Shelved Voices: How Book Censorship & Bans Impact Everyone, Everywhere

Join us on Sunday, September 22, 2024, as the Aspen Institute Arts Program in partnership with Kwame Alexander, W. Kamau Bell and the DC Public Library and DC Public Library Foundation presents, “Shelved Voices: How Book Censorship & Bans Impact Everyone, Everywhere,” at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Auditorium in Washington, D.C. This program kicks off Banned Books Week 2024 with three segments exploring the history of book banning, the current state of literary access in the US, and how we might catalyze inspiration for protecting and expanding access to the written word for all readers. Featuring conversations with policy experts, librarians, authors, students, and advocates on the frontlines, this program highlights what’s happening in regions where censorship is both prominent and subtle. In-person attendees will also have an opportunity to submit questions during both panel sessions.

This event is free, but registration is required for both in-person (limited space available) and livestream. Livestream details will be provided via email ahead of the event to registered attendees.

Be sure to visit the Library before the program for an opportunity to purchase a book for donation to a contested library from a pop-up store by People’s Book in Takoma Park, a local bookstore just outside Washington. People’s Book sales begin at 1:00 pm. Program begins promptly at 1:45 pm ET and concludes by 5:00 pm ET; see the agenda below for details.

About Banned Books Week:

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. The annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.

Speaker Bios:

Panel 1:

(Moderator) W. Kamau Bell is a stand-up comedian, television host, director, and producer. He won three Emmy awards for his CNN series, United Shades of America. Kamau also won a Peabody award for his four-part docuseries, We Need To Talk About Cosby. His newest project is the HBO documentary, 1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed. Kamau’s first book has the easy-to-remember title, The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6' 4", African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmatic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama's Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian. His second book was the New York Times Bestseller Do The Work: An Antiracism Activity Book. He is on the board of directors of DonorsChoose, and he is the ACLU’s celebrity ambassador for racial justice. Kamau and his wife Melissa Hudson Bell are the co-founders of Who Knows Best Productions, a media production company in Oakland, California.

Robert Corn-Revere is Chief Counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression ("FIRE").  He has practiced First Amendment law for 40 years, joining FIRE in 2023.  Before that, Corn-Revere was a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, where he was a partner for 20 years specializing in freedom of expression and communications law. Before his time at DWT, he was a partner at Hogan & Hartson in Washington, D.C.  From 1989 to 1994, Corn-Revere served as legal advisor and later chief counsel to Federal Communications Commission Chairman James H. Quello. 

Before joining FIRE full-time, Corn-Revere was a volunteer on FIRE’s Advisory Council. He also served as outside counsel for FIRE’s Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project, successfully litigating on behalf of college students and faculty whose First Amendment rights were violated. Shortly before coming to FIRE, Corn-Revere defeated an attempt in Virginia Beach, VA to have certain books declared obscene.  He is a previous board member of the Freedom to Read Foundation.

Corn-Revere is regularly listed as a leading First Amendment and media law practitioner by The Best Lawyers in America, SuperLawyers Washington, D.C., and by Chambers USA. Best Lawyers in America named him as Washington, D.C.’s 2017 “Lawyer of the Year” in the areas of First Amendment Law and Litigation – First Amendment. He was again named as Best Lawyers’  “Lawyer of the Year” for First Amendment Law for 2019 and 2021, and in Media Law for 2022.  In 2023 he was listed in Washingtonian Magazine's Top Lawyers Hall of Fame for Lifetime Achievement.

Christina Ellis is a 20-year-old African-Caribbean American activist and college student at The Pennsylvania State University in her 3rd year. She is double majoring in Biological Sciences and Spanish. She was the former Vice-President of a club called the Panther Anti-Racist Union, better known as PARU. She and PARU, worked together to reverse a book ban that the Central York School District placed on books/resources that promoted diversity and inclusion. At Christina's alma mater, Central York High School, she helped to organize a peaceful protest that advocated reversing the ban. Christina and others now work to continue to educate others on the importance of diversity education and inclusion within her community. She co-founded EmpowerED, an online safe space for students to connect and help each other with issues threatening their safety and education. Christina hopes to go to medical school, become a bilingual doctor, and advocate for minorities in medicine.

Jill Murphy is Chief Content Officer at Common Sense Media and serves as a strategic leader within the organization. Jill joined Common Sense in January 2005, built the editorial department with founding editor-in-chief Liz Perle. She oversees the ratings and reviews for all media channels including movies, streaming, TV, games, websites, apps, and books. She also oversees the content strategy and development for parenting advice. Jill also works closely with content partners including SkyUK, Hulu, Charter, DirecTV, Comcast, Netflix, Target.com, ATT, and more to further leverage the library of Common Sense Media reviews and advice.

In her time with Common Sense Media, Jill has been instrumental in evolving our ratings, reviews, and advice to keep up with where parents are. She has overseen the creation of our For Your Family recommendation engine, worked to refine and enhance the rating process, and continues to ensure the latest research on kids and media is incorporated into Common Sense advice and reviews. She has been involved in countless product launches, all while keeping the team on schedule to produce thousands of new reviews and hundreds of recommendation lists, each year.

Jill's commitment to Common Sense affords her the opportunity to help families avoid the TV shows she is devoted to. She serves as the resident expert on any and all reality TV, late '80s/'90s sitcoms, and other useless pop culture trivia that she claims is "for work." Jill holds a BA from San Francisco State University in broadcast and electronic communication arts, with an emphasis on writing and media literacy.

