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WMAL INTERVIEW: 6:35 AM - INTERVIEW - STEPHANIE LUNDQUIST-ARORA - Fairfax mom and member of Independent Women's Network discussed: Democrat Karl Frisch, the first openly LGBT member elected to local office in Fairfax County, Virginia, was seen last week getting sworn into office by putting his hand on a stack of the five LGBT-themed books that have commonly been challenged in libraries and schools — Gender Queer; Flamer; All Boys Aren't Blue; Lawn Boy; and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. www.iwnetwork.com Where to find more about WMAL's morning show: Follow the Show Podcasts on Apple podcasts, Audible and Spotify. Follow WMAL's "O'Connor and Company" on X: @WMALDC, @LarryOConnor, @Jgunlock, @patricepinkfile and @heatherhunterdc. Facebook: WMALDC and Larry O'Connor Instagram: WMALDC Show Website: https://www.wmal.com/oconnor-company/ How to listen live weekdays from 5 to 9 AM: https://www.wmal.com/listenlive/ Episode: Tuesday, December 19, 2023 / 6 AM Hour See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
George M. Johnson talks about their debut Young Adult memoir All Boys Aren't Blue, the support of their family, their love of Toni Morrison, and the importance of standing against book bans. Read the transcript here. Resources: Check out All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson. Read about Johnson's family supporting their book when it was challenged in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Access other banned books with our free Books Unbanned library card for teens.
In this episode, we explore the transformation of Black queer narratives and their profound impact on societal perceptions. Join us as acclaimed author and activist George M. Johnson delves deep into the stories that challenge the conventional narratives surrounding Black families raising LGBTQ Black children. Together, we'll unravel the importance of self-identification and the power of labels within the LGBTQ+ community. As George takes us on this poignant journey, we'll also immerse ourselves in the concept of Black joy and its importance in the face of adversity. Furthermore, for those outside the LGBTQ+ circle wondering how to stand in solidarity, we'll touch upon actionable ways individuals can be better allies and champions for LGBTQ+ rights. About George M. Johnson George M Johnson is an Award Winning Black Non-Binary Writer, Author, and Activist located in the NYC area. From the scores of places that George has written for to the outlets who have written about George, their connections in the media world run deep with his knowledge and expertise being called upon from publishing to the big screen. They are the author of the Bestselling Young Adult memoir All Boys Aren't Blue discussing their adolescence growing up as a young Black Queer boy in New Jersey through a series of powerful essays. Their book has been optioned for Television by Gabrielle Union and Sony TV. Website: https://iamgmjohnson.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamgmjohnson/?hl=en Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/george.m.johnson/ Books: - All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto: https://a.co/d/9003ghi - We Are Not Broken: https://a.co/d/6Nw5V6r Episodes Mentioned Polyamory and Open Relationships with Jessica Fearn: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/george-lizos/episodes/Ep-22-Polyamory-and-Open-Relationships-with-Jessica-Fern-e225pcj The Problem with Top/Bottom with Sergio Zapata: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/george-lizos/episodes/Ep--2-The-Problem-With-TopBottom-with-Sergio-Zapata-e1qpo4s About Me I'm George Lizos, spiritual teacher, psychic healer, and #1 bestselling author. Growing up in a small Christian community, I was judged and rejected for being gay and different. After a futile two-year attempt to change who I was born to be, I called myself a human abomination and almost took my own life. Fortunately, in my darkest moment, I saw the light and ventured on a healing journey of love, forgiveness, and spiritual awakening. Yet, my gay dating life since hasn't always been all roses and rainbows, and my past dramas and traumas have definitely kept things spicy. Fast forward past many awkward dates and disappointing sex, I Created Can't Host to challenge toxic gay stereotypes, explore the complex dynamics of gay sex and relationships, and create opportunities for healing and growth. https://georgelizos.com/ Connect With Me Instagram: https://instagram.com/georgelizos/ Website: https://georgelizos.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iamgeorgelizos Facebook Group: http://www.yourspiritualtoolkit.com/ My Books Be The Guru: https://l.linklyhq.com/l/1TtCj Lightworkers Gotta Work: https://l.linklyhq.com/l/1TmKf Protect Your Light: https://l.linklyhq.com/l/1TmJd
Show notes: You know what's better than reading one good book? Reading a pair of good books! Today, we're talking about book pairings that we love and why we think the books go well together. It's fun to read about similar themes or character arcs but from different perspectives. We hope you enjoy our picks! Click here to join us on Patreon for exclusive bonus bookish goodies! Get our monthly overflow and new books episodes, our newsletter, and more. Plus, supporting us in this way just shows that you love what we do! Find the time stamped show notes below with links to all of the fun things we mentioned. Something Bookish: [1:59] S: We got rid of our website. Check out the RTL Substack instead. [3:02] M: RTL t-shirt - see them in action here! Book Pairings We Love: [4:36] S: The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley and No Two Persons by Erica Bauermeister [5:39] M: Let Him In by William Friend and Home Before Dark by Riley Sager [6:55] S: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid and The Daydreams by Laura Hankin (Bonus pairing rec: The Final Revival of Opal and Nev by Dawnie Walton) [8:37] M: The Troop by Nick Cutter and Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay [9:54] S: The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren and The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen [11:23] M: The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey and Making a Scene by Constance Wu [13:18] S: The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin and The Door to Door Bookstore by Carston Henn [14:52] M: The Night Swim by Megan Goldin and Know My Name by Chanel Miller (Bonus pairing rec: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson) [16:38] S: Unprotected by Billy Porter and All Boys Aren't Blue by George Johnson (Also mentioned: Finding Me by Viola Davis) [18:02] M: Elevation by Stephen King and Thinner by Richard Bachman Want our show notes delivered right to your inbox? Join our RTL Substack so that you'll get a link for every single book we mention with no extra work. It's free! Follow RTL on Instagram: @readingthroughlifepod Follow Sarah on Instagram: @sarahhartleyco Follow Mia on Instagram: @fastlifeinslowlane * The books noted above contain affiliate links. This means that we may get a small kickback if you purchase through our links, at no additional cost to you.
Author George M. Johnson says they knew their memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue, would be challenged by school boards – but they didn't realize just how much controversy it would stir up. The memoir explores Johnson's upbringing as a queer young person of color in New Jersey and Virginia. In today's episode, they tell NPR's Leila Fadel that despite all the pushback the book has received, it's been overwhelmingly gratifying to see how much it's helped teachers, librarians, parents...and especially the students themselves.
In this episode of Shelf Care: The Podcast, host Susan Maguire talks to four people addressing banned books in different ways: Cortney Hall and Matt Rodrigues from NBC Chicago Today's Banned Book Club; Amanda ReCupido, Vice President of the Downers Grove Public Library Foundation and chair of the committee for their freedom to read fundraising gala; and Adult Books Editor Donna Seaman, who shares a Booklist feature about censorship as well as a few books she's been loving recently. Banned Books Week is October 1 – 7 this year—how are you celebrating? Here's what we talked about on the pod: All Boys Aren't Blue, by George M. Johnson The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, by Nikole Hannah-Jones, edited by The New York Times Magazine The Hill We Climb, by Amanda Gorman The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, by Nikole Hannah-Jones, read by a full cast @NBCChigacoToday on Instagram Downers Grove Public Library Foundation The Essentials: Banned Books and the First Amendment, by Donna Seaman Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury PBS Books Roman Stories, by Jhumpa Lahiri, translated by Todd Portnowitz Read-alikes: Expats and Other Outsiders, by Donna Seaman Our Strangers, by Lydia Davis The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA, by Liza Mundy
Melbourne Antifa's tall stories of them chasing Nazis and the convenient narrative of the Russell Brand sexual assault allegations. Plus the latest voice referendum developments on Tim's News Explosion. Melbourne's Antifa claims they chased Nazis from a fundraiser they were holding at a cafe in Thornbury last Friday night. While 9News reported Antifa's version of events verbatim 7News was much more critical. The Campaign Against Racism and Fascism is planning another protest outside the National Socialist Network's (NSN) gym at Sunshine this Saturday. Victoria Police dropped charges of assaulting an officer against Jimone Roberts when they physically removed him and the NSN from Victoria's Parliament steps at their last rally. The mainstream media outlet that turned up to his recent court appearance instead reported on a speeding offence and driving while unlicensed. Dvir Abramovich of the Anti-Defamation Commission wants the West Australian Electoral Commission to ban Stephen Wells from running for Busselton local council as he describes himself as a “racist, sexist, democracy-scorning whites-lover”. Such a ban would be unconstitutional. Dvir has championed a Federal Court ruling that awarded $430,000 in compensation to five Jewish Brighton Secondary College students for being subjected to anti-Semitic bullying at the school. A joint Channel 4 and Times Newspaper investigation found four women to accuse Russell Brand of sexually assaulting them. Brand is a former sex addict who has slept with thousands of women. He was the darling of the mainstream media employed by Channel 4 and the BBC to host several shows and specials. But because he came out against the covid narrative and vaccines he longer has the protection of the mainstream media. A refund dispute between a Pakistani Hair and Cosmetic store owner and a black woman where she attempted to compensate herself off the shelf in Peckham, London has led to a Black Lives Matter protest outside the store. The BBC is teaching children fake history claiming that black people have been in Britain from the start of time. Yes to the Aboriginal Voice rallies took place across Australia on the weekend featuring musical performances. At the Melbourne Yes rally the Communist Party of Australia was seen marching. No to the Voice rallies will take place this Saturday Australia-wide. No campaigner Jacinta Price told the National Press Club that there is no ongoing negative impact of white colonization only positive. Voice architect Marcia Langton was filmed stating that the no campaign's arguments are either racist or stupid . Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney claimed she has been subjected to racism and bullying during the referendum campaign. Infowars reporter Owen Shroyer received a 60-day jail sentence for covering the events on January 6 outside the Capitol. HIV activists committed an insurrection inside Speaker Kevin McCarthy's office Will they be imprisoned for 20 years like the Proud Boys have? Kevin McCarthy has begun impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden over his role in his son Hunter's corrupt business dealings. The US Justice Department has charged Hunter Biden over lying on a gun application form. RINO Senator for Utah Mitt Romney announced he would not seek re-election in 2024 but83-year-old former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will run again. The USFDA has approved new covid vaccine boosters as the fear campaign over the BA 2.86 Piora variant continues Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam and her team wore masks at a recent press conference. An outbreak of the Nipah virus in Southern India which is transmitted via bats has led to media fear reports about it being the next deadly global outbreak. Republican Louisiana Senator John Kennedy read out in a Committee explicit excerpts from the books Gender Queer and All Boys Aren't Blue. Democrats and Progressives it's a form of book banning if these books are not allowed to be in school libraries. Kellie Jay Keen has cancelled her return to New Zealand to attend the court hearing of Eli Rubashkyn the intersex person who poured tomato juice on her citing security concerns. Binary Australia Director Kirralie Smith successfully fought off an AVO put against her by trans soccer Riley Dennis who is playing in the Women's NSW league. Email: me@timwilms.comMessage: https://t.me/timwilmsWebsite: http://timwilms.