Giving Voice to the
Banned and Challenged Books
A voice for the stories being silenced
The New York Times reported on April 12th, 2025 that the U.S. Naval Academy library banned books over 400 books from its library.
Gone is Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” along with over 400 other books.
This escalation of purging books upsets me more than I can articulate. As a student, because of my learning challenges, I had no opportunity to read books to learn from the stories of people, their perspectives that were similar or different from me of other perspective. As a speech artist, there is not a better story to illustrate the power of speech than Maya Angelou’s. I am going to combat this, I am going to make a difference. Join me to give a voice to these stories.
Why this is important to me
I’m dedicated to helping people free their voice, honor their potential and to make a difference. Banned and Challenged books is not a new phenomenon, but it is getting worse. Therefore, when I heard this latest news, it was enough of a shock to propel me into taking action.
As an educator, I know how vital it is that students are exposed to all stories—from every voice and every background—so they can grow into thoughtful, compassionate, curious human beings.
What I’m doing
In response, I’ve decided to give voice to the stories being silenced.
I, and friends in The Art of Speech Collective, will be recording readings of these powerful works and sharing them on my YouTube channel. This is my way of resisting the erasure—by speaking these stories out loud, with reverence, with clarity, with purpose.
Let’s make sure these voices are not lost.
“Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with the shades of deeper meaning.”
— Maya Angelou
Oprahdaily.com by Elena Nicolaou July, 2021
"Banned books refers to works that have been removed from the shelf of a library or a school, thus restricting students' access, per the ALA. A challenged book is one that members of a school district—including parents, students, board members, teachers, librarians, or board members—think should be removed from a curriculum or library, but has not been. According to the ALA, parents challenge books more than any other.”
ala.org 2024 Book Ban Data
During National Library Week 2025 (April 6-12), the American Library Association released data documenting attempts to censor books and materials in public, school, and academic libraries during 2024. The data shows that the majority of book censorship attempts are now originating from organized movements. Pressure groups and government entities that include elected officials, board members, and administrators initiated 72% of demands to censor books in schools and public libraries.
Hear the Voices. Keep the Stories Alive.
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Let’s stand together for storytelling, truth, and the freedom to hear every voice.
Banned books
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In 2025, several elementary school books have been banned or challenged, often due to concerns about themes of sexuality, gender identity, or race. Some examples include The Hill We Climb, Our Skin, The Family Book, The Giving Tree, and The 1619 Project: Born on the Water. [1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3]
The Hill We Climb: An inaugural poem for the country. [1, 1]
Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race: A book about race. [1, 1]
The Family Book: A book about different types of families. [1, 1, 4]
The Giving Tree: A book about a tree and its relationship with a boy. [1, 1, 5, 5]
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water: A book about the history of slavery and its impact on the present. [1, 1]
And Tango Makes Three: A book about a pair of male penguins who raise a baby penguin. [3, 3, 7, 7, 8]
Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story About Racial Injustice: A book about a child's experience with racial injustice. [3, 3]
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Presents: A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo: A book about a transgender pig. [1, 3, 3, 10]
Charlotte's Web: Banned in a few schools due to the portrayal of animal speech. [11, 11]
Junie B. Jones: Challenged for poor social values and a perceived negative role model. [12, 12]
Winnie the Pooh: Challenged by religious groups and banned in some schools in the UK for reasons related to talking animals and pork. [13, 13]
The Wizard of Oz: Banned in the past for depicting women in strong leadership roles. [14, 14]
The Handmaid's Tale: Banned in some schools due to concerns about sexual content. [15, 15]
The Bluest Eye: Challenged for depicting child sexual abuse, sexually explicit material, and racism. [16, 16]
Looking for Alaska: Challenged for profanity and sexually explicit scenes. [17, 17]
The Harry Potter Series: Challenged for witchcraft and dark themes. [18, 18]
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For more, look at this website:
https://www.thereadingbug.com/bannedbook
and this one:
https://tinybeans.com/kids-books-and-childrens-books-that-are-banned-books/
Know a banned book? Share it with us.
We’re building a living library of the voices they’re trying to silence—and we’d love your help. If you know of a banned or challenged book that deserves to be heard, please share it with us using the form below. Add the title, the author, and a note if you'd like. Together, we’ll speak these stories back into the world—one voice at a time.
“The caged bird sings with a fearful trill, of things unknown, but longed for still, and his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings of freedom.”
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Lend Your Voice. Lift Their Stories.
Lend Your Voice. Lift Their Stories.
Lend Your Voice. Lift Their Stories.
This is more than a project—it’s a movement of hearts and voices. If you feel called to be part of this growing collective, whether by reading, sharing, or simply standing with us, sign-up below.
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