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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 6h

Of course, M4L don't care about this distinction. They're trying to turn an issue that's polling terribly for them into white grievance politics. Still, the more we can talk about book bans as an *electoral* issue the better because we can organize people to vote out book banning politicians.

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 6h

I use these slides too often, specifically with the TKAM example:

Image that reads:

Book Ban: Political body (ex. State legislature, school board) removes books, makes it illegal to carry certain titles.

Curriculum Change: An educator(s) (ex. teacher, professor, dept.) update or change one or more books for another book.

Slide that reads:

"A district or state banning (removing) To Kill a Mockingbird because it discusses racism is different than a district changing out To Kill a
Mockingbird with another book (ex. YAL) to discuss contemporary racism.

In the former example, the book is no longer in the school. In the latter example, the book is still in the school (ex. bookshelf, library) but not the focal point of a curricular unit of study."

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 6h

Worth saying that a curriculum change is *not* a book ban. A teacher may replace/update TKAM in their curriculum. Students can still access TKAM at their school library or in a classroom library. M4L want to remove books from classrooms, libraries, & other public spaces. Intent & access matter here!

Kombiz Lavasany @kombiz.bsky.social · 6h

Mom's 4 Liberty finally realizes they are on the losing end of a 75-25 issue seeing @rweingarten.bsky.social celebrating banned books and just decide to go with, no, no, the liberals are the book banners.

moms 4 liberty tweet attacking "the left" for being the real book banners because Randi Weingarten is celebrating banned book week.

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 2d

Some of the most beautiful eight words! 🤓

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Reposted by Cody Miller

Jennifer Sano-Franchini @jsanofranchini.bsky.social · 17d

Announcing a three-part CCCC Reading Circle Series:

Oct 16—Discussion of Empire of AI by @karenhao.bsky.social!

Dec 10—Discussion of Enduring Digital Damage by
@dustinedwards.bsky.social!

Jan 12—Teaching Session on bringing these ideas to the writing classroom!

cccc.ncte.org/cccc/cccc-fa...

CCCC Fall 2025 AI Reading Circle - Conference on College Composition and Communication

Labor, Land, Water, and Writing: The Costs of Generative AI in the Writing Classroom These events are free for CCCC members. Not yet a member? Join today! Join CCCC for a critical, nuanced, and though...

cccc.ncte.org

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Chanea Bond @heymrsbond.com · 8d

Reasons to Teach High School English when the World is on Fire

Black girls in advanced academics who write literary analyses about “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Queer kids who call the English Department The Fruit Factory. Allowables and Legacies by Nikki Giovanni.

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 8d

The Fruit Factory! 🤭

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 9d

You are amazing and our field is SO incredibly lucky to have you in it! 🥰

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The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 10d

In our new issue, @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social investigates the right-wing push toward “classical education,” a departure from the longstanding bipartisan agreement that school should first and foremost prepare students for the daily grind.

Uniform Policy | Jennifer C. Berkshire

Democrats must come up with a defense of public schools that goes beyond bloodless workforce preparation

thebaffler.com

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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 9d

This is an excellent piece from @georgianndavis.bsky.social on the wave of anti-scientific censorship sweeping the country and what it means to teach honestly in the moment.

Contributor: I'm an intersex professor. Am I supposed to lie by teaching 'only male and female'?

A campaign against teachers who acknowledge realities of human biology forces a choice: Teach truth and risk your job, or lie and maybe keep it.

www.latimes.com

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 9d

A huge shoutout to one of the best to ever do it, @heymrsbond.com! My class read both of her pieces on AI in the classroom this week. Her words brought so much hope and tangible ideas to my students (and me) about teaching in this present moment. 📚🤓

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sr_toliver @srtoliver.bsky.social · 10d

🚨My new op-ed in @chicagotribune.com: What we can do when the government fails our constitutional responsibility to maintain an informed citizenry.

Full piece: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/01/o...

#CivicEducation #Democracy #Resistance #Education #CriticalThinking

Stephanie R. Toliver: What can we do as the Trump administration sanitizes civic education?

Democratic citizenship requires intellectual courage: the willingness to encounter perspectives that challenge our assumptions.

www.chicagotribune.com

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PEN America @penamerica.bsky.social · 10d

🧵 In 2025, book censorship in the United States is rampant and common. Never before in the life of any living American have so many books been systematically removed from school libraries across the country.

Read our new report "The Normalization of Book Banning" at: pen.org/report/the-n...

Graphic for PEN America report titled 'Banned in the USA: The Normalization of Book Bans'. Features a stack of colorful books in front of a blackboard with '22,810 books banned in U.S. public schools, 2021-2025' written in chalk.

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 11d

Meanwhile, Des Moines students stage a walkout to protest their superintendent's detention www.desmoinesregister.com/picture-gall...