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/wilmsfrontMinds: https://www.minds.com/timwilmsGab: https://gab.com/timwilmsTelegram: https://t.me/wilmsfront Support the Show:Membership: http://www.theunshackled.net/membershipDonate: https://www.theunshackled.net/donate/ Other Unshackled Links:Website: https://www.theunshackled.netFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TUnshackledTwitter: https://twitter.com/Un_shackledGab: https://gab.ai/theunshackledTelegram: https://t.me/theunshackledMinds: https://www.minds.com/The_Unshackled Music and Graphics by James Fox HigginsVoice Over by Morgan MunroSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week, Louisiana Senator John Kennedy sent witnesses & viewers scrambling for their ear muffs while making his point about age-appropriate literature in schools and libraries. In this episode of A&G's One More Thing Podcast, Jack & Joe listen as Senator Kennedy reads a few passages from the books Gender Queer & All Boys Aren't Blue while quizzing Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Gainnoulias. You have been warned...graphic terms are used. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On a new TAGS LIVE aka Talk About Gay Sex the live edition, Host Stevie is joined by Co-host Kodi Maurice Doggette for all new Hot LGBTQ topics, sex and relationship advice and more in front of live virtual audience:GOP Senator John Kennedy Reads from the Book, "All Boys Aren't Blue" and You Have to Hear this!The Banning of Books Relating to LGBTQ+Bad Bunny on Queerbaiting and Wearing Skirts!Troye Sivan and Doing Poppers for the Single of 'Rush'!Artist Jonathas de Andrade and his New Exhibit of His Past Sleep Overs' Underwear!Are We Judging What Were Listeing to in the Gym??Gay and Bi Men over 70 are Having More Sex than Straight Men!Why Do We Have So Much Sex???Do You Have a Crush on Straight Men?What Was Something You Never Imagined Would Turn You On But Did?Thirst Trap!Follow Steve V. on IG: @iam_stevevFollow Kodi's Life Coaching on IG: @kmdcoachingFollow Kodi on IG: @mistahmauriceJoin us Oct. 29 - Nov. 5 for VACAYA's 2023 Mexico Resort vacation Use our Promo Code: TAGS and get up to $200 off! https://www.myvacaya.com/trip/mexico-resort-2023/Wanna drop a weekly or one time tip to TAGSPODCAST - Show your love for the show and support TAGS!Visit our website: tagspodcast.comNeeds some advice for a sex or relationship conundrum? Ask TAGS! DM US ON IG or https://www.talkaboutgaysex.com/contact
Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks about Megyn Kelly's interview with Donald Trump where he defended not firing Fauci; CBS' Norah O'Donnell getting a painful dose of reality from Ron DeSantis about the migrant crisis, sanctuary cities, and how to handle Mexican drug cartels; Sen. John Kennedy reading excerpts of "Gender Queer" and "All Boys Aren't Blue" aloud during a hearing on book bans; MSNBC's Jen Psaki missing the point of pro-life activists using the phrase pro-baby; and Jordan Peterson detailing how bad China's social credit system has gotten. Dave also does a special “ask me anything” question-and-answer session on a wide-ranging host of topics, answering questions from the Rubin Report Locals community. WATCH the MEMBER-EXCLUSIVE segment of the show here: https://rubinreport.locals.com/ Check out the NEW RUBIN REPORT MERCH here: https://daverubin.store/
Philadelphia's music scene has produced some of the most notable acts in hip-hop and R&B. Case in point Freeway and Julian King. This year, Freeway is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his debut album: Philadelphia Freeway. He's also using his platform to better his life as a spokesperson and health ambassador for the National Kidney Foundation and the organization he founded, the Freedom Thinkers Academy. Next up, Julian King comes from the same institution, the High School for Creative & Performing Arts (CAPA), as some of your favorite musicians like Boyz II Men and Jazmin Sullivan. And today he has leaped to national stages such as John Legend's team on NBC's The Voice and writing and performing the theme song for the Emmy® Nominated film “All Boys Aren't Blue.” Freeway and Julian ARE Philly.
During this LGBTQ Pride month, many members of the community are reflecting on a year of unprecedented political and legal attacks. One of the biggest battlefields has been in public schools and libraries, where books featuring LGBTQ stories have been the targets of censors. On today's episode of A Word, guest host journalist Aisha Mills is joined by George M. Johnson, author of one of the most banned books, All Boys Aren't Blue. They talk about the intersection of race and gender identity, and how Johnson has fought back against critics who call the book dangerous and inappropriate for children. Guest: George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
During this LGBTQ Pride month, many members of the community are reflecting on a year of unprecedented political and legal attacks. One of the biggest battlefields has been in public schools and libraries, where books featuring LGBTQ stories have been the targets of censors. On today's episode of A Word, guest host journalist Aisha Mills is joined by George M. Johnson, author of one of the most banned books, All Boys Aren't Blue. They talk about the intersection of race and gender identity, and how Johnson has fought back against critics who call the book dangerous and inappropriate for children. Guest: George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
During this LGBTQ Pride month, many members of the community are reflecting on a year of unprecedented political and legal attacks. One of the biggest battlefields has been in public schools and libraries, where books featuring LGBTQ stories have been the targets of censors. On today's episode of A Word, guest host journalist Aisha Mills is joined by George M. Johnson, author of one of the most banned books, All Boys Aren't Blue. They talk about the intersection of race and gender identity, and how Johnson has fought back against critics who call the book dangerous and inappropriate for children. Guest: George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
During this LGBTQ Pride month, many members of the community are reflecting on a year of unprecedented political and legal attacks. One of the biggest battlefields has been in public schools and libraries, where books featuring LGBTQ stories have been the targets of censors. On today's episode of A Word, guest host journalist Aisha Mills is joined by George M. Johnson, author of one of the most banned books, All Boys Aren't Blue. They talk about the intersection of race and gender identity, and how Johnson has fought back against critics who call the book dangerous and inappropriate for children. Guest: George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
During this LGBTQ Pride month, many members of the community are reflecting on a year of unprecedented political and legal attacks. One of the biggest battlefields has been in public schools and libraries, where books featuring LGBTQ stories have been the targets of censors. On today's episode of A Word, guest host journalist Aisha Mills is joined by George M. Johnson, author of one of the most banned books, All Boys Aren't Blue. They talk about the intersection of race and gender identity, and how Johnson has fought back against critics who call the book dangerous and inappropriate for children. Guest: George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
During this LGBTQ Pride month, many members of the community are reflecting on a year of unprecedented political and legal attacks. One of the biggest battlefields has been in public schools and libraries, where books featuring LGBTQ stories have been the targets of censors. On today's episode of A Word, guest host journalist Aisha Mills is joined by George M. Johnson, author of one of the most banned books, All Boys Aren't Blue. They talk about the intersection of race and gender identity, and how Johnson has fought back against critics who call the book dangerous and inappropriate for children. Guest: George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
During this LGBTQ Pride month, many members of the community are reflecting on a year of unprecedented political and legal attacks. One of the biggest battlefields has been in public schools and libraries, where books featuring LGBTQ stories have been the targets of censors. On today's episode of A Word, guest host journalist Aisha Mills is joined by George M. Johnson, author of one of the most banned books, All Boys Aren't Blue. They talk about the intersection of race and gender identity, and how Johnson has fought back against critics who call the book dangerous and inappropriate for children. Guest: George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
During this LGBTQ Pride month, many members of the community are reflecting on a year of unprecedented political and legal attacks. One of the biggest battlefields has been in public schools and libraries, where books featuring LGBTQ stories have been the targets of censors. On today's episode of A Word, guest host journalist Aisha Mills is joined by George M. Johnson, author of one of the most banned books, All Boys Aren't Blue. They talk about the intersection of race and gender identity, and how Johnson has fought back against critics who call the book dangerous and inappropriate for children. Guest: George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue Podcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola You can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Earlier this month, amid a sharp rise in book bans across the country, Governor Gavin Newsom called on educators to preserve students' access to books, including those that “reflect the diverse experiences and perspectives of Californians.” Individual book bans in U.S. classrooms and school libraries increased by 28 percent during the first half of this school year compared to the prior six months, according to a report by the free speech group PEN America. The increase is partly due to newly-enacted state laws, and the bans “continue to target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals,” according to PEN. While rare in California, book battles are percolating in Temecula and Huntington Beach. We talk about the impact of book bans on free expression and students' access to literature and diverse perspectives Guests: Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director, American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom - and executive director of the Freedom to Read Foundation Jaea Rivera, officer, Vandegrift High School Banned Book Club - in Austin, Texas. George M. Johnson, award-winning author of "All Boys Aren't Blue" and "We Are Not Broken" Jeff Horseman, Riverside County government and regional politics reporter, Southern California News Group
It is a pleasure to welcome Emmy-nominated singer-songwriter Julian King as a guest on The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast. Julian is a Philadelphia native, proud Aquarius, preacher's kid with virtuoso vocals, dance moves to die for, and a skillful musician. In 2019, Julian auditioned for The Voice USA's sixteenth season. His cover of Jon Bellion's “All Time Low” received the attention of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony-winning superstar John Legend, who blocked founding coach Adam Levine from getting him. He soared in the Battle Rounds, but Julian was eliminated in the Live Cross Battles.Outside of The Voice USA, Julian King was a backing vocalist for his Voice coach, Monica, and Syleena Johnson. He also served as an opening act for Daley + 100.3 RnB Fest featuring Keyshia Cole, Mary J. Blige, and Talib Kweli. He was also the runner-up in Billboard and Samsung NXT 2.0 contest, featured in a Timberland Black History Campaign and as a House of Pride McDonald's performer. Julian wrote and performed the theme song: “All Boys Aren't Blue” for the short film of the same title. All Boys Aren't Blue is based on George M. Johnson's New York Times bestselling memoir and is a poetic visual representation of growing up Black and non-binary. The piece highlights three pivotal moments in George's life that shaped their understanding of their place in the world. Nathan Hale Williams adapted the movie, and the short film and the theme song were nominated for Daytime Emmys. In this edition of The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Julian King spoke about his experience on The Voice and his reaction when he learned that “All Boys Aren't Blue” was nominated for the Daytime Emmys.
This Pride Month, in light of the increase in book banning around the nation, particularly of books featuring LGBTQIA+ characters or themes, we are spending the month spotlighting authors of these frequently challenged books. Up first this month we talk to George M. Johnson, author of the acclaimed young adult memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue. According to the American Library Association, the book was the second most banned title of 2022. We talk to Johnson about their book, and about the experience of witnessing their book being banned across the country.
