Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), understands the power of a book. Reading allows children to learn how to think, not what to think. Books allow young readers to see themselves. In the book-banning battle, Ali Velshi identifies kids who don’t get to read books as collateral damage.
Weingarten points out that kids who grow up surrounded by books and are read to at home have both better outcomes in school and higher levels of literacy. That’s why Weingarten and AFT have been helping children gain access to books. To date, they’ve given away more than 10 million brand-new books to children who want them.
Her fight for literary freedom has earned her the ire of right-wing pundits and politicians who see her advocacy as a threat. What she sees is the potential underlying motive. “I do not understand why they are afraid of knowledge or why they are afraid of kids critically thinking,” Weingarten says. “If you don’t have knowledge, fear becomes much more inviting.”
Listen to Velshi’s interview with President of the American Federation of Teachers
Watch Velshi and Weingarten discuss the power of reading
Velshi on banned books on MSNBC:
