Banned Books Week, Sept 24-Oct 1: Read a Banned Book Today

Dear friends, fellow writers, and upholders of intellectual freedom,

Did you know that in some schools and libraries, books such as Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have been challenged or banned?  

This week marks Banned Books Week, sponsored annually by the American Library Association. Several years ago, when I served on the Plainfield Cultural and Heritage Commission, we held a couple of community "read-ins" at the Plainfield Public Library to observe this important week of intellectual freedom by having Plainfield residents (adults and children) read passages from books that, for numerous reasons, had been banned in schools and libraries around the country. 

Our special guest in 2005 was renowned poet and scholar Cheryl Clarke, (link) who read aloud the love scene between Celie and Shug in Alice Walker's Pulitzer and National Book Award-winning yet much-banned The Color Purple, along with selections from one of her own highly-regarded books of poetry. The following year, we focused on Latin American authors as part of Hispanic Heritage Week, as they overlapped. Others who read at these events were Plainfield residents Herb Green (reading from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), Alice Logie (reading from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax), Julie Jerome (reading from Heather Has Two Mommies) and a couple dozen other folks. 

It was gratifying to know that all the books we used for the read-in were provided to us from our own library. Below are challenged classics, some of which I teach in my literature classes:

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Ulysses, by James Joyce
Beloved, by Toni Morrison

1984, by George Orwell
 Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
Native Son, by Richard Wright


Click on this link to see the Top Ten books that were banned in 2010:

Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2010

The dangers of book-banning are well-known in our country--below is a link to the ALA site, where you can find a comprehensive list of the most-banned books, along with more information about the events for the week:

American Library Association: Banned Books Week

All best,


Rebecca

September 15, 1963

 

Ballad of Birmingham

(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963)

Clockwise from top left: Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, 

Denise McNair, and Addie Mae Collins

Mother dear, may I go downtown
Instead of out to play,
And march the streets of Birmingham
In a Freedom March today?"

"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For the dogs are fierce and wild,
And clubs and hoses, guns and jails
Aren't good for a little child."

"But, mother, I won't be alone.
Other children will go with me,
And march the streets of Birmingham
To make our country free."

"No, baby, no, you may not go,
For I fear those guns will fire.
But you may go to church instead
And sing in the children's choir."

She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,
And bathed rose petal sweet,
And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,
And white shoes on her feet.

The mother smiled to know that her child
Was in the sacred place,
But that smile was the last smile
To come upon her face.

For when she heard the explosion,
Her eyes grew wet and wild.
She raced through the streets of Birmingham
Calling for her child.

She clawed through bits of glass and brick,
Then lifted out a shoe.
"O, here's the shoe my baby wore,
But, baby, where are you?"

                           --Dudley Randall, 1969 

This link will take you to a site which provides more information about the historical events which inspired the poem: The Ballad of Birmingham
 
                           

Fall Library Grounds Community Clean Up!

Saturday, September 17, 2011, 9:30 am 

Volunteers Meet on Library Steps

Gloves, rakes, bags, and water will be provided

Councilman Adrian Mapp with Vivi and Gigi at past community cleanup!

Hi, all--it's that time again! The Plainfield Public Library, our community treasure, is due for another community clean up of its exterior grounds. Those of you who could only access Internet service or use the free WIFI at the library during the past week because of the hurricane can certainly speak to how critical the library is to our city and its residents. 

As I have mentioned in the past, we, as a community, need to add to our priorities the protection and enhancement of the cultural institutions that are the life-blood of any city. Last year, one of the community service projects of the New Democrats for Plainfield Club was to assist in cleaning up the exterior grounds of the library for our children and all other library patrons. To that end, I hope you will join me, club members and all other community volunteers as we get out our brooms and bags to make the library look fabulous in anticipation of the exciting opening of the renovated Children's Library.

The Children's Library is set to open on Saturday, September 24 at 9:30 am, so it behooves us to ensure that every one of our little visitors is able to see our library at its finest--meaning spruced up, cleaned up, and dressed up!

We will gather on the library steps at 9:15 am to begin our work. If you have hedge trimmers, please bring them! We would also like to clean the weeds out of the sidewalk cracks, especially on the Park Avenue side of the library, so if this is your area of expertise, please assist us!

We will provide rakes, gloves, bags, water, and camaraderie. Hope to see you there! 

All best,

Rebecca

Haiku for Gabby: On the Closing of Muhlenberg

What hope is there if/

Apathy is the new black/

Who will speak for her?

Gabby protested while politicians stayed home. (Photo credit: Dan Damon)

When I was a kid, I remember learning to write haiku at school as a way of learning to be concise in my thoughts. More recently, the work of my friend Stafford (who writes brilliant haiku) has inspired me to express myself in this poetic form. 

