Here a ban, there a ban…

Everywhere a book ban? It’s been thirty years since the American Society of Journalists and Authors launched its Banned Books campaign in NYC, complete with a nifty “I Read Banned Books” button, a move motivated by concerns that “schools and libraries around the country were pulling books off the shelf because of objections to language contained in them.”

At the time, banned titles included “The Diary of Anne Frank” and “Huckleberry Finn” — plus works by John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger, Bernard Malamud, Kurt Vonnegut, Isaac Asimov and ASJA member Eve Merriam.

Folks opposed to book banning gathered on the steps of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue for a public read-out from banned works. Readers included Merriam, Asimov and then-teenager Sarah Jessica Parker. The April 1, 1982 event was organized by Evelyn Kaye of the ASJA.

Arizonans committed to assuring that students have access to books once used in ethnic studies classes within the Tucson Unified School District are gathering this week to stage a similar protest at the Arizona State Capitol and Wesley Bolin Plaza.

The read-in, organized by the Arizona Ethnic Studies Network, will feature dozens of readers including educators, students and concerned citizens. Also novelist and university lecturer Stella Pope Duarte, state Senator David Lujan and Phoenix-based playwright James E. Garcia.

The school district reports that no books have been banned, noting that books once used in ethnic studies classes have been moved to storage. And that they’re working to broaden the social studies curriculum to include more diverse content for all students.

Some consider removing particular books from classrooms a de facto form of book banning. Hence the read-in scheduled for Wed, Feb. 29, from 10am to 5:15pm — and a caravan heading our way from Houston next month with copies of books they’re eager to get into student hands.

This year’s Banned Books Week takes place Sept. 30-Oct. 6. Folks eager to read up on the topic beforehand can visit www.bannedbooksweek.org to explore a map charting censorship by state, enjoy a virtual read-out, find additional resources on book banning and locate related events.

The website also notes which titles are causing all the fuss these days — for those of you inclined to read a book simply because it feels verboten. The top ten list of challenged titles for 2010 includes both the “Twilight” (Stephenie Meyer) and “Hunger Games” (Suzanne Collins) series. Finally, a reason to read those babies.

First I plan to tackle the titles once used in Tucson’s former Mexican American Studies class — “Critical Race Theory” edited by by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, “500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures” edited by Elizabeth Martinez, “Message to AZTLAN” by Rodolfo Corky Gonzales, “Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement” by Arturo Rosales, “Occupied America: A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo Acuna, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by Paulo Freire and “Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years” by Bill Bigelow.

Unlike “Twilight” or “The Hunger Games,” I can’t just hold out for the movie version.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to explore a wealth of Banned Books Week information and resources compiled by the American Library Association.

Coming up: Once upon a goddess

A work in progress

Five panels of an Annette Sexton-Ruiz piece being used in a poster to promote a short-play festival featuring student and other works on the topic of immigration

Playwright James Garcia has worked for years with students at Carl Hayden Community High School on robotics and other projects.

Garcia says he learned “by coincidence” that some of the students had written a play titled “Should We Stay or Should We Go?” with teacher Trish Galindo Kiser — and that the work has themes similar to plays he’s assembling for an upcoming festival.

Garcia, who founded the New Carpa Theater Company in Phoenix, is organizing a “Performing 1070 Short-Play Festival” featuring works “centered on themes related to immigration.”

The festival will include 12 plays, chosen from 70 submissions, which vary in length from four to 12 minutes. The list of works being presented was finalized earlier this month — and you’ll have two opportunities to view them.

The “Performing 1070 Short-Play Festival” takes place Wed, March 30 at Arizona State University West (as part of an annual event examining “border justice” issues) and Thurs, March 31 on the lawn of the Arizona State Capitol.

Students from Carl Hayden High School will be working with Garcia and their teacher this week to consider which vignettes from their piece would best compliment the other plays. Chosen vignettes will be performed by students during the festival.

Works being presented by Arizona playwrights include “Freedom Trail” by Terry Tess Earp, “In Old Arizona” by Guillermo Reyes, and “Joe Arpaio Meets La Virgen de Guadalupe” by Stella Pope Duarte.

Playwrights from California, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, Pennsylvania and Idaho are also represented. Most, says Garcia, have “awards and/or professionally produced plays under their belts.”

Garcia notes that New Carpa is “especially honored” to present an excerpt from a new work by Josephina Lopez titled “Detained in the Desert.” Lopez authored the play “Real Women Have Curves” — and co-wrote the screenplay for the film version featuring actress America Ferrera.

“The purpose of this short-play festival,” shares Garcia, “is to highlight the effects of a series of state-based immigration-related legislation enacted or proposed in Arizona over the last decade.” 

Garcia describes the festival as “a non-partisan, grassroots, community-based theater project…on one of the most compelling human and civil rights issues of our time.”

Admission to the festival is free, but Garcia notes that “donations to the nonprofit New Carpa Theater Company will be accepted.” Click here for event details.

— Lynn

Note: The festival’s title refers to SB1070, an immigration-related piece of legislation signed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on April 23, 2010.

Coming up: East Valley high school students sound off about “Macbeth”