Last fall, the American Library Association compiled a list of books that have been targets of censorship, challenged for inclusion in the collections of school and public libraries. 1,269 books were challenged in 2022. Jolie McShane and Jeff McDonald are two of the activists seeking to ban books about sexuality and LGTBQ communities in Baltimore County school libraries. That's almost double the number of books that were challenged the year before. Most of the books are about LGBTQ communities, or are stories and histories centered around people of color. Republican Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has made “anti-wokism” a central tenet of his campaign for President, and a central issue in his on-going feud with Disney. Around the country, conservative activists are seeking to limit what kids can access in their classrooms and curriculums. Today on Midday, a conversation about what criteria teachers, parents, politicians and boards of education are applying in the contentious fights around book censorship. Tom first speaks to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the Director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association. A little later in the program, Tom speaks with Jolie McShane, the President of Republican Women of Baltimore County and Jeffry McDonald, the President of the Patriot Club of America, a group based in Baltimore County. They have been working to have two books removed from Baltimore County school libraries, “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison and “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe. Tom also speaks with George Johnson, the author of “All Boys Aren't Blue,” another book that is among the most frequently targeted for removal from libraries across the country.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson (2020) vs Looking for Alaska by John Green (2005)
During the 2021-22 school year, more than 1,600 book titles were banned in schools and libraries across the country. According to a report by the group PEN America, the wave […] The post ALL BOYS AREN'T BLUE: the 2nd most banned book in America appeared first on WORT-FM 89.9.
Clarence Thomas's “grifting” faucet just won't turn off, says an exasperated Danielle Moodie on this episode of The New Abnormal politics podcast. It was recently revealed that the Supreme Court Justice reported income from a firm that doesn't exist, and hasn't for a while, and Moodie, and her co-host of the show Andy Levy, are over this man's antics. They discuss a lot of them on this show in particular given the recent news. Later, Spencer Ackerman, columnist for The Nation and writer of the Forever Wars newsletter, breaks down the case ofJack Teixeira, the 21-year-old Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified documents and why it's different than the whistleblowing cases of Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden. Then, George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue, one of the now-many banned books in America, shares with co-host Danielle what it's like to be the author of a banned book and the most “fascinating” and mind-boggling thing about Republican behavior. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week (February 19 - 25, 2023) is Freedom to Read Week in Canada. Our Keep It Fictional librarians are here to talk about banned books that people don't want you to get your hands on. Show your support and commitment to freedom to read by picking up and reading a banned book. Books mentioned on this episode: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera, All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, and Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/keepitfictional/message
Welcome back to Seasoned Sessions! In this week's episode, we talk about; Rihanna's Superbowl performance and Vogue shoot, the family of George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren't Blue, fighting against a book ban – and winning, and more. Plus Ada speaks to the amazing Tessa Thompson. Get in touch with us at @seasonedsessionspod, @adaenechi, and @its_hanifahh. Have a great week!
Over the past two years, we've seen a dramatic increase in the number of books being banned or challenged in school districts across the country. While here's a long history of book banning and censorship in America, over the 2021 to 2022 school year book banning reached an unprecedented high. What's even more worrying about this increased censorship is which stories are being censored. The majority of the books being targeted by these bans contain LGBTQ storylines and protagonists of color. Here today to talk with us about book banning and how we can all show up in the fight against censorship is George M. Johnson. Their memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue, explores themes of gender identity, sexual orientation and race. As Johnson shares their experience growing up black and queer in New Jersey and Virginia. All Boys Aren't Blue was published in 2020 and has become one of the top five most banned books in the country.
Forty percent of banned books contain protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color, and 21 percent directly address issues of race or racism, according to PEN America. We'll celebrate George Johnson, author of "All Boys Aren't Blue," the second most banned book in the country, and Nic Stone, author of "Dear Martin," the 38th most banned book in the country.
WARNING! The subject matter of this episode contains explicit sexual material that is not appropriate for children. It's not the intent of The Papa Ron Podcast and its Hosts' to create content for the purpose of glorifying X rated material. In fact, the purpose of this episode is to bring awareness to parents that are unaware of this content in the books that resides in some public schools, in particular the Lee's Summit (Missouri) High School (Grades 9-12). Viewer/Listener discretion is advised. Chuck Quesenberry, Founder of "We The People of Jackson County, Missouri" joins us for Episode 30. This organization meets on the first Monday of the month to discuss concerning topics and listen to expert speakers on particular subject matters. Chuck explains why this organization was created in July of 2020 after being inspired to take a stand against wrongful actions after riots broke out in downtown Kansas City and law enforcement was directed to "stand down". From there, this group of people have made efforts to bring awareness to the issues surrounding Human Trafficking, Drug Trafficking, Security, Law Enforcement, Legal, Health, Veterans and Politics. Two weeks ago (from the time this episode was recorded on February 1, 2023), Chuck attended the Lees Summit School Board Meeting with the intent to speak on behalf of the members of We The People of Jackson County, Missouri about the book, "All Boys Aren't Blue", which contains explicit sexual actions. Upon presenting the Board about this book and the content within, he began to read lines from the book which eventually led to a his removal from the meeting by Lees Summit Police because the School Board claimed that the material he was reading to them was "inappropriate" for their meeting. However, 5 of the 7 members on that School Board approved the book for the High School Library. The Papa Ron Podcast wanted to offer Chuck our platform to explain the groups point of view on the matter and show in transparency the exchange between him and the School Board because...the school board streamed the meeting but immediately cut the stream when Chuck began reading lines from the book. However, cell phone video captured what transpired in the meeting after the stream was cut. In effort to provide parents a crystal clear understanding of why this group considers this book to be pornographic material, we ask Chuck to read a few lines from the book. For that reason, we highly suggest that you don't listen to this episode with children inside listening range. In this episode, you'll also learn of the 3 candidates running for this School Board on April 4, 2023, who disapprove of this book residing on the shelf of any Lees Summit School library. Below is a link to join the Private Facebook Page of We The People of Jackson County, Missouri. Regardless of your political beliefs, please consider uniting with this group, in effort to take a stand for what is right. Please share this podcast with all your friends to help this group get the message to the masses. https://www.facebook.com/groups/324354998945999 Watch this episode on Spotify or YouTube. If you can't watch, you can also listen on Apple, Amazon, Google, Castbox or iHeart Radio. And finally, THANK YOU for watching/listening! Please do us a favor and help us spread the word about The Papa Ron Podcast. Also, please visit our sponsor Brown-Pearcy Cattle Company. They have been breeding registered Angus cattle for generations with one thought in mind - Quality beef for consumers. Their goal is to deliver prime graded beef directly to customer's homes more affordably than they can purchase at the store. Better beef, conveniently delivered at a lower price than the grocery story. Be sure to inquire about their monthly subscription packages. https://brownpearcycattle.com Follow The Papa Ron Podcast on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok: @paparonpodcast https://www.heartlandwaterfowl.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/paparonpodcast/support
Hello friends, We are back with The Gender Reveal Party Podcast! Thank you for indulging my extra long hiatus. We have an extra special guest for our return, and I am so excited to share this with you all. He is the Author of All Boys Aren't Blue and We Are Not Broken. George M. Johnson's young-adult memoir All Boys Aren't Blue has become one of the most banned books in the U.S. It's a young adult memoir discussing their adolescence growing up as a young Black Queer boy in New Jersey through a series of powerful essays. Why is this book getting banned? That's a good question. Grab a copy of All Boys Aren't Blue here https://iamgmjohnson.com. Aside from being a #1 best selling author, George M. Johnson is a prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist. George was listed on The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans in 2020. The Out 100 Most Influential LGBTQ People in 2021. And in 2022 was honored as one of the TIME100 Next Most Influential People in the World. I can't begin to express what an honor it is to have had George M. Johnson share their story and their time with us. With over 200 anti LGBTQ bills being brought up in US legislation last year, these topics are more important now more than ever. We appreciate George giving us their valuable time and are even more appreciative for who they are for the queer community and especially for the kids.
Author George M. Johnson says they knew their memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue, would be challenged by school boards – but they didn't realize just how much controversy it would stir up. The memoir explores Johnson's upbringing as a queer young person of color in New Jersey and Virginia. In today's episode, they tell NPR's Leila Fadel that despite all the pushback the book has received, it's been overwhelmingly gratifying to see how much it's helped teachers, librarians, parents...and especially the students themselves.
More than a million users have reportedly left the Twitter app since owner Elon Musk took over, but for some the decision to log off for good isn't easy. Love it or hate it, Twitter has been a major stage for political unrest, pop culture pinnacles, social justice movements, and community engagement. Now, users who've found a home on the app are debating what's next. Many have decided to leave in the wake of Elon Musk's takeover of the platform, but that's not an easy decision for everyone. Host Kai Wright talks with George M. Johnson, best-selling author of the novel "All Boys Aren't Blue," who's made a revolutionary space for themself on Twitter. Plus, Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah joins to tell us why she's not ready to deactivate her account just yet. Read more of Karen's thoughts in her opinion piece, Why I'm not leaving Twitter. Companion listening for this episode: Digital Life Is A Moral Mess (8/11/2022) A listener voicemail sends the show's Senior Digital Producer Kousha Navidar on a search for moral clarity with philosopher, Dr. Christopher Robichaud. Plus, Shirin Ghaffary, senior reporter at Recode and co-host of the podcast Land of The Giants, shares the story of Facebook, and why it has been so hard for them to respond to the damage their technology has created. “Notes from America” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on notesfromamerica.org or on WNYC's YouTube channel. We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Instagram and Twitter @noteswithkai or email us at notes@wnyc.org.
Tanya talks to the author of All Boys Aren't Blue and Honorary Chair of Banned Books Week 2022 about telling stories, honoring ancestors, and keeping history alive.
