Alex Haley’s ROOTS Banned by Tennessee School District

Civilians, no matter how wealthy, should not bear the brunt of solving the literacy crisis, but this is certainly not the case with the current administration. And while we wait for them to leave, we find ourselves in even more trouble. We hope this pledge will bring more attention to this mounting issue.

Alex Haley’s ‘ROOTS’ banned by Tennessee school district

At the other end of the book’s news is other news from Tennessee. This time it involves the groundbreaking book Roots by Alex Haley. roots The film follows Kunta Kinte, who was kidnapped from Gambia as part of the transatlantic slave trade. The story follows six generations of Kinte’s descendants, all the way to Haley, who first learned about Kinte’s ancestors while living with her maternal grandparents in Tennessee. The book was so influential and culturally influential after it was published in 1976 that it inspired thousands of people to explore their heritage, and its characters became a permanent fixture in pop culture.

Now, Knox County Schools (KCS) has removed the book from its library as part of the state’s age-appropriate materials law, which was first passed in 2022. The law prohibits titles containing nudity, sexual abuse, sexual content, or excessive violence from being on school shelves. Interestingly, KCS’s book banning committee had previously voted not to ban the book after considering excerpts. However, the commission did not say what new information led to the current ban. Another interesting thing is that this book can still be taught in class. It cannot be placed on the library shelf. I feel like Tennessee has become a battleground for the civil rights movement in this country.

British Book Award winners announced

Last week, the British Book Awards (formerly known as the National Book Awards and now known as the Nibbies) announced their winners. This award aims to honor not only the author but also the team surrounding the book. Nibby judges consider literary merit, sales success, and publishing excellence when selecting nominees, and this year’s categories include everything from Best Overall to Freedom of the Press, the latter honoring those who fought for the right to read and freedom of expression. This year’s overall Book of the Year award went to Nobody’s Girl, the posthumously published memoir of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, a sex trafficking survivor and prominent accuser of Jeffrey Epstein.