A crowd of teenage students walk on a brick path beneath trees. Some hold signs—one says "ICE MELTS UNDER RESISTANCE."

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NPR @npr.org · 11d

Tuesday is Orange Shirt Day, when communities honor the survivors of U.S. Indian boarding schools and their descendants.

'We survived, we are resilient': Remembering U.S. Indian boarding schools

Tuesday is Orange Shirt Day, when communities honor the survivors of U.S. Indian boarding schools and their descendants.

n.pr

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Reconnect Rochester @reconnectroc.bsky.social · 11d

“It only gets better if we make it better.” As part of #WeekWithoutDriving it was great to chat with Simeon Banister, President & CEO of Rochester Area Community Foundation, about public transportation in Rochester!

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Mychal Threets @mychal3ts.bsky.social · 12d

🎶 Take a look, it's in a book 🎶

🥹 After nearly 20 years... Reading Rainbow is returning to motivate, help, and encourage kids to become avid readers with new episodes, new friends, new projects, and of course... new books! Make sure to follow the rainbow 📚🌈

#FollowTheRainbow

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 12d

I also want to highlight that Dr. Thrasher's 2022 book is fantastic and you should read it if you haven't already!

us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

The Viral Underclass

**LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 PEN/JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH AWARD FOR NONFICTION****LONGLISTED FOR THE 2023 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDALS FOR EXCELLENCE****WINNER OF THE 2...

us.macmillan.com

Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 12d

From Nov 2023:

"The rejection of measures aimed at transgender students was starkly evident in the defeat of school board candidates endorsed by Moms For Liberty and those who advocated for policies against transgender students."

www.erininthemorning.com/p/moms-for-l...

Moms For Liberty And Anti-Trans Republicans Suffer Massive Election Defeat Nationwide

News from hotly contested school districts and state election results poured in with one unifying theme: candidates opposing transgender rights and running on a Moms For Liberty platform lost big.

www.erininthemorning.com

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 12d

From May 2025:

"... a clear setback for the Republican-aligned movement to shape how grade school curriculums and library books confront issues of race, sex and gender."

www.texastribune.org/2025/05/05/t...

School board races across Texas deal losses for many conservatives

Issues about control of book purchases and how curriculums teach race and gender have led to change on many boards, including Keller, Katy and Mansfield ISDs.

www.texastribune.org

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 12d

From April 2023:

"Amid all the attention on this month’s elections in Wisconsin and Illinois, one outcome with major implications for 2024 flew under the national radar: School board candidates who ran culture-war campaigns flamed out."

www.politico.com/news/2023/04...

Why GOP culture warriors lost big in school board races this month

“Don’t assume that a blanket message on critical race theory or transgender issues is going to claim every district,” one GOP activist said.

www.politico.com

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 12d

From Nov 2023:

"GOP candidates in Virginia, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kansas suffered major losses Tuesday night in several local elections where voters rejected anti-trans policies by voting against Republicans in school board races."

www.newsweek.com/republicans-...

Republicans suffer crushing defeat in transgender battle

Conservative candidates running for local school board elections across five states lost in Tuesday's elections.

www.newsweek.com

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Cody Miller @hcodymiller.bsky.social · 12d

Yes, and lots and lots of school board races in the past three years have seen anti-trans candidate lose because their opponents stood up for trans kids' rights!

Steven W. Thrasher is finishing The Overseer Class @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 12d

Also note: the HEIGHT of Democratic popularity nationally was when the Dems, honorably, held an anti-trans law at bay.

Also keep in mind the most popular Dem pols in the country are Mamdani, AOC & Sanders, who are all unashamedly pro-trans.

Being pro-trans & anti-bully is a winning strategy!

Candice Huber (they/them) @candice.tubbyandcoos.com · 12d

Take note: if the Democrats sell out trans folks for this, our means they are willing to do the same to any oppressed group. The right move here is "we are going to protect vulnerable groups, so if he wants to shut down the government, let him." Dems cannot capitulate to him.

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Preeti Chhibber @runwithskizzers.bsky.social · 12d

Banned Books Week starts on Sunday, October 5—there are a ton of ways to support!

Find ways to get involved here: www.ala.org/bbooks/banne...

(If you're overwhelmed, even just checking out, buying, or elevating a banned book is helpful! Talking about them w/ the ppl in your life is an action!)

A graphic that reads BANNED BOOKS WEEK, Oct 5 - 11, 2025.

Censorship is so 1984. Read for your rights. ala.org/bbooks

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John Downes-Angus @johndownesangus.bsky.social · 15d

We should be doing everything we can to make reading into something that kids think can change their lives—make them more interesting, more stuffed with meaning, more worth thinking about deeply

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