We laugh, we cry, we keep crying, it's a long chapter. Email us at restrictedsectionpod@gmail.com to tell us what you thought of The Woes of Mrs. Weasley or even what you think of us! We'd love to read your email on the show. Be sure to subscribe to know right away about new episodes, and rate and review! SUPPORT US ON OUR PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/therestrictedsection THANK YOU LOVE YOU BUY OUR MERCH: https://www.teepublic.com/user/restricted-section-podcast THANK YOU LOVE YOU IG: https://www.instagram.com/restrictedsectionpod/ TW: https://twitter.com/restrictedpod FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/rspoddetentioncrew/ Check out our other amazing Deus Ex Media podcasts! www.deusexmedia.org This episode featured: Sam O'Brien! Be sure to check out his podcast, Content and Capable https://www.deusexmedia.org/contentandcapable.html TW @samobjournalist https://twitter.com/samobjournalist IG @sam.the.journalist https://www.instagram.com/sam.the.journalist/ Sam plugged Girl and Girl's new album, Divorce https://girlandgirl.bandcamp.com/album/divorce Christina Kann https://linktr.ee/christinakann Christina plugged Cozy Grove https://cozygrovegame.com/ She also plugged The Rise of Kyoshi by FC Yee https://bookshop.org/a/65495/9781419735042 Mary-Peyton Crook IG @richmondreads https://www.instagram.com/richmondreads/ TW @crookmp https://twitter.com/crookmp MP plugged All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson https://bookshop.org/a/65495/9781250247902
BLACK.QUEER.RISING. is a special series where The Takeaway looks at Black, LGBTQ+ trailblazers and changemakers. We've gotten the chance to talk to artists like Big Freedia and Moore Kismet about their music, activist like #BlackLivesMatter founder Alicia Garza, and New York Congressman Richie Torres. Today, we're talking to a member of this year's TIMES 100 Most Influential People list, author, journalist, and activist George M. Johnson. They are the author of “All Boys Aren't Blue,” their New York Times bestselling young adult, nonfiction “memoir-manifesto” that centers on growing up Black and Queer in America. According to PEN America, it is the second most banned book in the U.S. right now, as book bans are on the rise all over the country. The book was adapted into a film, featuring a stylistic dramatized reading of the text. Our Deep Dive hosts Melissa and Dorian spoke to the film's award-winning director Nathan Hale Williams last year in a conversation about HIV-AIDS in Black communities. George M. Johnson joins us to discuss their banned book and what Black.Queer.Rising means to them.
BLACK.QUEER.RISING. is a special series where The Takeaway looks at Black, LGBTQ+ trailblazers and changemakers. We've gotten the chance to talk to artists like Big Freedia and Moore Kismet about their music, activist like #BlackLivesMatter founder Alicia Garza, and New York Congressman Richie Torres. Today, we're talking to a member of this year's TIMES 100 Most Influential People list, author, journalist, and activist George M. Johnson. They are the author of “All Boys Aren't Blue,” their New York Times bestselling young adult, nonfiction “memoir-manifesto” that centers on growing up Black and Queer in America. According to PEN America, it is the second most banned book in the U.S. right now, as book bans are on the rise all over the country. The book was adapted into a film, featuring a stylistic dramatized reading of the text. Our Deep Dive hosts Melissa and Dorian spoke to the film's award-winning director Nathan Hale Williams last year in a conversation about HIV-AIDS in Black communities. George M. Johnson joins us to discuss their banned book and what Black.Queer.Rising means to them.
Welcome back! This week the ladies tackle a story on the Banned Book list., "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson. This book contains a series of personal essays and reflections from Johnson's past that walk us through his journey growing up as a queer Black boy. Moni and Kat unpack the sometimes performative nature of gender and fquestion "why some people are willing to disown their own children solely based on their sexuality"?.. They also ponder whether their families would accept them if they were queer. After weaving through themes of virginity, consent, molestation, community, family and ultimately finding self acceptance, they end up right at the where they started.... In the words of the author "We are not as different as you think, and all of our stories matter and deserve to be celebrated and told". Here here!! On that note...sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! Trigger Warning: Adult Content & Language (N-Word), violence/sexual assault/ loss of virginity /anti-blackness/N-word F-word Fa&&@! (bigotry). Please be advised this show is for adults 18 and up and the open minded. Dedication: To our listeners and supporters always, to the misfits, outcasts and those coloring outside the lines, Netflix movie "Entergalatic" by Kenya Barris featuring Kid Kudy & also Fashion ICON, Virgil Abloh, rest in peace. ** **Show Notes: _ About the Book_ : https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/44280883 Genre: Memoir/Hardcover, 304 pages: Published April 28th 2020 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr): About the author: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44280883-all-boys-aren-t-blue *ALA: American Library Association *Entergalactic on Netflix: Creators: Scott Mescudi, Kenya Barris featuring Kid Kudy: https://www.netflix.com/title/81053303 *Virgil Abloh fashion Icon: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/28/style/virgil-abloh-dead.html *What About Bob: Puppet Clip: https://youtu.be/aWvxoEM41Ss *Song "Strange Fruit" Nina Simone: Originally sung by Billie Holiday written by Lewis Allen About Lewis Allen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit Billie Holiday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Web007rzSOI The purity myth: https://www.abebooks.com/9781580053143/Purity-Myth-Americas-Obsession-Virginity-1580053149/plp ** Stranger than Fiction**: Dahmer Documentary: Does making documentaries on serial killers make them in to celebrities? Moni and Kat get into why they haven't watched the new Netflix series. *Moni also mentioned a case where 14 year old Giovanni Melton: Rest in peace young man. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/nevada-father-murdered-son-being-gay-former-foster-mom-claims-n817906 *Please email thefabpodcast@gmail.com with your book suggestions and "Stranger Than Fiction" stories so we can share them on the show!! Please reach out and let us know how we are doing!! You can find us online by clicking our Link tree https://linktr.ee/Fabpod *Patreon coming soon!! Please subscribe and enjoy bonus content and the chance to help pick upcoming topics. * Please Don't forget to follow, rate, review, and SHARE our podcast! Thank you!
This week at the library, we are celebrating Pride Month, with reading lists, displays, and more. This week we are joined by Shannon Schilling, Teen Services Librarian at the Delaware Branch. We discuss the Stonewall Riots, and give recommendations for LGBTQIA+ books for Teens and Adults. Shannon and Katy share these recommendations: Heartstoppers by Alice Oseman, All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson, Saeed Jones' How We Fight For Our Lives, The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer, and The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. Try The Guncle by Steven Rowley or Boyfriend Material by Alexis J. Hall for your summer reading if you're looking for a lighter read. Take a look at the Stonewall Book Awards or visit the booklist for Adult Fiction, Adult Non-Fiction and Adult Graphic Novels created by library staff to find your next great read. Do you have a topic you want to hear us cover? Please email libraryguys@delawarelibrary.org Music Credit: Blippy Trance by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5759-blippy-trance License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license
Student reporter Emma Hagood talks to George Johnson, author of the memoir All Boys Aren't Blue, about growing up Black and queer. Johnson talks about the controversy surrounding his book, and why book bans are detrimental to marginalized communities. This episode was produced by Student Reporting Labs Youth Media Producer Chris Schwalm with help from Briget Ganske. Follow us: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StudentReportingLabs/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/reportinglabs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studentreportinglabs/ Subscribe to our podcast, 'On Our Minds:' https://studentreportinglabs.org/on-our-minds/
Show notes: Do you ever read a description for a book and get drawn to certain words? Words that make you want to immediately read the story without knowing much else about it? We get it because that happens to us all the time. Those sneaky book marketers know what they're doing! In this episode, we share the buzzwords that light us up and also a few that turn us away. Click here to join us on Patreon to get an exclusive bookish goodie every single Friday. With fun bonus episode series like: Books We Both Love, Monthly Overflow Books, Bookish Conundrums, and The New Books in Our Lives plus a private community for RTL Book Nerds only, you're going to love being a part of our Patreon. Not only that, but you're helping to support our show by saying I LOVE WHAT YOU DO. Find the time stamped show notes below with links to all of the fun things we mentioned. Bookish Goodies: [3:36] Modern Mrs. Darcy “Quick Lit” post about her April reads [3:45] Mia - Fault Lines by Emily Itami [5:01] Sarah - New bookshelves [7:48] Sarah - Feminist bookends [10:11] Book Buzzwords [14:22] All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson [16:05] The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab [16:18] TJ Klune Books: The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door [18:41] Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir [19:21] Packing for Mars by Mary Roach [20:51] Anti-Buzzword Books: [21:06] Sarah - The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (Sarah loved this!) [23:33] Sarah - The People We Keep by Allison Larkin [23:44] Sarah - One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston [23:55] Sarah - Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (Sarah loved this!) [24:12] Sarah - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig [24:39] Mia - How to Stop Time by Matt Haig (Mia loved this one!) [24:49] Mia - When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain Follow us on Instagram: @readingthroughlifepod Follow Sarah: @thekindredvoice Follow Mia: @miasutton55 * The books noted above contain affiliate links. This means that we may get a small kickback if you purchase through our links, at no additional cost to you.
Anna & Miranda discuss "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson (they/them). This episode does contain slightly more mature content than previous episodes. In this episode Anna & Miranda discuss book banning, getting books in the hands of queer folks that need them, sex and sexual assault, representation, and how we can all relate to trauma. If you are wanting to drop off your previously read queer books, look for locations of Free Little Libraries here: littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap/ Post your drop-offs on social media and use #queerbookbomb and tag us @allqueerherepod! We'd love to shout some of you out in the future! allqueerherepod.com anchor.fm/all-queer-here Please consider supporting us here: anchor.fm/all-queer-here/support We hope you may feel moved enough to Rate/Review/Subscribe to our podcast! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/all-queer-here/support
Musician, actor, and fashion icon Janelle Monáe has long been creating sci-fi worlds through her albums and performances. With her new short story collection The Memory Librarian, Monáe, along with a team of collaborators, expands on the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums, Dirty Computer. Dirty Computer introduced us to a world where people's memories—a key to self-expression and self-understanding—could be controlled or erased by an increasingly powerful few. And whether human, A.I., or something in-between, citizen's lives and sentience were dictated by those of the New Dawn, who'd convinced themselves they had the right to decide fate—that was, until Jane 57821 remembered and broke free. On April 24, 2022, Monáe came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to appear in conversation with one of the Memory Librarian collaborators, short story writer Yohanca Delgado, and George M. Johnson, whose memoir All Boys Aren't Blue, has been banned in a recent wave of censorship of books dealing with themes like race and gender identity.
GET TICKETS TO THE LIVE SHOW! SEPT 16In this episode, Christian and Joe discuss the disturbing and objectively badass comics of renowned Christian bigot, Jack T. Chick. Unfortunately, a religion-inspired, anti-LGBTQ bill in the Idaho Senate casts a pall over the fun as it threatens open the prison doors for librarians and teachers who are just doing their fucking jobs! Join us as we discuss Idaho HB 666 and The Broken Cross, by Jack Chick.Books used to justify imprisoning librarians in Idaho:Gender Queer a memoir by Maia KobabeFun Home by Allison BechdelPerks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen ChboskyIt's Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris, a book for children on sexual health.All Boys Aren't Blue, a “memoir-manifesto” by George M. Johnson with essays about Johnson's childhood and growing up as a queer Black manDreaming in Cuban, by Cristina García, a story of three family generations that begins in Cuba in the early 1930sIdenticalby Ellen Hopkins, a story about twins that touches on issues of sexual abuse, cutting, drugs and alcohol.SHOW NOTES FOR THIS EPISODELINKTREEChat with Christian on INSTAGRAMTweet it up with Lianne on TWITTEREmail us your thoughts, ideas, and condemnations at hereticparty@gmail.comRemember, Happy Lost Souls, your stories deserve to be heard, you deserve friends and community who listen to you and support you. If you are struggling, recoveringfromreligion.org is a great, nonprofit, resource for individuals who have questions about changing or leaving their faith? They have a support hotline you can call anytime.Support Reproductive Rights Heretic Party is a member of Rad Pantheon, a collective of podcasters, artists, musicians, and other creative types who do our best to connect you with rad stuff you'll enjoy. If you like what we do, check out radpantheon.com or look for @radpantheon on Instagram or Twitter.
