Today, a project I’ve been collaborating on behind the scenes with @firestormcoop for the past couple months is ready to go public: Banned Books Back! And I get to unveil its adorable A-team mascot: our “Trash Fascism, Not Books” possum (lovingly created by my talented friend @des.tattooart).
What makes Banned Books Back such good news is that your friendly anarchist bookshop—Firestorm—gets to take 22,500 brand-new children’s books that were about to be “trashed” by a narrow-minded Florida school district and gift them back to kiddos, starting with young folks in Florida!
This isn’t simply poetic justice—though it’s that too. We see this act of solidarity as a form of resistance against fascism, which seeks to erase ideas as a precursor to erasing people.
It’s no coincidence that Florida, which leads the United States in book bans, decided to dump lots of LGBTQ titles and is equally at the forefront of violent attacks on queer, trans, and gender-nonconforming people. Or that these kids books—exploring topics ranging from racism and colonialism to radical history and visionary organizing—were banished from one of Florida’s most racially diverse counties.
As Banned Books Back unfolds, we’ll share other ways that our fight against fascism—as anarchistic folks—weaves its way into this whole project. For now, here’s an example. In each free package of 5-6 kids books we send out, we’ll include a sticker version of our playful possum printed by the good folks at @offcolordecals, which self-describes as “fuck fash, ACAB, love your comrades, … support direct action and mutual aid efforts,” and a copy of the fabulously cute and fiesty zine “I Am a Unicorn and I Like to Fight: A Kid’s Guide to Standing Up to Fascism and Bullies,” thanks to @eterniapress letting us borrow the PDF.
Alas, shipping free books is expensive! We need your generous help!
Donate to and share our fundraiser: https://givebutter.com/bannedbooksback (& read our fun FAQ there)!
Share our “book request” form with Florida kids and others: https://firestorm.coop/bannedbooks.html
#TrashFascismNotBooks
