Words Have Power

It is said that the Chinese symbol for "crisis" combines their symbols for "danger" and "opportunity".  It's not true, but it sounds good.

It seems we live in a state of constant crisis, which is why I try to keep world events out of my blog.  But it's hard.  Disaster in Puerto Rico, in Texas, in Mexico, in Florida, in the Virgin Islands, in other parts of the world.  Political crisis, with our world edging closer to possible destruction.

In the United States, everything has become political.  We are all, it seems, in crisis mode, with "breaking news" appearing on our television screens multiple times a day.  We are even questioning some of our core values, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.  And then there is reading.

Reading is safe, right?  Not so fast.

One article I read recently, about our local public libraries, point out that libraries are political, some more than others.  This is true, and we should also keep in mind that libraries are in the forefront of fights against censorship.

NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month (which I have participated in several times), sent its participants an email several months ago.  It reads, in part:

As a creative writing nonprofit, we’re not a political organization. We don’t endorse candidates or support any particular party. In an ideal world, we would focus only on empowering people to write.

Yet we find ourselves in a time where people’s ability to tell their stories—and even to safely exist—is at stake.

NaNoWriMo strives to be a gateway and sanctuary for people’s voices. Our guiding belief is that every person’s story matters, and we celebrate the inclusion of all religions, races, genders, sexualities, and countries of origin. We help people find a safe space to be who they are—creators, storytellers, and world changers.....

So now, an organization devoted to encouraging people to write, and express themselves, finds themselves having to take a political position.

So now, we come to Banned Books Week 2017.  

It's not new, but it's more important than ever.  To quote from their website:

"BBWC Chair Charles Brownstein says, “Our free society depends on the right to access, evaluate, and voice a wide range of ideas. Book bans chill that right, and increase division in the communities where they occur. This Banned Books Week, we’re asking people of all political persuasions to come together and celebrate Our Right to Read.”

You might be surprised to know what books you have read that have been targets of censorship or outright attempts to ban them.  It isn't just this year, or last.  This is the "top 10" list of 2001 (again, quoting from the website:

1. Harry Potter, by J.K. Rowling
   Reasons: anti-family, occult/Satanism, religious viewpoint, violence
2. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
   Reasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group, violence
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
   Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit
5. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene
   Reasons: offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
6. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
   Reasons: offensive language, unsuited to age group
7. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
   Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
8. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
   Reasons: drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit
9. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
   Reason: offensive language
10. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
    Reasons: sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

I've read several of these.  Many are considered classics.  How about some others? The Hunger Games?  The Kite Runner?  To Kill a Mockingbird?  Yes, all of them.

If I were an author, I would love nothing better than to be in the company on this list.

How to participate in Banned Books Week?  It takes a visit to a local library, or, better yet, reading a book on the list. It takes resistance -resistance to the banning of books. #WordsHavePower - exactly why people try to ban books.  Because, dear reader, words have power.  Even the words of this blog.

Will you support Banned Books Week and visit your local library?  Or, better yet, start to read a banned book this week?