We're finally going back to Castellan and reuniting with Finn and Alfie! In this episode we discuss Oculta by Maya Motayne, the second installment of the A Forgery of Magic series. This book is the sequel to Nocturna, which we discussed in episode 41, so go check that out if you haven't yet! In Oculta, we're back in San Cristobal, with Finn and Alfie trying to figure out a murderous plot at the center of a v dramatic peace summit. Of course, chaos ensues! onto the short and sweet show notes… Recommend if you like… Six of Crows and/or Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo – there's a heist-y feeling with all of the shenanigans and plotting. Tamora Pierce's Trickster's Choice and Trickster Queen From Art Spiegelman's Maus, a graphic novel about the holocaust and it's legacy in a family, to the autobiographical All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson and many books in between, censorship and book banning are back in our collective conversation. Below are some related resources and articles. “Book Bans Are Targeting the History of Oppression” by Marilisa Jiménez García (in The Atlantic) 2020 Banned and Challenged book list from the The Office for Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association (published August 2021) “Banned Books Week: A Reading List” by PEN America We discuss predatory financial practices in the episode, so here is some further reading multi-faceted criticisms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include it's so-called “debt-trap diplomacy” of foisting the use of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) and austerity policies (don't know WTF all those acronyms mean? here's a source with more information) In this video, Dari Grant explains the cycle of payday loans and her ideas for disrupting it K was trying very hard to describe a website where you can drag and see the real size of countries. It's called “The True Size Of…” K mentions the scholar and writer Jasbir Puar and the concept of “debility” she develops in the book The Right to Maim. Very heavy and important reading, so take care. As always, we'd love to be in discussion with you, magical people. Drop us a line in the comments or reach out to us on twitter, Instagram (@thelibrarycoven), or via email (thelibraycoven@gmail.com). Access complete show notes on our website, thelibrarycoven.com. We really appreciate ratings and reviews on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or any other platforms. Help us share the magic by spreading the word about the podcast! You can support our labor by leaving us a one-time tip on Ko-fi or purchasing books from our Bookshop! Better yet, become a monthly patron via Patreon and you can unlock a bunch of exclusive perks like access to our community of reader-listeners on Discord. Our cover art is by the talented artist nimsby. The podcast theme song is “Unermerry Academy of Magics” by Augustin C from the album “Fantasy Music”, which you can download on FreeMusicArchive.com. We support #LandBack. The Library Coven is recorded and produced on stolen indigenous land: Arapahoe, Cheyenne, and Ute (Kelly) and Chickasha, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Mascoutin, Miami, Mesquaki, Odawa, Ojibwe, Peankashaw, Peoria, Potawatomi, Sauk, and Wea (Jessie)
We speak with two authors targeted as part of a new wave of book bans sweeping the United States: George M. Johnson, author of "All Boys Aren't Blue," and Art Spiegelman, whose graphic novel "Maus" won a Pulitzer Prize. Get Democracy Now! delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Daily Digest: democracynow.org/subscribe
We speak with two authors targeted as part of a new wave of book bans sweeping the United States: George M. Johnson, author of "All Boys Aren't Blue," and Art Spiegelman, whose graphic novel "Maus" won a Pulitzer Prize. Get Democracy Now! delivered right to your inbox. Sign up for the Daily Digest: democracynow.org/subscribe
As we celebrate the beginning of Black History Month, conservatives are actively and aggressively silencing educators' ability to talk honestly about history. Book bans are gaining steam with schools banning everything from "The 1619 Project," to Toni Morrison's "Beloved," to Art Spiegelman's "Maus." Journalist and activist George M. Johnson joins us to discuss the issue from an author's perspective after their book, "All Boys Aren't Blue," was targeted for removal in at least 14 states. And in headlines: A Georgia judge rejected plea agreements in the federal hate crime trial of Gregory and Travis McMichael, the FDA granted full approval of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine, and The New York Times announced it had acquired Wordle. Show Notes: NYT: "Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S." - https://nyti.ms/3uah9wK Order "All Boys Aren't Blue" by George M. Johnson - https://bit.ly/34qKfNC Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On today's week-in-review, Crystal is joined by Seattle political reporter, editor of Publicola, and author of Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery, Erica Barnett. They discuss Mayor Harrell's pitch to incorporate technology in Sound Transit fare enforcement, a bill that would force state agencies to improve access to DSHS benefits, new legislation that would create more housing density, a book ban at a Kent middle school, and a proposed retention bonus for Seattle police officers. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Find the host, Crystal Fincher on Twitter at @finchfrii and find today's co-host, Erica Barnett, at @ericacbarnett. More info is available at officialhacksandwonks.com. Resources Sound Transit Fare Enforcement thread by @EricaCBarnett https://twitter.com/ericacbarnett/status/1486834701964697601 “Bill Would Force State Agency to Improve Access to Services or Stop Cutting Off Benefits” by Erica C. Barnett from Publicola: https://publicola.com/2022/01/26/bill-would-force-state-agency-to-improve-access-to-services-or-stop-cutting-off-benefits/ HB 2075 - Establishing service requirements for the department of social and health services: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=2075&Year=2021&Initiative=false HB 1782 and SB 5670 - Creating additional middle housing near transit and in areas traditionally dedicated to single-family detached housing: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1782&Initiative=false&Year=2021 https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5670&Chamber=Senate&Year=2021 “Let's Make #Homes4WA” sponsored by The Urbanist: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/lets-make-homes4wa/ “LGBTQ+ Books Quietly Pulled From Washington State Middle School” by Kelly Jensen from Book Riot: https://bookriot.com/lgbtq-books-quietly-pulled-from-washington-state-middle-school/ “Talk of Seattle Police Department offering $5k retention bonus to keep officers” by Matt Markovich from FOX 13 Seattle: https://www.q13fox.com/news/talk-of-seattle-police-department-offering-5k-retention-bonus-to-keep-officers Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington State through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. Today, we're continuing our Friday almost-live shows where we review the news of the week. Welcome back to the program, friend of the show and today's co-host: Seattle political reporter, editor of PubliCola, co-host of the Seattle Nice podcast, and author of Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery, Erica Barnett. [00:00:56] Erica Barnett: It's great to be here. [00:00:58] Crystal Fincher: Great to have you back - always an interesting show with you. Well, today I want to start off talking about Sound Transit - more conversations about fare enforcement, about their budget. What is going on with Sound Transit now? [00:01:15] Erica Barnett: Well, for the last year or more Sound Transit has not really been enforcing fare non-payment. So when people walk through - we don't have turnstiles here in Seattle - so when people walk through without paying the $3 for light rail, there is a program called Fare Ambassadors. And the Fare Ambassadors are sort of a friendlier version of fare enforcement officers - and they come out to you, they check your ticket, and if you didn't pay, they give you a warning and they take down your information. At a Sound Transit Board meeting yesterday, the outgoing CEO, Peter Rogoff, sort of doubled down on stuff he's been saying for a very long time now - about the need to basically amp up fare enforcement, to get more farebox recovery, which is the amount of money they get from actual fares. Sort of warning of this very dire situation where he says that the agency will potentially be insolvent if they can't figure out a way to collect more fares from people. Fares have gone down a lot since the beginning of the pandemic, largely because ridership has also been depressed for all the obvious reasons, but Rogoff also said yesterday that people are just increasingly not tapping their cards. He cited the example that he was at a Mariners game and I guess apparently saw a lot of people not tapping their cards and getting on the trains. Now, I would say that's sort of a situation where you don't necessarily want a huge backup with people tapping their cards because there are always crush loads, but he used that as an example of how people who can totally afford to pay the fare are just not paying the fare because there isn't enough of a penalty. [00:02:58] Crystal Fincher: Okay. And this was Bruce Harrell's first meeting on the Sound Transit Board? [00:03:05] Erica Barnett: It was. And he made a few comments. As he said, he came in hot with the suggestion that maybe there could be some kind of technological solution to fare enforcement. One of the criticisms of fare enforcement, particularly at Sound Transit, has been that it has way disproportionately targeted Black and Brown riders, particularly Black riders. And that it's all out of proportion to the percentage of Black riders versus white riders on the trains and Asian riders as well. And so Harrell was basically suggesting that maybe there could be a technological fix that would not be racially biased, but that would somehow increase the number of people paying fare and/or increase the number of people being penalized for not paying fare. It wasn't really clear. Rogoff, the CEO, jumped to, "Well, we don't want to do facial recognition." And Harrell said that's not what he intended, but he didn't really say anything specific about what sort of technological fix there could be. I mean, as we all know, it's not like algorithms are an anti-racist tool. In fact, they're often quite racist. So I would be skeptical personally of any such fix, but again, he wasn't very specific about what it would be. [00:04:30] Crystal Fincher: Okay. So there are two things in this story that I continue to come back to that just have me in a confused place. One is, okay, let's talk about fare recovery. So they're estimating 40% of their budget should be covered by riders paying fares, correct? [00:04:58] Erica Barnett: Right. [00:04:59] Crystal Fincher: How does that compare with other agencies? Does that seem to be a realistic number? [00:05:03] Erica Barnett: Well, other agencies are generally - always, in almost all cases - lower - nationwide and also in this region. I mean, farebox recovery ranges from 2% for inner city transit to, I believe, King County Metro has a goal of 25% - they might have lowered that. But 40% is incredibly high. And it sort of has set the agency up for a constant cycle of failure, when you define failure as getting all this money back from fares. And as Rogoff pointed out, fare payment has gone down, but it's, I believe, almost always been lower than 40%. So you have to look at the metrics and you have to look at sort of what the values of the agency are. If it's a money-making agency, if the purpose of transit is to constantly be churning money back into the system so as to provide more service and to build more stuff, then that's one thing. But if the value of the agency and the purpose of the agency is mobility and equitable mobility for everyone who needs to get from one place to another, that's another thing. And I think it would - if that was the value - it might cause the agency to deemphasize this idea of a farebox recovery and getting as much sort of profit out of riders as it can. [00:06:34] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, definitely. It just seems like they're setting themselves up for failure and setting themselves - we have this conversation, it seems like every year. Sound Transit is coming up short - what needs to happen? The other thing I find confounding - and ridiculous to be plain-spoken - is that when we have these fare enforcement officers, Fare Ambassadors, and they find someone hasn't paid a fare and they give them a ticket, I think most people assume that, hey, well, now you're paying a fine, and that fine is going to cover the costs of you not paying your ticket and hiring these Fare Ambassadors or officers, and that is back filling the money in the system. However, with Sound Transit, it's true that the fines that people pay don't go to Sound Transit, correct? [00:07:25] Erica Barnett: That's right. The fines go to the court system. I mean, right now the maximum fine is $124. And they're looking at a system that would reduce the fine in a lot of cases - probably most cases to $50 - but that money doesn't go to Sound Transit. The whole purpose of the fine is to be punitive and to discourage people essentially from jumping the virtual turnstile and not paying for fear of having to go to court and pay a $50 fine. And then ultimately maybe pay a $124 fine. So yeah, it's a system that doesn't make a whole lot of sense from a financial perspective, because the only thing that Sound Transit is trying to recover is literally just the $3 that you did or didn't pay as you walked onto the train. [00:08:17] Crystal Fincher: So the cost of fare enforcement officers or ambassadors is purely a cost. It's not how some other agencies sometimes justify it - saying, "Well, the fines end up paying for the officers, and we end up coming out