But what happened during this meeting should raise the alarm in other ways. RT @KwikWarren: Shame on @CBSNews for giving Moms For Libertybasically female Nazisplatforms on @60Minutes & @CBSSunday Morning to spew bigoted BS. The new policy allows outside groups to have such displays, In Vinton, Iowa, the public library director left, Theres just such a push of radicals to sexualize everything in our public schools and our public arena, resident Alice Brown said., In Catawba County, North Carolina, several of the 24 books challenged have been reviewed. Who Are Moms for Liberty?: This Week's Book Censorship - BOOK RIOT For example, a Book Looks report about Alison Bechdels Fun Home an award-winning graphic novel about the authors journey from childhood to college student to adult in relation to both her identity as a lesbian and her dynamic with her family, particularly her father who is a closeted gay man cites the depiction of alternative sexualities and alternative gender ideologies among other justifications for why it should be removed from school libraries. . Moms for Book Liberty on Apple Podcasts The community members spoke about an hour and a half, compared to 15 minutes normally allotted for public comments. Book Look and Book Looks are facilitating the book banning process. There was no discussion of where the system came from outside of it being called like the movie ratings system, and no discussion of who was reading, reviewing, and writing up the book information. The organization's mission is to organize, educate and empower parents to defend their parental rights at all . Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. Their challenges begin in Brevard County, Florida, dramatic readings at school board meetings, Fast-Paced Reads That Made Me Neglect Life, Book Bans are Driving Kids Away from Libraries and Reading. Moms for Liberty, a conservative parents-rights advocacy group that has rapidly expanded since its founding little more than two years ago, flexed its political muscles on Friday as top rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination addressed its national conference in Philadelphia. Moms for Liberty is a 501 (c) (4) nonprofit organization founded in Florida in 2021. You can sort through them by rating and search by title, and the passages that volunteers highlight are the talking points used in bans. What makes them especially powerful besides their tremendous funding is their local level efforts: they operate by county, rather than city or state, meaning that action can be quick, organized, and targeted. It is the Moms for Liberty BookLook/BookLooks system. All of these databases are accessible to the public, with the exception of one, which is very easy to gain access via Facebook. They, too, use the BookLooks moving rating system, and they offer stickers and warning labels on their website for people to use on the books they deem inappropriate (conveniently, where they make some money!). But what is great is that Downers Grove schools (IL), But the way he did it was he encouraged people to come to come to a library board meeting, and said that the library director had been filling the shelves with Critical Race Theory, LGBTQ topics and other topics. How Should We Feel About Barnes & Noble Now? BookLooks has been the model for other book rating sites, including RatedBooks, which is aligned with the Utah-based book challenge group LaVerna in the Library. This is by no means comprehensive, but instead, a way to make sense of where these challenges are coming from and a way to see where book challengers are getting their copy-paste arguments. Jenkins reports that Moms for Liberty began disrupting school board meetings, accusing board members of being "paedophiles" and making thinly veiled threats of violence against them. Media Matters does a fantastic job of following the money and connections of this group. LaVerna in the Libraryalso known as Mary in the Libraryhas groups scattered throughout the country at the state level. For context, #NoLeftTurninEducation is an active part of the book banning industry from right wing #astroturf groups: https://t.co/WqDOhlmsVc, John Norcross (@jnorcr) July 25, 2022, One of the smaller book ban lists comes from the Pavement Education Project (PEP) in North Carolina. While there is a direct link between Moms For Liberty and BookLooks, as well as a clear path in what the development is between a review and a formal challenge from the group, what is far less clear is where the books these volunteers are being sourced. This week, YA author Eliot Schrefer was on the Trevor Noah show talking about his latest book, Queer Ducks. You wouldn't have the same books in a medical college that you would in a seminary, and just because a book is printed doesn't mean that it belongs in a children's library." The latest example: The Tallahassee Democrat reported a Florida teacher is under investigation by state authorities for showing her students the Disney movie "Strange World," which features a gay character. lying about how theyre getting and