Friday, October 13, 2023

My postcard from the Banned Bookmobile Tour.

Check out these updates from our action against MAGA book bans.

Dear MoveOn member,

Greetings from the MoveOn member-supported Banned Bookmobile Tour!

We just finished a series of stops in Nashville and Atlanta and are heading to Virginia and Washington, D.C. next week, then onward to South Carolina and Ohio.

Traveling around the country on the Banned Bookmobile, I've had the incredible pleasure of meeting thousands of MoveOn members—you're librarians, parents, students, educators, authors, and, above all, readers.

It's been heartwarming to be in community with other book lovers. Something special happens when we come together in support of our freedom to learn and to read. We've bonded over our shared love of books and our resolve to defend our educators and parents and to protect our communities from MAGA book bans.

You can get a sense of how magical it is to come together against book bans by watching this short video recap. Take a look!

If you watch the video, you'll get to see some of my absolute favorite moments from the tour so far, like hearing from:

  • Katie Rinderle, the Georgia teacher who was fired for reading "My Shadow Is Purple," a book she purchased at her school's book fair, and whose class voted for her to read it.
  • Becky Albertalli, author of "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda," which was adapted into the film "Love, Simon," who showed up with high school students fighting local school bans.
  • Lindsey Patrick-Wright, an activist and mother who advocated against book bans and for her child who was bullied at school for being gay.
  • Tennessee State Representative Aftyn Behn, who addressed MoveOn members mere hours after she took her oath of office!
  • Ravanna-Michelle Menendez, a trans rights activist and powerhouse advocate based in Nashville. 
  • Shivi, a high school student who fought against book bans in Forsyth County, Georgia and leads with the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition.
  • Ms. Georgia, niece of American Nobel Prize laureate and frequently banned author Toni Morrison.

These speakers exemplify the power of our movement. In every community where MAGA Republicans are trying to impose their will on the rest of us, trying to erase anyone's history or experience that doesn't match theirs, there are people coming together for our freedoms and winning. The reality is that when we oppose book bans in our communities, we win. We are the majority, and our communities are the stronger for it.

We've had stops at local bookstores and on state capitol grounds, because this issue is both about books and about politics. And we're not the only ones making that connection: The bus has attracted tons of interest from local news outlets, bringing our response to this repressive MAGA book ban strategy into people's living rooms.

Here are a few of my favorite press hits about our Banned Bookmobile, and our broader defense of the freedom to read.

I can't wait to bring this to a town near you someday.

One thing's for sure—the bus that we've been riding across the country wouldn't exist without the generous support of MoveOn members just like you, whose donations have funded the whole thing.

So as always: Thanks for all you do. We recognize y'all at each of our events, and hopefully will get to thank you in person too. 

–Mana, for the whole MoveOn team

Want to support MoveOn's work? Book bans have skyrocketed thanks to right-wing state laws which have forced teachers to remove books from their classrooms. In response, MoveOn is launching a "Banned Bookmobile," filling it with books that the far right has banned, and driving it around to hand out those books, for free, in highly trafficked areas that will attract media attention. To keep the Banned Bookmobile up and running into 2024, we need your help.

Will you start a monthly gift to power our critical work? 


PAID FOR BY MOVEON POLITICAL ACTION, https://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. MoveOn Political Action - PO Box 96142, Washington, D.C. 20090-6142.

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