ahead." That's purely a cost and a system that has shown to repeatedly fail to intimidate people into paying a fare when they're not paying, to backfill a budget that was already set unrealistically so that its goal, which has not been attained, continues to not be attained. It just seems like we're going around in a circle and nothing is making sense, and no one's pointing out that nothing is making sense. [00:09:02] Erica Barnett: Well, people are pointing out that it doesn't make sense, but just nobody at the agency is sort of making the pointed, or at least effective, case that we need to find another way to fund transit. I mean, transit does cost money. When people don't pay fares - in complete fairness to Peter Rogoff and others, Bruce Harrell as well - there is a financial consequence to thousands of people not paying that $3 at the door, right? But the fact is we could also fund our transit system in another way, or in many other ways. There are other systems that fund their transit systems differently. Right now we pay for ours with a combination of fees and motor vehicle licensing and things like that. A lot of employers pay into the system, but we could have an employer tax, for example, that would cover the system more equitably than expecting individual riders to shoulder the cost, including a lot of riders that really can't afford it. I mean, Rogoff said yesterday, and I thought this was a very telling comment. He said, "Well, we even have these ORCA cards, which are for people of modest means." Well, ORCA cards are only available to people making up to 200% of the poverty line on the federal level, which is actually below our local minimum wage and is way below poverty wages in this incredibly expensive city. And it just felt like, I don't know if - I mean, I assume that Peter Rogoff knows what the federal poverty level and knows a little bit about the cost of living in Seattle - but it felt like such an out-of-touch comment to me that - it felt like, very telling. Yeah. And so I mean, we are not even near the point of talking about alternative ways to fund this system that we do need funding for and that does need to be expanded. I ride the Light Rail - it's very useful, but I don't think that funding it on the backs of people who can't pay is going to be a great, sustainable, long-term way of funding it. [00:11:18] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. And for me, I would rather invest money that is currently being invested in this kind of punitive system of trying to intimidate people and fine people into paying - which is not working - into something that is going to move us closer to a more sustainable system. I don't know what the budget line item is for the Fare Ambassadors, but it seems like if we're not recovering that money, if it is purely a cost, that maybe that money can be better invested in a way that could more efficiently help people pay their fares or subsidize those fares in a way that helps the people who actually need it. But we'll see. What is coming next from Sound Transit? I guess, where did things leave and what are the next steps? [00:12:06] Erica Barnett: Well, they are considering - so they've had this Fare Ambassador program, which is, as I said, is basically just issuing warnings and taking people's information. They are discussing a new sort of system of enforcement that would have up to five warnings. And to me, I mean, again, I don't want to just sort of belabor the Peter Rogoff of it all, but his exasperation at the idea that people would just after warning, after warning keep "refusing to pay" - he was like, "And we can do a first warning, and then a second warning, and then a third warning, and then a fourth warning, and then a fifth warning." And, I mean, it's not like 27 warnings are going to make somebody who can't pay or who is not paying for whatever reason. It's not like any number of warnings is going to be the magic trick. So at any rate, that's what they're discussing - up to five warnings. On the fifth, you would have a penalty of up to $124 fine. Think on the fourth, it would be that $50 fine. So it's just kind of moving the goal post a tiny bit, but still kind of the - basically the same system that we've always had. [00:13:21] Crystal Fincher: Okay. Well, we will continue to pay attention to it. We've had conversations with you about Sound Transit here before. I'm sure we will in the future. Always interesting. Well, I also wanted to talk about a bill raising an important issue about how people are able to access state benefits and our safety net - like TANF, food stamps, housing and essential needs. And how that's been limited because of DSHS offices being closed. And in an attempt to remedy that, what is happening there? [00:13:55] Erica Barnett: Yeah, there's legislation being heard next Tuesday that would essentially require DSHS, which is the Department of Social and Health Services, to respond to calls within 30 minutes. So right now, just to back up, their offices have been either completely or partly closed since the beginning of the pandemic. So people seeking services for the most part have to call in or access services online. So when you're talking about people who are low income or maybe homeless, or you don't have internet fluency or access, they're usually calling. So this bill would respond to wait times that are right now - reportedly - sometimes three hours, four hours long, just to get somebody on the phone to tell you that they'll call you back. And it would require 30 minute wait times - no more - and it would set a bunch of standards for sort of levels of service that DSHS would have to provide. Or if they can't provide them, which seems like a good possibility because the bill does not include funding - it's not a budget bill in this short session - they would not be allowed to penalize people for essentially not meeting deadlines, not getting through. In some cases, for benefits, you have to check in with somebody at DSHS on a regular basis. And people are finding that they simply cannot do that. So this would just say, okay, you can't lose your TANF benefits, you can't lose your food stamps, you can't lose your housing and essential needs benefits that you are receiving because you are a person in extreme poverty simply because you couldn't stay on the line for three hours because your phone didn't have minutes, because you had to get to work, or for any of the many other reasons that anybody can't stay on the phone for three hours. [00:15:58] Crystal Fincher: Okay. So you say this has a hearing coming up next week. [00:16:02] Erica Barnett: That's right. On Tuesday. [00:16:04] Crystal Fincher: Is there any idea who is lining up to support or oppose it? [00:16:09] Erica Barnett: I am not aware of opposition right now, which is not to say that there will not be opposition. DSHS itself told me this week that they were still looking at the bill and sort of trying to figure out what the ramifications would be for them. The sponsors are Strom Peterson, who's from Edmonds, and Nicole Macri, who is from Seattle and works for the Downtown Emergency Service Center, which is a homeless provider. And the actual - I should say that the drafters of the bill were the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness. So it is a bill backed by homeless service advocates. One thing Peterson also mentioned to me though is that there's a lot of other folks who use DSHS benefits who are not necessarily homeless - including, he mentioned people with traumatic brain injuries, and also people who've served overseas and have PTSD, people who don't speak English as their first language. One thing I discovered during my reporting is that if you don't speak English and you call the hotline, you are told to leave a message in your own language and someone will call you back. So it's just another little hurdle that is sitting in your way if you want to get services right now. [00:17:30] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. And I think it's hard for some people to conceptualize, but if you are at the point where oftentimes you need these services, you're already dealing with so many hurdles and barriers in your own life. And just getting to the point where you can ask for help or go through the steps to receive help - you have to overcome several barriers just to do that. And putting barriers in the way of people who are already struggling and - for a variety of reasons - may not be able to sit on the phone for three hours to wait, or have that time available, or not be able to work, or not be able to focus or concentrate or sit in one place for that time - like just putting those barriers in front of this population - we know - so many studies support and looking at the population, we know that is cutting people off from being able to receive the benefits they're entitled to and the benefits that we've decided as a society benefit us all to provide. It weakens our entire society if we allow people to fall through the cracks and have problems worsen, and then try and address those problems as they present as homelessness or different things. If we can intervene and help and get people back on their feet before problems get that bad, that is the goal and that benefits us all. There is a return on investment there, and it is the good thing to do as humans. So this is really talking about just kind of fundamental needs. And I think there is a need for it. I know that they - DSHS, I think, is dealing with staffing shortages as so many organizations were before the pandemic hit and now are dealing with that being even more of a challenge as people are out with COVID and various things. So I'm sure, in a bill especially that doesn't address funding, that a big question is going to be, okay, so who are these people going to come for? But the remedy of that is okay, well then you can't penalize someone and cut them off from benefits because they did that. We'll certainly be keeping an eye on it. Do you know what the bill number is for that? [00:19:47] Erica Barnett: It is 2075. House Bill 2075. [00:19:53] Crystal Fincher: House Bill 2075. So we will monitor that and keep it on the list. I also want to talk about another bill in Olympia in terms of zoning. What's going on with that? [00:20:07] Erica Barnett: Yeah. There is legislation in Olympia that is very exciting to people who support more density in cities, that has support of Governor Jay Inslee, that would - it's very complex. I'm just going to dumb it way down and say that it would allow more density in cities. And the main difference that this bill would sort of effectuate across the state - in cities of more than 20,000 people - is that in single family areas, areas that have been historically exclusively for detached homes, developers could build duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and in some cases, sixplexes and town homes. It's pretty modest as far as density goes. I mean, we're not talking about huge apartments. There was a bill that does not seem to be going anywhere this year, that would've allowed much taller buildings near transit stations. But it's really remarkable, in a way, how far this conversation has come just in the last 10 years and even 5 years - the idea of even allowing duplexes and accessory dwelling units. I recall very well when that was like anathema. I mean, that was a third rail in Seattle and certainly in other cities. And now you've got Jay Inslee saying we need to allow more density and particularly around transit stops and frequent bus stops and light rail stations. Even though I don't think that the ultimate impact is going to be particularly dramatic, it's a step in the direction of a dramatic impact which is badly needed, particularly in the Seattle region where we just have so much growth and we don't have commensurate housing development, which is obviously contributing to our incredibly high housing costs. [00:22:04] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, definitely. We will keep an eye on that. What bill number is that one? [00:22:10] Erica Barnett: Oh, after you asked me the first time, I knew you would ask me this and I don't have the bill number memorized. I will look it up and I'll mention it in a second. [00:22:21] Crystal Fincher: No, no worries. There are so many bill numbers to keep track of. I don't know the bill number off the top of my head. I've looked at it before. So what we will do is definitely put it in the show notes so you can see that - just in that text that comes along with the podcast and on officialhacksandwonks.com. [00:22:37] Erica Barnett: Oh, it's HB 1782, Senate Bill 5670, if you want to follow along at home. [00:22:43] Crystal Fincher: SB 5670. And then lots of calls to action from both urbanism and environmental groups have been spread on that. But these are going to be really important to make sure that you let your legislator know how you feel. This is an area where there are a lot more people in the public who support this than is assumed - just because a lot of times NIMBY groups who are notoriously vocal and always mobilize to oppose stuff are the ones who they are used to hearing from and who make themselves always very loud, both on municipal and the legislative level. So it's really important just to let your legislators know that you strongly support this, that you want them to support that, that it's actually critical for having an equitable and inclusive society and just to be able to afford to live near anything that people want to live near now and in the future. So hopefully everyone gets involved with that. And again, we'll put that in the episode notes. Also, want to talk about an issue - another issue in Kent that's - and today we're not talking about a Nazi cop who has not resigned. [00:24:04] Erica Barnett: Just taking a breather from that. [00:24:06] Crystal Fincher: Yes. I wish that was hyperbole - it is not - that's a literal statement. But we're talking about banning books, which sometimes people are like, "Well, that only happens in "backwards areas" and other states and not anything we would have to worry about in blue, progressive Washington - blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." It's everywhere. It's everywhere. If you think we're protected from something because we're in supposedly a blue, progressive Washington, please reconsider everything you have ever considered because everything is here, including a principal at Cedar Heights Middle School in Kent, which I'm very familiar with, taking it upon herself to ban some books - some LGBTQ books - what is happening here, Erica? [00:24:56] Erica Barnett: Well, so the main book that has been banned and I don't have all the details of where we're at in terms of other books right now, but the first book that came to the attention of this principal - it's called Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts). It is a book that is - it's about a young man who is a sex advice columnist, anonymous sex advice columnist - he is gay. And the book is - it's somewhat explicit - it is sort of rated at a 14 year old reading level, which does not mean appropriateness or non-appropriateness, but that's one of the things that the principal has apparently seized on in saying that this book is not appropriate for seventh and eighth grade students. I mean, it's fascinating because sexual explicitness - that's sort of the reason being given for removing this book from the middle school library - is really a moving target, as I think some of the critics of this policy have pointed out. There are many other sexually explicit books that are available to middle school students, including, I mean, one example of course, is the Bible - in which there's a story about a prostitute being hacked up into pieces that is quite explicit. And that's not banned, but this LGBTQ book that is somewhat explicit was banned. And so I think it speaks to a double standard for what types of sexually honest and straightforward literature we consider appropriate for children and what kind we don't. And yeah, I mean, Crystal, I don't know, what do you think about Kent? Is this the kind of thing that could only happen in Kent? Or is - [00:26:53] Crystal Fincher: Very much not the kind of thing that could only happen in Kent. I mean, I feel like we just got done with a School Board race in Bellevue that got some coverage with a candidate that had some very racist and backwards views - that caught the attention of a lot of people. Kent, who - I happen to pay attention to very acutely - has had a number of issues in the school district. Kent has a very extreme, conservative contingent of the population - not a majority of the population, but like there's been an organized Republican - and conservatives who feel like Republicans are too soft - Party organized here. And in school board elections, geez, almost 10 years ago now, I mean - one, was just a very small forum that I went to where one candidate who was running against a woman of color at the time, talked about the problem with students these days coming from "Taliban hell holes". And being - [00:28:05] Erica Barnett: Wow. [00:28:08] Crystal Fincher: Yes. So like, sound all the alarms - that kind of kicked me into gear to in-kind some help to that candidate, his opponent, to make sure that he didn't get on because of just blatantly racist beliefs. Kent is known as one of the most diverse cities of the state now - it was not always that way. That demographic shift started in the Nineties - before that, it was an extremely white city. A lot of those residents still here - a lot of people very uncomfortable with change and blaming every conceivable problem that could be on that. And we see that in a lot of suburbs, rural areas - we see that everywhere. And there's also a concerted conservative nationwide strategy to engage in local school districts and in municipalities, which are traditionally overlooked by most people - the turnout for those elections is lower than any other kind of election. People just don't pay attention. And so these conservatives - we've seen a ton of video online, if you're very online like I am, where you see these people railing against masking and testing and anything like that in school districts. That's a strategy. And so this book banning that we're now seeing is another tactic in this overall strategy to get control of school districts for a couple of purposes. So no, this is not something that can only happen in Kent. It's happening in Kent. It's happening in a lot of other places and people are going to have to get engaged in their local cities and in their local school districts and speak up in opposition to this. Because if all that happens is people go, "Oh, this is too bad," and they stay silent. And the only vocal people are the ones that want to ban books, then these books are going to get banned. And as much as people want to be like, "Well, it's only going to make these books more popular in the underground." - the underground is underground for a reason because most people are not accessing it. And especially if someone's in a more conservative environment, if their parents are not open-minded, this is really cutting people off from books. And to that point, I mean this librarian who, when the principal, who had not read this book - when she decided to ban it, came to the meeting, had brought other books that had been accused of being sexually explicit. One was a book on pregnancy, another was a book by Maya Angelou, another was The Hate U Give, another - Are You There God it's Me Margaret - certainly the Bible. This becomes very, very subjective. And I think part of the bigger issue is there is a process that is supposed to be followed when a book might not be appropriate. Because it's not like that can't happen, right? But there is a process dictated by the district which this principal did not follow. And so that's also another part of the issue is that - how subjective are we making this process and if we're not going to stick by given process and some visibility into this, how many books are disappearing that we know nothing about? [00:31:30] Erica Barnett: Well, I think too, I mean, the fact that the list that you gave includes books that are perennially or have perennially been banned or that people have attempted to ban - I mean, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Are You There God It's Me Margaret. I mean, frequent targets in the past. I think that this particular book and the sort of focus on LGBTQ books in general is a wedge. I mean, it is an easy-ish thing to convince conservative parents that it is bad for children, or teenagers in this case, to be exposed to "sexually explicit, LGBTQ+ literature" and then kind of go from there. And this particular book is - Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) - has been a target in other school districts across the country. So there is an effort to target specific books and specific books that are aimed at queer students, but I don't think that once it starts there, that it ends there, right? And so, this list of books, I mean, I could see some of those books being targeted again, because it hasn't been that long that some of these books were considered inappropriate for "young people" on all kinds of grounds. I mean, I remember reading a lot of these books when I was this age. I grew up in another time of frequent book bans. And there's nothing age inappropriate about them. 12 to 14 year olds are having sex. It is absurd to suggest, as this principal has, that the only appropriate thing for kids of that age is books that go up to hand-holding and pecks on the cheek and mild kissing and no more, because that is just not in keeping with the reality of teenagers that age. So I feel like this LGBTQ focus right now is very much just the kind of wedge that conservative ideologues have identified as potentially being most effective to get their foot in the door and then move on to other stuff. [00:33:55] Crystal Fincher: Yeah, absolutely. And to be clear, this hasn't even stopped with this book at this school. On a subsequent day when the librarian arrived to work, they said the most recent book order was waiting for them, but the boxes were already opened and one book was missing, All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson. And when they were in the office later that day, they spotted the book sitting on the vice principal's desk. They never sent any notice about taking the book. So this has already started down the path. The principal said that she was going to be putting together like a parent advisory board to determine which books were appropriate or not, which again is not part of the district policy. So this is an extremely slippery slope. And again, like you made reference to, we both come from a time where book bannings were en vogue. And so here we go again, but I just hope people engage - whether or not you have kids in your local school system, you need to be very vocal, contact your school board members, make sure that you are talking to your local school administrators, that you expect there to be books in the library that represent a variety of perspectives and a variety of identities and people, and that there should be the strictest scrutiny for removing something and some very clear guidelines. Because these vague guidelines are how they get away with just removing anything that they want to remove for whatever reason they feel like that day. We will continue to keep an eye on that and continue to talk about that. The last thing I wanted to talk about today, as we're coming up on a little bit of time here, was just news that broke this morning that Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and interim police chief, Adrian Diaz, are discussing the possibility of a $5,000 retention bonus for every SPD officer - over a thousand officers there. This is different than the $25,000 or $10,000 signing bonuses for experienced or new officers. This would just be for existing officers - "Hey, we'll give you $5,000 if you stay." What are your thoughts about this? [00:36:32] Erica Barnett: Well, if you look at what police officers make in Seattle, it is - I mean, it's certainly a starting salary of quite a bit more than I make - with overtime, easily into the six figures. And I mention that - not to say that police officers make too much or too little or anything - just to point out that if you're making six figures, $5,000 is really not that much money. It is not nothing, but as you pointed out, there have already been pretty large signing bonuses offered and all sorts of incentives for people to come to the department. And yet that has not worked, and we still have a net loss of officers year over year - just as I would add - many, many, many other cities are experiencing right now. There's a workforce shortage in all kinds of industries and the police departments of America are not exempt from that. So it's hard to picture this strategy of offering what amounts to a small bonus working to retain people who are already making plenty of money. But more importantly, I don't think that they have defined where the money's going to come from. So I am curious what funding source, or what budget cut, are they proposing to make in order to pay for this. I mean, there's lots and lots of other departments and lots of other things the City pays for - including social service workers, outreach workers for encampments - all kinds of things that no one is proposing these kind of bonuses for. So where are the cuts coming from? Where's the money coming from? And why is this the priority - of all the City departments that are losing workers and of all the things the City funds - that deserves this extra funding on top of the extra funding that we've already provided? [00:38:37] Crystal Fincher: Yeah. That mirrors my concern - like, I would be interested - is this something that came from officers? I mean, just purely looking at - could this achieve what they're hoping that it achieves, given that the amount represents a lower percentage of their take-home pay than it does for most other City employees? Is it something that they're saying, "Hey, you know what? For folks considering leaving, we are looking at this - but this $5,000 - that would actually make us stay." Where did that number come from? Has that been like validated? And to your point, has this been considered? I mean, we have talked extensively, have a show coming up where we're going to be talking about - especially frontline workers who are working with the unhoused population and the strain that's on that infrastructure - the staffing shortages, and even for the staff that's there, the poverty wages that they're making and that being a significant barrier for just - in trying to get people housed and needing people to engage and provide support and services - we are paying those people who provide support and services pennies, and they're already overworked and understaffed. So it seems like this would make a much bigger percentage of that pay and perhaps make a bigger difference. Are we looking at these bonuses for other departments, other frontline workers who we are counting on who make lower wages and who are tied to more marginalized populations to see that? Is this under consideration from anything else? And definitely, where is this money coming from? So we'll keep an eye on that and continue with that. I want to thank all of you for listening to Hacks & Wonks on this Friday, January 28th - it is January 28th, we're almost in February - 2022. The producer of Hacks & Wonks is Lisl Stadler and assistant producer Shannon Cheng. And our wonderful co-host today was Seattle political reporter and founder of PubliCola, Erica Barnett. You can find Erica on Twitter @ericacbarnett and on publicola.com. You can buy her book, Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery anywhere where you enjoy buying books. You can find me on Twitter @finchfrii, and you can now follow Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts. Just type "Hacks & Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to get our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. While you're there, leave a review, it really helps us out. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the podcast episode notes. Thanks for tuning in. We'll talk to you next time.