sharing their information, Fast-Paced Reads That Made Me Neglect Life, Book Bans are Driving Kids Away from Libraries and Reading. Members of the group have called for the development of an objective rating system that would put an end to books that contain what they believe to be obscene and objectionable content being purchased for libraries. Whether a reasonable person finds that the matter, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. What is disturbing is how the board members did little questioning of the wheres or hows of the system, and worse, that Alexander seems to have either been in collaboration with the board OR convinced them pretty easily to have this conversation. This week, YA author Eliot Schrefer was on the Trevor Noah show talking about his latest book, Queer Ducks. Their challenges begin in Brevard County, Florida, and their challenged titles become the targets of similar efforts to ban books across the country. One board member then asked about sidestepping policy all together, allowing books to be pulled without needing to go through the lengthy review process. It is a slap in the face to every person working throughout the school, state, and country who has earned the credentials, experience, and knowledge to be considered a professional educator and/or librarian. The idea is that the book titles in school libraries are carefully curated to include educational material of differing viewpoints to inspire both a love of learning and reading. The group began by promoting disinformation and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic . Fast-Paced Reads That Made Me Neglect Life, Book Bans are Driving Kids Away from Libraries and Reading. Stephens also does not deny and in fact considers it publicity that BookLooks has been called out as a Moms For Liberty joint. What is disturbing is how the board members did little questioning of the wheres or hows of the system, and worse, that Alexander seems to have either been in collaboration with the board OR convinced them pretty easily to have this conversation. This 111 page guidebook, put together by Moms For Liberty in Polk County, reiterates that their quest to remove inappropriate books from schools is not about book banning. One of the cornerstones of these biased online book reviews is that they try to rate books using a system similar to those used for movies. But Alexander did not keep herself seated with attendees. PHILADELPHIA (AP) Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Moms for Liberty a misnomer if ever there was one think children should be "protected" from their own brains. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. Scott District resident and treasurer of parental activist group Moms for Liberty's local chapter told the Fauquier County School Board Aug. 22 that their group submitted 14 more books containing . The site uses the same rating system shared on the Moms For Liberty Brevard County public Facebook page, published in late March. The book includes inappropriate racial slurs, sexual content, profanity, and vulgar jokes about sex with an animal., This story is paywalled, but the good news out of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, is that. ", While Moms for Liberty has focused largely on local school board politics, the group also has its eye on the 2024 presidential race. Moms of Liberty has acted as a template for fellow failed school board candidates to create similar groups in other U.S. states. The Trailer for ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE Is Here, 20 Genre-Defying Fantasy Books You Won't be Able to Put Down, The Granbury Independent School District in Texas, Pitt County North Carolina schools change their policies that will inform parents about books being read in classrooms following, This is a thoughtful piece about book challenges and bans and within it is the story of, Sartell-St. Stephen School District in Minnesota saw parents pulling their students out of an English class where, Williamson County, Tennessee, school removes, This story is a little hard to untangle, but, Walla Walla, Washington, schools did not remove books being challenged there, so, So heres why it is vital to follow the money. The booklet, which you can access in full here, also makes ample use of the home-grown Moms for Liberty book rating system, BookLook/BookLooks. As Moms for Liberty comes to Philly, tensions run high The discussion of the difference between peer reviewed and crowd sourced reviews is addressed. In addition to the standard cherry-picking of passages to highlightclearly ignoring any indication of even pretending that The Miller Test is the standard for obscenitythe book includes a letter sent from Johnston High Schools educators about the books use in junior AP Language and Composition class. At a heated school board meeting this week in Volusia County, Florida, two books under fire were retained. Their pet projects include anticritical race theory and antisocial emotional learning in public schools, book challenges, anti-mask mandates, and