Help Shape Events This Fall
Which stories do you love? Which stories stand out in your memories? Which stories made you see new possibilities or see yourself or the world in a new way? Stories have power. They shape the landscape of what we can imagine. Our country is struggling right now over whose stories we tell and whose books we ban. It’s a struggle over whose lives matter.
Will we allow white supremacy and Christian nationalism to curate which stories we and our children can access? As people of faith and conscience, will we let those same forces dictate morality?
Let us say gay. Let us be critical about racism. Let us acknowledge that pregnant people and trans people have a right to make decisions about their own bodies and their own health. Let us declare that democracy requires the liberation of all marginalized people.
At UUCF, we launched a Teaching Truth Campaign in 2022 to challenge the Virginia governor’s ban on “divisive concepts” in Virginia schools. In the face of further book banning efforts across the nation, we want to broaden this work. We’d like to contribute to a counternarrative that speaks to our human potential to learn from each other’s stories. We’d also like a fun and celebratory festival for families. And we see this as an effort worth doing on a national stage.
UUCF is envisioning a project, Unstoppable Stories: A Banned Books Festival, and plans to collaborate in coalition with others. We’ve talked about a target date of Sep. 30-Oct. 1 (the start of national Banned Books Week) for a festival, along with additional actions to be planned before and after the festival. Please fill out this form or reach out to me if you’d like to get involved.
Thank you so much! I find this very exciting and look forward to the community we build together.
Leave a Reply