We have a lot of questions. How many more COVID vaccines will we need? Jussie Smollett is guilty. Now, how will it affect the black queer community? Plus, should you question the type of porn you watch? Our favorite doctor joins us for the juicy conversation. Plus so much more. Let's go there! Special guests: Deborah Fuller - Professor of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Washington. Ken Charles - Program Director for 97.1 KNX. George M. Johnson - Award winning Writer & Executive Producer. Author of All Boys Aren't Blue & We Are Not Broken. Dr. Stefani Goerlich - Sex & Relationships-focused Kink Affirming Therapist, Award winning author of The Leather Couch: Clinical Practice with Kinky Clients. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hello guy, in today's episode we will be talking about a book called "All Boys Aren't Blue" being banned from schools all over the country, the reason? you'll wonder whether to be mad or laugh. thank you so much for watching, don't forget to subscribe. Links: Bakery (Scrump LLC): https://www.instagram.com/scrump.sss/ YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqMbAzb7ZoOPoFOQe4-nJsQ Kats Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2.240.9_/ Zyaires Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anbenmo_/ Madame Noir: https://madamenoire.com/1301821/all-boys-arent-blue-book-ban/ ADVOCATE: https://www.advocate.com/exclusives/2021/11/08/all-boys-arent-blue-george-johnson-ban-school-removed Audio: Blue Snowball mic Programs: Garage band --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/theus-podcast/support
This week, we give you a full review of Twenties, Queens and Insecure. Shana attempts to convince Kris to see the new Wicked Movie. The Black and Brown LGBTQ+ Community does not feel safe in the UK. We call out fuck boys and friend hookups gone wrong in Am I a Bad Queer? And Happy Holidays everyone!Shoutouts:Shana: George M. Johnson. Right now, All Boys Aren't Blue is being banned not only from schools, but also libraries. And there is a criminal complaint filed against it in Florida (and 9 other states). Ways to support is buy the book, share from George's page, reach out to school boards and share about this publicly, vote, etc. Follow @iamgmjohnsonKris: Vanessa Nakate - Climate change activist from Uganda. A beautiful warning at the Youth4Climate COP26 event. Uganda has one of the fastest changing climates on Earth so they are seeing the climate crisis' most dangerous effects firsthand. Africa is the LOWEST emitter of CO2 emissions of all continents - except Antarctica. Please support Vanessa by purchasing her book, A Bigger Picture: My Fight to Bring a New African Voice to the Climate Crisis. Go watch her speech Youth4Climate - You cannot adapt to lost traditions, lost history, you cannot adapt to starvation, you cannot adapt to extinction. No more empathy promises. Follow IG: @vanessanakate1Bad Queers is co-hosted by:Shana Sumers: @shanahasagramKris Chesson: @kris.chessLet's keep in touch:Email us for advice at badqueers@theherapp.com or DM on InstagramFollow us @badqueerspod on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Tik TokShop for official Bad Queers ApparelLove our soundtrack? Check out Siena Liggins: @sienaligginsShoutout to our sponsor HER App
On today's episode of The PEN Pod, award-winning author Anthony Doerr talks to PEN America's Jane Marchant about his latest work CLOUD CUCKOO LAND. George M. Johnson reflects on efforts to ban the author's book ALL BOYS AREN'T BLUE, as well as the broader effort to impose educational gag orders in classrooms. Then, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel on legislative threats to the freedom to learn, plus efforts to get at the truth about Jan. 6. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/penamerica/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/penamerica/support
Hello, oatmeal cream pies! Ugh, wow, truly can't believe that the Summer Short Series is over. That, in itself, feels absurd and like a thing that should not be true, but alas. Luckily, however, we are closing the Summer Short Series with a B A N G! Persepolis did something to us because we'll be closing out the summer with another memoir--this one being called All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson! So sit back and enjoy as we discuss the intersection of being Black and queer, the best time to write a memoir, alternative versions of masculinity, and, of course, honey child (that'll make sense, we promise)! Intro/Icebreaker Question: 00:07 - 16:40 "Plot" Summary*: 16:57 - 47:57 Discussion: 48:06 - 1:28:03 Wanna stay afloat on all our latest episodes? You can find the links to our Twitter (@TheColoredPages), Instagram (@TheseColoredPages), Website (thesecoloredpages.com), and Reading List here: https://linktr.ee/thecoloredpages (the linktree will be updated soon!). You can also reach us directly by emailing us at thesecoloredpages@gmail.com . Come say hi!! *Trigger Warning* Brief mention of sexual assault from 30:03 - 33:44
So of course, we had to talk about DaBaby and his homophobic shenanigans. We discuss the importance of removing the stigma around HIV/AIDS. His comments were unacceptable and he needs to be accountable for his actions. On a brighter note, we talk about Simone Biles putting her mental health first and the people are mad. Mental health is just as important as physical health and she did the best thing for herself! We're here for it! Lastly, we discussed the controversial drug that is marketed to "cure" dwarfism. Toria has thoughts and she's not here for it. We mentioned one of the wonderful people who are on the ground providing HIV awareness and education, you can learn something from them. George Johnson (@IAmGMJohnson on Twitter) speaks about this topic and also has a book. All Boys Aren't Blue - https://www.amazon.com/All-Boys-Arent-Blue-Memoir-Manifesto/dp/0374312710 We also mentioned Rebecca Cokely (@RebeccaCokley on Twitter) and her thoughts on the new drug - https://rebecca-cokley.medium.com/a-new-phase-of-life-as-an-endangered-species-8b08402a9e7c Remember to follow us on all social media platforms to stay up to date on everything: Twitter - @justalittlepod Instagram - @justalittlepod Ronisha's Instagram - @_ronisha Toria's Instagram - @toriajae Our Website - justalittlepod.com Venmo - @justalittlepod --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/justalittlepod/message
In honor of Pride Month, Johnzelle shares insights gained from George M. Johnson's book, All Boys Aren't Blue, reviewing the book's content and reflecting on how the material resonates with him personally. Disclaimer: Any quotes shared in this episode are brief and are for review/discussion purposes only. Neither Johnzelle Anderson nor Panoramic Counseling, LLC claim ownership for any quotations referenced in this podcast, as those are the intellectual property of the book's author, George M. Johnson. If you enjoyed this content, feel free to buy me a coffee to support the blog and podcast. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Counselor4RVA Sign up to my email list so that you never miss a new article or podcast episode: https://tinyurl.com/2jfn869b Johnzelle Anderson can be found at PanoramicCounseling.com.
This week's episode is about 3 years in the making. If you remember in the early Let's Talk Bruh days, we reviewed a documentary called, "The Feminist on Cellblock Y" and in that episode we interviewed the producers of the film Contessa Gayles and Emma Bordeaux. Fast forward to now and we finally have the opportunity to link up with one of the central figures in the documentary, Richie Reseda, and talk about his experience leading the program featured in the documentary called Success Stories. On today's show, we also speak to Indigo Mateo, one of the co-founders of Question Culture alongside Richie. We dig into her upcoming project "Single Player" and what it means to divest from patriarchy in her art and in her life overall. Watch "The Feminist on Cellblock Y" - CNN The Feminist on Cellblock Y documentary review and interview - Let's Talk Bruh Stream Indigo's latest single, "IRL" Indigo's Let's Talk Bruh Receipt Richie's Let's Talk Bruh Receipt Join the LTB Book Club as we discuss All Boys Aren't Blue on 6/16: http://bit.ly/LTBBookClub This year our theme is, "Divesting from Patriarchy" so here's how you can get involved and have your opinion heard on the show: 1. Record a 30 second message of what divesting from patriarchy means to you 2. Send your message to letstalkbruh@gmail.com OR call 708-320-3126 to leave a voicemail OR send us a voice text via Instagram DM 3. Tune in to hear your clip on the show. Follow Let's Talk Bruh on Twitter & Instagram Join our Men's Facebook Group here: Let's Talk Bruh Facebook Group Subscribe to the Let's Talk Bruh YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsa2wXlKMWlpAER8v16zXZw
This week we were joined by Paris Hatcher, founder and director, of Black Feminist Future. In today's episode we talked to Paris about Patriarchal Violence as a framework, what divesting from patriarchy or as Paris puts it, "breaking up with patriarchy" looks like for her and Paris gives us something to all think about when it comes to conversations and taking theory into practice. Check this out: What is Patriarchal Violence? A Working Definition from the Abolishing Patriarchal Violence Innovation Lab Black Feminist Future - Our Vision Keep up with Black Feminist Future Follow BFF on IG, Twitter, and FB Jubilee: A Black Feminist Homecoming "I don't care about manhood..." - Yolo Akili Join the LTB Book Club as we discuss All Boys Aren't Blue on 6/16: http://bit.ly/LTBBookClub This year our theme is, "Divesting from Patriarchy" so here's how you can get involved and have your opinion heard on the show: 1. Record a 30 second message of what divesting from patriarchy means to you 2. Send your message to letstalkbruh@gmail.com OR call 708-320-3126 to leave a voicemail OR send us a voice text via Instagram DM 3. Tune in to hear your clip on the show. Follow Let's Talk Bruh on Twitter & Instagram Join our Men's Facebook Group here: Let's Talk Bruh Facebook Group Subscribe to the Let's Talk Bruh YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsa2wXlKMWlpAER8v16zXZw
In Need to Know, author George M. Johnson discusses his book "All Boys Aren't Blue," and shares why the reaction to his memoir manifesto has been so affirming. In All the Feels, Bianca and Isaiah inaugurate the W&W Book Club with a review of the book and a discussion of its legacy. In Gotta Do, the co-hosts consider the continued necessity of code-switching. To learn more about George M. Johnson, visit https://iamgmjohnson.com/about-me/
In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. We sat down to discuss his amazing book " All Boys Aren't Blue, a movie in the works and creating his own lane. Pre-Order his new book relating in September 2021 "We Are Not Broken".
On this week's episode, Tamia Lee Talks with award winning writer/best selling author of All Boys Aren't Blue: George M Johnson. The two discuss a range of topics including The creative process of his best selling book: "All Boys Aren't Blue" , his developing memoir tv series, future creative works, and more.
We are so lucky to have the opportunity to sit down and chop it up with George Matthew Johnson, activist and author of best selling book "All Boys Aren't Blue". George is one of the most insightful and brilliant humans we've had the chance to speak to and their perspectives on gender identity, race relations and all of the intersections in between are nothing short of eye opening. So pull up a chair, Cowes and listen carefully to George, because their work is important and this chat may just change your perspective. Make sure to follow George on Twitter and Instagram.Follow us @cocoandcowe and check out our blog www.cocoandcowe.com. You can follow Cleo and Pilar on Instagram too! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.