other legislation relating to education and COVID-related policies. There does seem to be a backlash brewing. Established in January 2021, the conservative nonprofit group, founded in Florida, brags of a 70,000+ membership. Teacher: 'To censor and ban books is to erase whole parts of humanity'. Of them, everything will remain as-is in the high school library but, Whats happening in Gorham Schools (ME) is, Heres our weekly update on whats happening , Last and absolutely not least spend some time with Kyle Lukoffs column in Booklist (page 19). Several books included in the still-tiny BookLooks database are titles that would never be purchased or included in a school library collection, such as The Complete Idiots Guide to Tantric Sex. "What we're talking about is curating content in a library. The Biased Online Book Ratings Systems Undermining Professional Review A slate of conservative school board candidates endorsed by Moms for Liberty faced off last year against a slate opposed to the group's efforts to commandeer the school system. These two websites look slightly different, but they are the same thing. Summer is here, and while the actual news of book challenges might slow down, that does not mean the work of those banning books is anywhere near done. Extremist Group Info: Books with a rating of 3-5 are restricted, and parents must opt into the system that allows their child to access those books. 06/30/23 2:11 PM EDT, Article Moms for Liberty has targeted teachers, administrators, parents, and school board members, orchestrating harassment campaigns that have left people fearing for their safetyand in some cases,. First Name. She's the editor/author of (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Moms For Liberty has been at the forefront of book challenges throughout the 2021-2022 school year. An update on the Llano County Library (TX) lawsuit over book removal, some school board meetings are devolving into whatever this discussion is, this article is good and gives a lot of solid context, who dont have a vested interest in the education of their students, ways Moms For Liberty are fueling school board wars, Fast-Paced Reads That Made Me Neglect Life, Book Bans are Driving Kids Away from Libraries and Reading. The complaint against the teacher came from a school board member who won office after being endorsed by Moms for Liberty. This book is being passed around dozens of groups, creating a false sense of urgency about naughty books in school libraries. There has not yet been a final decision in this story, but its a sign of whats to come over the summer as these groups amp up their efforts for the fall. This happened prior to the meeting, and a newly updated book policy ensured parents kept the ability to challenge books. Summer is here, and while the actual news of book challenges might slow down, that does not mean the work of those banning books is anywhere near done. The article might be paywalled, and if so, The school district has been quietly and steadily banning or removing books from library shelves at Flagler Palm Coast High School, Matanzas High School, Indian Trails Middle School and Buddy Taylor Middle School since summer [] The district has been removing the books in two ways, but in both cases, Frank Strong highlights how the Mama Bears Rising are wrecking chaos on the Tomball, Texas, school board with, The ImagineIF Board of Trustees voted Thursday to keep a Christian child rearing book in the librarys collection after a challenge claimed the authors alleged close ties with a pedophile warranted its removal. This is in Montana and, Over 20 people spoke during the public comment portion of the school board meeting about the removal of 97 books for review. These positions would allow each individual chapter to have a member organizing the gutting of public school libraries. As always, before diving into this weeks roundup of censorship news, heres a reminder that you can take action. It will come as little surprise that the local Moms For Liberty group is where this discussion began, and it will be less of a surprise that the Alexanders used the very Moms For Liberty system cloaked as BookLooks (and similarly named sites because there is more than one). Absolutely, thats what we do with Moms for Liberty is we say, we are going to flip those seats, and like I yelled out in there, were going to, we are going to take over the boards, said Danforth. Because an individual in Owasso, Oklahoma, was told they were not welcome at the school board meetings for inciting harassment and attempting to remove a library book. Moms for Liberty has no shame in lying about how theyre getting and sharing their information, either, as seen in chapters elsewhere across the country. This is a dangerous slide into not only providing taxpayer money to a private, political entity. That disruption can be, well, disruptive. Moms for Liberty reported $370,000 in revenue in its first year, including contributions of $100,000, $20,000, $15,000, $10,000, and $5,000, according to a federal tax form. The Trailer for ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE Is Here, 20 Genre-Defying Fantasy Books You Won't be Able to Put Down. Moms for Liberty has turned 'parental rights' into a rallying cry for For books in Utah, the group puts what law the book supposedly violates, and all of this is available in a searchable spreadsheet. The new policy allows outside groups to have such displays, In Vinton, Iowa, the public library director left, Theres just such a push of radicals to sexualize everything in our public schools and our public arena, resident Alice Brown said., In Catawba County, North Carolina, several of the 24 books challenged have been reviewed. challenging school books about Ruby Bridges and Martin Luther King Jr. "I think he's a leader that way, and parents across the country have recognized him for that.". But I thought BookLooks/BookLook was so proud to not be affiliated with a group? Moms for Liberty - Ballotpedia If youve spent any time reading through book challenges over the last year, one of the groups youve likely encountered by name numerous times and will encounter in the links below is Moms for Liberty. As we enter Banned Books Week 2022, a new movement to gut public school libraries is sweeping the nation, with far-right parental rights group Moms for Liberty and two pro-censorship organizations Book Look and Book Looks at the forefront. It is the Moms For Liberty system. They often will wear associated apparel which is how the founders claim theyve raised their money and they will introduce themselves as part of the group in school board meetings or in press interviews. The Los Angeles Times added that the group "criticizes what it regards as an agenda-driven education system that emphasizes race, gender and diversity at the expense of core subjects." The group grew out of opposition to public health regulations for COVID-19, opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum, and has advocated books bans. The individual speaking at that point talks about how they are in the process of finding a system that is more objective in nature. Moms for Liberty Resources for Parents | M4L National - USA Book bans are pretty much the worst, and when it comes to the worst of the worst, the 111-page Moms for Liberty BOOK of BOOKS document, which claims to provide parental guidance for controversial children's books, is beneath the barrel's bottom, somewhere deep in the sewer, under a layer of crust formed by many, many flushed turds. That book is reviewed alongside Ruth Formans Curls (rated 0, with no objectionable content what so ever). This week across the book banning social media world, a new guidebook to inappropriate books across the state of Iowa has been circulating. Moms for Liberty is an American political organization that advocates against school curriculums that mention LGBT rights, race and ethnicity, critical race theory, and discrimination, while multiple chapters have also campaigned to ban from school libraries books that address gender and sexuality. It was given a four rating: Not for minors., In addition to rating books, sharing out-of-context quotes on Facebook of objectionable books is another part of the groups broader strategy that they say gathers attention on social media and gets people engaged with outrage. Individuals are also encouraged to send school boards snippets of the most objectionable books and attend board meetings to ask publicly about progress, or, if you have brave volunteers, attempt to read some passages from these books and ask if the board thinks this is OK for minors. Those involved with the organization are proud of their involvement. Its one lie of thousands this group has perpetuated. A minute later, a board member holds up a book rating sheet, asking if they use that to identify books and whether or not they fit the Florida statues for being allowed in the schools. Now, Volusia County wants to go to crowd sourced reviewsreviews by any Jane Doe with an agenda. Even though the Wake County GOP promoted today's protest, the rally was organized by the Pavement Education Project. Book Look was originally formed as the Moms for Liberty Library Book Committee, and while Book Looks claims to be unaffiliated with Moms for Liberty, Book Riot uncovered that the organization was actually spearheaded by a Moms for Liberty member. This is the Moms For Liberty book review joint, as reported on earlier this year. About Book Looks ORLANDO A high school along Florida's Atlantic Coast has removed a graphic novel based on the diary of Anne Frank after a leader of a conservative advocacy group challenged it, claiming it. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. It is a fabulous conversation, and the final two minutes are especially vital for our cultural censorship culture. Volusia County Schools (FL) Want to Invest in Moms For Liberty's BookLooks Note that this database goes by both the name BookLooks and the name BookLook; they are different names for the same thing. At the boards April 12 meeting, Alexander and her husband both showed up and discussed inappropriate books. The Moms for Liberty chapter in Florida's Indian River County challenged more than 150 books in November last year, but the Indian River County School Board later voted to remove only five:. Moms for Liberty Has Aggressive, Predatory Tacticsand They - VICE The Trailer for ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE Is Here, 20 Genre-Defying Fantasy Books You Won't be Able to Put Down. Use this toolkit forhow to fight book bans and challenges, as well as this guide toidentifying fake news. They do not mention that it is their own creation. Get updates about our events, articles, and other news. Among the books Moms for Liberty deemed inappropriate are "Martin Luther King Jr. and the March on Washington" and "The Story of Ruby Bridges," about the Black 6-year-old who integrated a . There has not yet been a final decision in this story, but its a sign of whats to come over the summer as these groups amp up their efforts for the fall. The second page of the letter sent to all parents of students in that class. Moms for Liberty asks CMS schools to rate books like movies | Charlotte E-mail Address. Laurence Reisman Treasure Coast Newspapers 0:00 0:35 I was a little skeptical when Moms for Liberty announced it had found 28 "unacceptable" books in Indian River County school libraries. Mary has spawned iterations in many states across the country, so it is easy to look up Mary In The Library + Your State to see if your region has one. Books contain ideas, and a society that bans ideas is well on its way to the type of totalitarianism that Moms for Liberty is working to avoid. There was no discussion of where the system came from outside of it being called like the movie ratings system, and no discussion of who was reading, reviewing, and writing up the book information. Though Emily Maikisch is the name listed on the BookLooks registration, Emily is not the name she uses in her Moms For Liberty capacity. Titles in BookLooks earning a rating of 4 or higher then go onto the list of titles which are formally challenged in Brevard. Guess what is not included in the booklet, either within the section on The Bluest Eye or elsewhere? The link in the comments? This triggered the book to be formally challenged at Brevard County School District, using the pages linked in the Facebook post (those are all included in the BookLooks listing for the book). Theyve not only had several members pull their kids from the public schools and send them to private schoolswhere now theyll potentially be able to get taxpayer money to do just that, thanks to new laws in Iowabut the governor is their partner in it all. Within just weeks of beginning the organization, they appeared across a host of right-wing conservative media outlets, including Rush Limbaugh, Tucker Carlson, Breitbart, and more. However, we believe that selecting content that is appropriate for age and situation is not the same as book banning. But what appears to be an objective measure of a books content, mirrored after movie ratings, is anything but. Moms for Liberty, a group known for intimidating school officials and engaging in aggressive behavior at school board meetings, recently began its "Moms for Libraries campaign, which promises. Many have been located in our local Brevard County, FL schools, but others have been located across the country by other concerned parents and groups. A Survey: Book Censorship News, June 16, 2023, SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE Is a Must-Watch to Understand Todays Book Ban Movement: Book Censorship News, June 9, 2023, Unfurling The Book Banner Lies: Book Censorship News, June 2, 2023, When Do We Move From Advocacy to Preparation? Before the Hamilton County, Indiana, chapter of Moms for Liberty achieved national notoriety this month for quoting Adolf Hitler in its newsletter, it was already at war over education in the schools of Indianapolis' suburbs. This 111 page guidebook, put together by Moms For Liberty in Polk County, reiterates that their quest to remove inappropriate books from schools is not about book banning. Moms for Liberty says its mission is "fighting for the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government." But it has. If that can help us remain in policy and provide the appropriate books, I think its money well spent.. In addition to the discussion of the ratings system was the appearance of the three books formally challenged, as well as a number of books weeded from the collection already (including, surprise, Gender Queer). Co-founders Tiffany Justice and Tina Descovich say their goal isn't to disrupt education but to fight for parents' rights to oversee their kids' education. Let them stand behind this material and own it if they are not working to get rid of it., Notably, Book Looks website directs parents to links about the anti-LGBTQ grooming smear and articles about Moms for Liberty fighting against porn in schools; it also provides users with anti-transmemes to spread on social media.
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