ban and it is clearly just about the partial Chinese ownership. I get it, the app sucks, but about 170 million Americans have Tiktok. It is a huge platform that the government is mad they cannot control (like Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc which are all located in America). It’s still unknown if Biden or Trump will uphold it, but the very fact it has passed should be terrifying for every American. Including the ones who don’t have tiktok. Yes, Tiktok is beyond a flawed platform, but a government banning it with no say from the public is even more flawed. And it’s crazy imo that this site isn’t furious.

[laddersofsweetmisery]

I don't see enough people mourning over the slow death of physical media. And I don't just mean TV shows, video games, or movies--which don't even get me started about how we don't really 'own' anything anymore. It includes notes, journals, and letters to one another...so much of our history is lost when we lose a password, a website goes down, a file/hardware is corrupted, or a platform disappears. History that doesn't seem important until you no longer have access to it. Physical media does a lot for memory recall. How many memories will we lose because we don't have something tangible to tie it back to? Something to hold in our hands and stir up those memories we thought were once lost? Sometimes I wonder what the difference between burning a book and losing access to physical media is when someone can pull the plug and remove your access so easily.

[hailruth]

a siddur belonging to marilyn monroe, complete with her annotations in pencil. many remember her as a sex symbol who lived a difficult life, but few know of her conversion & devotion to judaism. "everybody's always out to get them, no matter what they do," said monroe. "like me."

[pantheonbooks]

In 2023, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom found that challenges of unique titles surged 65%, reaching the highest level ever documented by the ALA. Over 4,000 unique book titles were targeted for censorship, with titles representing the voices and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals comprising 47% of those attempts.

Now is the time, more than ever, to stand with the banned and boldly read challenged books.

[shouldhavestayedawayfromhere]

And remember kids, the next time someone tells you "the government wouldn't do that!" – they're gaslighting you. Bark at them. Bare your teeth and let them know that you know what you saw and what you heard. Don't move an inch from the standpoint you have, don't let anybody talk you out of the picture you've made yourself. It's not "oh yes they would", anymore. It's "they do and they will continue to do so." Be attentive. You know what's happening. Be loud about it.

[granolabird]

Hi friends, I am learning this morning that Joost Klein and the Netherlands as a whole may be disqualified from Eurovision. Why is that, you ask? Well, our lovely Dutch gabber chose to do a little heckling during the press conference, shouting"Why not?" After the Israeli press rep told Eden Golan that she didn't have to answer a question regarding why she felt comfortable performing the show when it put others in danger. He also would actively cover his head with a flag during her speaking portions. As well, he explicitly asked for the Isreali team to not record him during some of their video filming. They did anyway. That takes us to today, where, from down the grapevine I hear that comments were made by the Israeli team regarding Joost's deceased father of whom his song is dedicated to, and he retaliated full force. Not sure what this means, or what will happen to him, but I support him in standing up to Isreal on what is at present one of the largest Israeli stages.

[liyazaki]

via the Arkansas Advocate

it’s official: in Arkansas, library staff may now be charged with a Class D felony for providing books to their communities that are deemed “obscene”.

in Florida, school librarians and teachers can be criminally charged for checking out books to kids that dare to touch on LGBTQ topics & gender identity, thanks to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

book censorship in the US is at such an all-time high, book sanctuaries are popping up all over the country.

library staff aren’t physically safe, either. just over the past couple months, threats against libraries and their staff resulted in the temporary closure of “five public library systems due to bomb and shooting threats," ALA. active shooter trainings have become the new norm for me.

the censorship myself and my colleagues have been watching unfold over the last several years has felt like watching a slow-motion car crash.

but this bill? this feels like a death knell for my profession.

via Teen Vogue

when I was a confused queer kid growing up in an ultra-religious household, the library was my refuge. when I asked hard questions, librarians listened and gave me the tools I needed to answer them. in many ways, libraries saved my life. it's why I became a librarian.

I can't believe I'm living in times where future generations of kids may not have access to the same refuge I did, but it's happening.

if you live in the US and you care about protecting open, equitable access to information, please check out the American Library Association for anti-censorship resources in your state, info on contacting your representatives, etc.

you can also report censorship you see in your community and ALA will investigate (1-800-545-2433, ext. 4266; oif@ala.org).

I know this isn't my usual content, but libraries are standing on the edge of a horrifying precipice- one we can't escape on our own.

libraries are free society's canary in the coal mine, and all the alarms are singing. when libraries fall, nations usually aren't far behind.

this matters- and we need help.

[blue-evening]

Let’s have another Boston Tea Party, but instead of dumping tea, we start kidnapping CEOs and making them walk the plank like the pirate days

[commiepinkofag]

‘Weeding’

Uncovering the Cover-up: How Republican Pennridge School Board Directors Secretly Banned Books

Darren Laustsen | May 28, 2024

Pennridge School District engaged in a massive two-year cover-up of a secret book-banning campaign initiated by two sitting Republican school board directors hellbent on unilaterally purging books without any due process, community input, oversight, or accountability.  According to a sworn Attestation from new Superintendent Angelo Berrios, Ricki Chaikin and Jordan Blomgren ordered school staff to remove books from the library that they had unilaterally deemed were inappropriate. More so, during legal battles over a Right-to-Know request, Pennridge’s law firm, Eckert Seamans, fought to circumvent the state’s Open Records laws and conceal book removals from the public. The scheme involved illegally-doctored public records, the concealment of book removals under fake student accounts, and the eventual disposal of targeted books under the false pretense of librarian “weeding.” …

[boymanmaletheshequel]

I have yet to see an argument against rednote that is valid and not just the manifestation of the red scare and American exceptionalism. “But.. but the CCP is stealing your data and selling it to their government!1!” WOAH REALLY? wow, I sure am glad that I use Facebook and Instagram instead, American apps that were some of the first ever worldwide to specifically steal and sell Americans information to the us government! I Really dodged a bullet there! “But, but the CCP is commiting a genocide?!!” Yeah, and that’s horrible, reprehensible, but so is what the United States has done, multiple genocides in the past few years alone actually, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, all genocides funded and influenced if not outright carried out by the United States government. “Yeah well, well did you know that the Chinese are only nice to foreigners? They HATE eachother!!!” ???? Have you??? Seen ??? How?? We?? Have?? Treated?? Eachother?? The?? Past?? 8?? Years??? Like really? THATS your bombshell mic drop argument?? And finally, of course, “but-but China wants to sell you PROPAGANDA!!” Like what? That the United States is an oppressive imperial entity that controls the world through fear?? Yeah, no fucking shit bitch, I’ve BEEN knew, I LIVE here. All of these arguments, all of these claims of American superiority, are the result of DECADES of carefully crafted propaganda and paranoia campaigns designed specifically to convince you that communism is some great unimaginable evil in order to shift your eyes away from the actions of our OWN government. We are no better, and no worse, than the CCP, and anyone who believes otherwise, is one of the hundreds of millions who has been successfully duped by the most powerful empire in the world.