By DCist contributor Seth Rose
Despite its apparent commitment to the ideals of free speech, America has a sordid history of censorship, with literature as the most common target. The D.C. Public Library, in partnership with other libraries across the country, brings this often neglected history to light through its participation in the annual Banned Books Week.
The week of September 25 will be filled with film festivals, comedy nights, and readings for children, among other library-hosted events that highlight books and art that have been challenged, protested, and outright banned in America.
The theme for this year’s programs is “Diversity.” According to American Library Association statistics, around half the books challenged and banned were targeted specifically because they contained non-white themes and characters.
“The LA Times used to joke that it should be called ‘Toni Morrison Week,’” says D.C. Library spokesperson George Williams. (Indeed, one Virginia state senator called Beloved “profoundly filthy.”) “We take [Banned Books Week] as a celebration of the fact that D.C. has never really experienced any significant challenges of books, but we’re also looking to draw attention to some of those specific controversies around diversity.” This includes books like The Color Purple, Native Son and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, among others.
Last week the Martin Luther King Memorial Library hosted a preview of UNCENSORED, a party that will cap off Banned Books Week. A drink station offered a rum, sherry, and chartreuse concoction based on Roald Dahl’s The Witches (books for kids are often targeted). Local artist Adrienne Gaither set up displays of controversial books with their covers and spines obscured, mixing quotes from challenged books (including 1984, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and The Hunger Games) with archival photos obtained through the D.C. Library.
“I’m trying to juxtapose what we see on tv with what we read in these books,” says Gaither, “and to gauge how much has really changed. “
The final iteration of UNCENSORED takes place on September 30, and will feature more local artists, live music, and seven bartenders, each with their own interpretation of a drink based on a specific banned book. With renovations to the MLK Library starting in the first quarter of 2017, UNCENSORED is a final celebration for the space as it exists now, and the D.C. Library intends to make it the best yet.
Starting today, the library is organizing a social media campaign in which some of the “censored” books will be hidden across the city, and anyone who finds them can post them for a chance at free tickets to UNCENSORED. If you find a book with white text like “PROFANE AND SEXUALLY EXPLICIT” or “FILTHY TRASHY SEX NOVEL” (real terms levied against the books in question) printed on a plain black jacket, don’t throw it out! Post your find to Twitter under the hashtag #UNCENSOREDDC. Even if you don’t win the tickets, take the D.C. Library’s cue and read the words that some people have spent a lot of time and energy scrubbing out.
Tickets for UNCENSORED on September 30 can be purchased here. The event is 21+.
