REGISTER HERE. Note: All Love & Solidarity events are free and open to the public. However, we encourage registration, due to limited in-person space. For virtual attendance, registration is required in order to receive the Zoom link. 

The East Side Freedom Library (ESFL) and the University of Minnesota Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) are proud to present: “Beyond Banned Books: Rising Against Fascism.”

This event kicks off ESFL’s 10th Anniversary Fall Love & Solidarity series, as well as IAS’s 2023-2024 IAS Thursdays series. Leading American scholar-historians Robin D.G. Kelley (UCLA) and Roderick A. Ferguson (Yale) will discuss attacks against institutions and modes of learning, including books, libraries, educators, and more. Our guests will be in conversation with UMN PhD candidate Kristen Reynolds.

ABOUT BANNED BOOKS:

According to data from the American Library Association, about 90% of all books challenged in 2022 were part of multi-title bans—many organized by political advocacy groups attempting to censor content that doesn’t fit their political, moral, or religious agenda. Among those most challenged are books featuring characters of color or including themes of race, racism, or LGBTQIA+ identity.

Join a panel of historians and scholars of African American history, queer studies, and cultural studies for a conversation on the intersection of critical thought and expression, attempted book bans, and their global implications. In what ways does book banning impact marginalized authors and perspectives differently as compared to more mainstream voices? What role do institutions, such as libraries and schools, play in resisting or perpetuating book-banning practices, and how can these institutions foster a more expansive literary landscape?

Panelists will discuss historical parallels between current book-banning efforts and those of the past, as well as how book banning affects educational environments and the consequences those bans have on students’ understanding of social issues, critical thinking, and our future.

Presented in partnership by the East Side Freedom Library as part of the Love and Solidarity Series and the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota as part of IAS Thursdays: (In)Justice.

ABOUT ROBIN KELLEY:

Robin D.G. Kelley is a historian of social movements in America, the African diaspora, and the African continent. He has written widely on Black music & visual culture, urban studies, organized labor, imperialism, constructions of race, Surrealism, and Marxism.

Recommended reading by the author:

Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination (2002) – Freedom Dreams is a staple in the academic study of Black radical tradition. It draws on histories and insights from radical 20th century Afro-Diasporic figures. Kelley incorporated ideas from this and other texts into his essay Black Study, Black Struggle, for which he was banned by the Florida Department of Education and the College Board.

Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class (1994) – This book examines the role of Black working class people in American resistance movements and their impact on US politics and culture. 

Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies (2023), Edited by Colin Kaepernick, Robin D.G. Kelley, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor – This compilation is a response to recent widespread efforts to remove certain histories and critical texts from the College Board’s new AP African American Studies course. It foregrounds canonical Black American authors across a range of topics, including literature, gender & sexuality, history, and more.

ABOUT RODERICK FERGUSON:

Roderick A. Ferguson is a scholar of American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University. He has written and taught about politics of culture and race; queer of color critique, women of color feminism; queer social movements; critical university studies; and social theory.

Recommended reading by the author:

One-Dimensional Queer (2018) – This book unpacks the multidimensional origins of queer liberation and illustrates its deep connection to issues of colonization, incarceration, and capitalism. The Florida Department of Education successfully had this book banned from the College Board’s AP African American Studies course.

Aberrations in Black: Toward a Queer of Color Critique (2003) – This text examines the ways that sociology has historically used sexual difference as a way to circumscribe African American culture. In response, Ferguson lays out a mode of discourse he calls “queer of color critique.” Public figures like Ron DeSantis have railed against queer of color critique, and in so doing, have implicitly challenged ‘Aberrations in Black’. 

Strange Affinities: The Gender and Sexual Politics of Comparative Racialization (2011), Edited by Grace Kyungwon Hong and Roderick A. Ferguson – This compilation of essays offers different ways of thinking about the intersecting histories of race, class, nation, gender, and sexuality. Through nuanced comparative analysis, this book explores the possibilities of progressive coalition-building across pre-existing racial/ethnic categories.