“Juneteenth is not the Black 4th of July. It is our freedom day:” Reflections from NAACP’s banned books panel

NAACP Boulder County hosted a banned books panel discussion this past Monday, June 17th. The panel was moderated by Michele Simpson – host of Black Talk once a month on Thursdays, right here on KGNU. Dr. Reiland Rabaka, the Founder and Director for African and African American Studies at CU Boulder, was the keynote speaker at the event.

“Between 1619 and 1865, It was illegal for African Americans to be educated,” said Dr. Rabaka. “It was illegal. That means that they banned education for African Americans…And it was Frederick Douglass who said, knowledge is power…and then it was Marcus Garvey who said, “If you don’t know your past, you’ll never know your future.’ But how are you going to know your past if they’re sitting up here banning your books?…It’s almost as if we don’t live in the United States of America where education is a fundamental human right.”

According to Dr. Rabaka, books about race and racism that feature characters of color make up 30% of the titles being banned. Additionally, he states that more than 30 states believe we should not read about experiences like race, sexuality, slavery, and police brutality that they deem otherwise inappropriate. More than 30 states have banned books by Black authors, including The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin, and Beloved by Toni Morrison, among many others.

You can hear the full panel tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 19th on KGNU. You can also listen below.

Listen:

The NAACP of Boulder County is hosting a series of 2024 Juneteenth community events starting Friday, June 14th through Saturday, June 22nd. See the flyer below for details.