All best,


Rebecca




 



 

Phrenology: The Law of the Land in Plainfield

While checking out the Plainfield Municipal Code—Chapter 10, Morals and Conduct—I was surprised to discover that Plainfield had a law on the books concerning  phrenology.*

Sec. 10:7-12.  Fortunetellers, soothsayers, palmists and phrenology.¹³

 ¹³State law reference: As to fortunetellers, See N.J.S.A. 2A:170-7.

     (a)     No person shall advertise himself or herself as a clairvoyant, soothsayer, seer, physiognomist, palmist, fortuneteller, spiritualist, spirit medium, or phrenologist or charge or receive any fee, reward, gratuity or anything of value from any person as such clairvoyant, soothsayer, seer, physiognomist, palmist, fortuneteller, spiritualist, spirit medium or phrenologist.

    (b)     Such a person shall be considered a disorderly person under the statutes of the State of New Jersey.

(R.O. 1957, 10:4-4(b))

Phrenology dealt with skull measurements and involved feeling the skull to help determine one’s character traits and tendencies. Phrenology, now regarded as a pseudo-science, was very popular in the 19th century, and especially so during the antebellum era in America. It also captured the literary imagination of many Victorian-era British authors as well as 19th Century American writers such as Melville, Whitman, Twain. Some explored it with a degree of seriousness, while others (especially Mark Twain) found it ripe for ridicule and parody. 

Phrenology also bears some relation to the other pseudo-scientific racial theories that gained force in the 19th century and which still resonate in the form of eugenics and other 20th and 21st Century racialized speculations. *The statute prohibiting phrenologists (as well as soothsayers, clairoyants, seers, spirit mediums, et al) was repealed by the state back in 1979. Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry on Phrenology, which offers a comprehensive view, along with good links to primary source material. Enjoy!

All best,

Rebecca

 

James Baldwin, American Intellectual Giant

James Baldwin, Aug 2,1924 - Dec 1,1987

“Most of us are about as eager to be changed as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock.”

August 2nd marks the birthday of the late James Baldwin, one of the most important American intellectuals of the 20th Century. Baldwin articulated his humanity as a black gay man through a number of novels, essays, plays,  and through his activism and sheer compassion.

Many scholars and activists note the prophetic quality of much of Baldwin’s writing, which seems even more prophetic today. James Baldwin is not easy to teach, because he is searing, unrelenting, and unapologetic—those are qualities that don’t comport well with polite society. That is why I love him so much—he doesn’t sugarcoat American truths and realities.

My parents read Baldwin—The Fire Next Time, Another Country, Giovanni’s Room, etc., and I remember him as a fascinating presence (those huge eyes) from my earliest television memories on talk shows that focused on the Civil Rights movement during the Johnson and Nixon eras, respectively. He was what I would now call “a little guy,” in terms of his physical stature, but his charismatic presence more than made up for it. It was (and remains) difficult to take one’s eyes off him.  

So much of James Baldwin's work seems to reflect my own thoughts and feelings on a number of issues that continue to plague our society—not just issues of racial justice, but also the trend toward self-interest, greed, and meanness. What would Jimmy say about the world today, about our American society today?

In New Orleans, 1963

I think it is important to acknowledge the continued social urgency contained in Baldwin’s oeuvre, as there are those who still manage to manipulate our young people into thinking that certain types of posturing are effective stand-ins for manhood. For those who continue to mislead our young people, who continue to perpetuate tired heterosexist paradigms of black masculinity and virility—I suggest you take a look at James Baldwin, a true black man.

The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction 1948-1985 is available at the Plainfield Public Library, along with most of Baldwin’s other writings.  The excellent American Masters documentary, James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket is available through California Newsreel.

Baldwin is ubiquitous on YouTube, so I urge everyone to learn more about his life and the legacy he has left behind by checking out some of the clips. Below is an audio clip (with stills) of Baldwin singing “Precious Lord, Take My Hand”—I chose this clip because I love this song, and hearing Baldwin sing it gives me chills.

All best,

Rebecca

The Colored Orphans Asylum and the New York City Draft Riots: July 13-17, 1863

From July 13-17, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the worst race riot in American history took place in New York City. Among other buildings, the Colored Orphans Asylum (pictured above) was burned to the ground. There are several good histories of the riot, its causes, and the immediate aftermath--I recommend In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863, by Leslie M. Harris, for its overview of the riot. I have provided a link to the book here, but there is a wealth of additional information available. The Virtual New York site, produced by CUNY, has a comprehensive discussion of the riot here. The New-York Historical Society offered an amazing look at Northern slavery with its recent (a couple of years ago) Slavery in New York exhibit, which is permanently online here. 

The photo at right is an interior photo of a classroom at the Colored Orphans Asylum. Also available on line is a report, formally titled Report of the Merchants Committee for the Relief of Colored People Suffering from the Late Riots in the City of New York, generated by a relief society formed to aid the African American community in the immediate aftermath of the riot--here. 

This is American history that many folks are not aware of--but it is important for us to know.


All best,


Rebecca