Lauren Wells, Ph.D. is an educator, researcher, and community organizer whose work centers on comprehensive, systemic, culturally responsive, and collaborative approaches to educational and social change. She began her work in education over twenty years ago while an undergraduate student at Temple University. Her experiences as high school teacher led her on a quest to create schools that are designed to work for and elevate Black and Brown students and their communities. Lauren is trained in qualitative research and uses an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the social problems confronting communities and schools. She applies this approach not only to the work of school transformation, but also to transforming how communities, educators, and policymakers think about, approach, and engage in educational and social transformation. Wells has been at the forefront of education policy and transformation in New Jersey for over 15 years. In 2009, Lauren became the Director of the Broader Bolder Approach to Education at the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University (NYU) where she the led the design and implementation of a major school reform initiative in Newark called the “Newark Global Village School Zone.” This reform has had a lasting impact on the Central High School, one of Newark’s comprehensive high schools. She has served as Chief Education Officer for Mayor Ras Baraka in the City of Newark, where she led education policy and developed initiatives on behalf of the City, and a professor of education at the University of Southern California, Montclair State University, and American University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Kean University. In 2016, Lauren founded Creed Strategies, LLC to create a community of consultants whose core mission is to use their knowledge, experience, and resources to work alongside educators and communities to ignite conditions for equity and justice. Lauren has worked in school districts across the nation on educational equity and school transformation as well as with philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, and public advocacy. A committed community advocate, Lauren serves on several boards and participates in community coalitions. From 2014 to 2019, Lauren was chair of the Newark Youth Policy Board. Lauren is currently entering her fourth term as President of the Newark Public Library Board. Lauren received a BA in English from Temple University, an MA in Educational Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Policy from the University of California Los Angeles. She is the author of There Are No Deficits Here: Disrupting Anti-Blackness in Education published by Corwin Press.

Panel 2:

(Moderator) Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, Emmy-winning producer and #1 New York Times bestselling author of 41 books, including the upcoming release Black Star, the second installment of his The Door of No Return trilogy, This Is The Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, Why Fathers Cry at Night, An American Story, Becoming Muhammad Ali (co-authored with James Patterson), Rebound, which was shortlisted for the prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, and The Undefeated, the National Book Award nominee, Newbery Honor, and Caldecott Medal-winning picture book illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Kwame is also the Emmy-winning Executive Producer, Showrunner, and Writer of TV series, based on his Newbery-Medal winning novel of the same name, which premiered on Disney+ in April 2023. He regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing around the world at events like the Edinburgh Book Festival, Aspen Ideas, and the Global Literacy Symposium in Ghana, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana. Most recently he was appointed the Rudell Artistic Director of Literary Arts and Writer-in-Residence at the Chautauqua Institution. His mission is to change the world, one word at a time. 

Antonio Gonzalez Cerna is the Executive Director of Marketing and Publicity at Levine Querido. With nearly two decades of experience, he has crafted successful marketing, advertising, and social media campaigns for prominent book publishers like Hachette Book Group, Penguin Books USA, and Scholastic. His expertise extends beyond publishing, as evidenced by his work with non-profit organizations such as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Lambda Literary Foundation. A dedicated advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equality, Cerna has played key roles in organizations like the Children’s Book Council's Diversity Committee and Latinx in Publishing. Outside of work, he enjoys graphic novels, graffiti, and guacamole.

Tiffany Jewell (she/her) is an educator, mama, and #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Book Is Anti-Racist, The Antiracist Kid, and Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned In School. She has been working with children and families for over two decades and enjoys exploring social justice with young folks and working with educators supporting them building strong authentic communities in which every child can be seen and valued. Tiffany is committed to centering and empowering children and their caregivers and working to abolish systems that perpetuate violence and oppression to communities of the global majority and those that have been systematically exploited and marginalized. She lives on the homeland of the Pocumtuc, Nonotuck, and the Nipmuck with her two young storytellers, husband, a small dog with a big personality, and a turtle she’s had since she was nine years old.

Amanda Jones is a 24 year teacher-librarian and grassroots organizer in Louisiana on the frontlines fighting against censorship in libraries. She is the 2021 National Librarian of the Year as presented by School Library Journal , a 2021 Library Journal Mover and Shaker, and the 2020 Louisiana School Librarian of the Year.  Amanda has won numerous intellectual freedom awards, is a founding member of Louisiana Citizens Against Censorship, and is the author of “That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America.” 

Carisa Lopez grew up in Garland, TX and moved to Austin in 2010 to attend the University of Texas where she graduated with a B.A. in Government. Carisa got her start in community activism in college where she worked with the Texas Freedom Network’s student chapter at UT to organize her fellow students and register them to vote. Immediately after graduation she was invited to serve on TFN’s Board of Directors and work for the Texas Democratic Party on their fundraising and events team. She has since organized union members and lobbied the Texas legislature for workers rights with the Texas State Employee’s Union and served as the Executive Director for the Travis County Democratic Party where she ran the 2016 Coordinated Campaign. She currently serves as the Deputy Director for the organization that started it all for her, the Texas Freedom Network.Carisa has dedicated her career to electing progressive champions and working on progressive policies that will make a real impact on Texans lives. She currently lives in Austin with her three dogs.

Student Spotlight:

Edha Gupta is a 20-year-old activist who served as the president of the Panther Anti-Racist Union during the 2021-2022 school year. Edha, fellow officers, and advisors successfully protested a school board decision to ban over 300+ books on diversity education throughout the Central York School District. Through activism and advocacy, Edha worked with her peers to promote diversity and inclusion in their school and community. By sharing the power of her story as an Indian-American, Edha hopes to inspire young activists to make a difference through impactful change, resulting in memorable and long-lasting change in education and throughout the country. Edha has co-founded an organization named EmpowerED with a few of her peers, with the mission to aid students across the country who are combating similar attacks on their education. She is also a junior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in Neuroscience minoring in Sociology, and she hopes to advocate for equity in medicine in her future.

Host or Publisher Arts Program at the Aspen Institute