The Hill We Climb: A Target of Dangerous Book Bans and Censorship in the US by PEN International

« Amanda Gorman’s Founding Book Ban, The Hill We Climbis emblematic of the wave dangerous and widespread book attacks happening in the United States today “Says PEN International straight away in a press release.

A reference to the vast censorship movement that has been deployed across the Atlantic since 2021. In the last year alone, 1,269 withdrawal requests were noted by the American Library Association, relating to 2,571 titles in total.

For its part, PEN America recalls that “The Hill We Climb was widely praised after Amanda Gorman read it during President Biden’s inauguration “. Indeed, some will remember the young author reciting the homonymous poem in 2021, a performance that has toured the world.

Diversity in focus

And PEN International highlights one observation: “ Black writers and ethnically related books have been disproportionately affected by the wave of book bans across the country, a phenomenon documented by PEN America over the past year and a half.The texts of the feminist poet Amanda Gorman denounce racism, and more generally stand up against the various forms of contemporary oppression.

The Miami-Dade School District, for its part, assures that the title of Gorman has not been censored, but that its access is only limited to children over the age of 11. For the others, a request must be made to an employee, before taking a reading test…

For PEN America, the case is heard: it is an attempt at censorship. ” The book may remain available for college students, but when you restrict or decrease access to a work, it is actually a ban that is targeted“, describes the association.

And to add:MoveThe Hill We Climbwithin the College section means primary students will not be able to get it, their access has been restricted.» Several other books, includingThe ABCs of Black History(The ABCs of Black History) from Rio Cortez, have also been relocated to the shelves of college students, again because of the complaints filed by this single vindictive parent. However, the publisher recommends this last title for children under 8 years old…

Florida, nest of censors

In Escambia County this time, still in Florida, on May 17, PEN America, alongside publisher Penguin Random House, authors and parents of children, sued legal action in federal court. They are demanding the return of certain books to the library shelves.

READ – In Arkansas, librarians are suing censorship

The organizations and individuals behind the complaint singled out Escambia County for its involvement.centralin the contemporary censorship movement. 197 books have been subject to removal procedures in the county: 10 of them have been censored by the school board, 5 by district committees, and 154 remain accessible to students only with parental authorization, pending a decision.

REPORT – In the United States, a worrying wave of book censorship

Photograph: Mural by Nicole Hayden, in San Francisco (illustration, Kathy Drasky, CC BY 2.0)

REPORT – In the United States, a worrying wave of book censorship