The Academy Award-nominated documentary short film The ABCs of Book Banning highlights the impact of banning books on school children, with emotional testimony from the kids themselves. The film features 101-year-old activist Grace Linn, whom Ali Velshi first interviewed last year after she spoke at a Martin County, FL school board meeting against the Moms for Liberty.
In today’s edition of Banned Book Club, Velshi welcomes Linn back along with George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren’t Blue, Velshi’s first featured book in the series. Linn and Johnson discuss The ABCs of Book Banning and how limiting children’s access to literature not only stifles creativity and robs them of knowledge, but threatens the country’s future.
“We have to do a better job of not fighting these issues in silos,” explains Johnson. “Roe v. Wade, LGBTQ rights, book banning — they’re all tied together. They’re all a part of a system to make us assimilate into white supremacy that they feel like they’re losing.”
Listen to Velshi, Johnson, and Linn talk about The ABCs of Book Banning
Watch Velshi interview Johnson and Linn on The ABCs of Book Banning
Velshi on banned books on MSNBC:
MORE ON BANNED BOOKS FROM THE CITIZEN
left to right: author and journalist George M. Johnson, Ali Velshi, and activist Grace Linn