On Reading
A Trip To My Local Indie Bookstore!
My husband celebrated his birthday yesterday and what did he want to do after lunch? Walk through our local independent bookstore. (Yessss!) I honestly couldn’t think of a better way to spend the day and even if I could’ve I wouldn’t want to.
We went to Mac’s Backs books in Cleveland Heights. Have you been there?
It’s conveniently located right across from our favorite Korean BBQ restaurant, One Pot. (Yum) The bookstore has three levels of books and yesterday was my first time ever going downstairs to the basement.
On Reading
I’ve always been an avid reader, it’s one of my favorite qualities about myself. It feels even more important now. We all need to be reading.
We are living in a time where people and organized groups are actively working to restrict our right to read. Books are being removed from shelves, classrooms, and libraries. They are also being BANNED or CHALLENGED.
Communities are being told which stories are acceptable, which histories are allowed to be taught, and which identities are appropriate for people to learn about and accept. These attacks are apart of a broader effort to limit access to information, control what people know, and shape how children and adults understand the world.
Also, misinformation is everywhere within our communities especially with the current POTUS and his administration. It spreads quickly, and can easily become the majority’s interpretation “true” story if we are not careful. This is why we have to read.
Reading gives us opportunities to connect with others and the world around us in more meaningful ways. It lets us slow down, sit with ideas, and engage with perspectives that are thoughtful and complex.
As Colin Kaepernick writes in his book Abolition for the People ( next on my reading list, see below!) “Learning through the written and spoken word has the power to compel us to action”. (Kaepernick, C., 2023).
Reading gives children and adults language for what they are seeing and feeling and also things that they have maybe never seen. It allows us to expand, grow and learn. It helps us find ways to take sustainable action and to reimagine or create new solutions. As bell hooks writes, “Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.” and I wholeheartedly agree.
And Fascism?
We’ve been hearing this word a lot lately. Fascism has always relied on limiting what people can read and learn. It grows in places where people are discouraged from asking questions or thinking critically. It grows when certain stories are erased. And of course where only one version of history or identity is allowed. Sound Familiar? (Also, I picked up this helpful graphic above at Macs Backs and incase anyone is wondering where Fascism is, its here. )
One of the ways that we have seen this recently is through censorship of the books around us and the attack on our freedom to read. When we block children and grown-ups from books that reflect diverse lives, histories, and communities, we help create the conditions that support that kind of control.
One way to fight fascism? A well read society! So yes, reading matters. It helps us recognize patterns, understand context, and notice when something is not right. It helps children see themselves and others clearly and teaches them that their questions deserve real answers. It helps us all to develop as critical thinkers and gives us power and tools to take action!
I hope you keep reading and not just social media posts. (Though those can be important and accesible ways to get quick information!) Take a look in a book no matter the form, or take a listen with an audiobook! Read for enjoyment. Read with intention. Read to learn more about the world around us!
If you are raising or teaching children, protect their access to books as well. Make sure they can read stories that reflect their lives, challenge them, and introduce them to people and places beyond what they already know. Make sure you are offering the same opportunities for the grown ups around you (and for yourself!)
There is a lot working against our right to read right now. That is exactly why we have to keep doing it.
Here are some of my recent reads:
Parenting for Liberation: A Guide for Raising Black Children by Trina Greene Browne
Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change by Angela Garbes
Raising Free People by Akilah S. Richards
Next Up:
Abolition for the People: The Movement for a Future Without Policing & Prisons by Colin Kaepernick
Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the front lines by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
Additional Resources to Browse:
So friend, what are you reading?