yes, honey, the tony morrison.ut the bluest eye it was that it deals with race. the jokes right themselves. here is the twist. those thousand plus book challenges, they didn't come from 1000 plus people. the majority of the 1000-plus book challenges analyzed by the washington post were filed by just 11 people. 11 people who thought your children couldn't handle a book about race or gender identity or sexual orientation. whatever it is, the right-wing is not about this week. so, the next time you see one of those book banned types on the news screaming and shouting about how they are part of a silent majority i hope you remember that not only are they far from silence, they are far from a majority. the people who try to ban books like to define themselves as protectors of our children. really, they are using our children to shield their bigotry and further their agenda. some people don't like it. race is a key part of america's story and gay trans and by engender nanda conforming people exist. they aren't going anyw

last year, we the toni morrison award for institution that has done the same.and this year there are two new honors the greg berrios book and translation prize and nbcc service award for individual whose work has transformed our organization. welcome to inaugural nbcc service award winner barbara hoffert. welcome to the finalist for the great berio's book in translation prize. welcome to sandra. winner joy harjo. welcome leonard finalists. welcome to morris and winner city lights. welcome to billiken. winner jennifer wilson jennifer wilson. and welcome to the finalists and poetry criticism autobiography, biography, nonfiction and fiction. one second at this time, i'd like to invite all of this year's finalists and winners to stand. you all knew what to do. thank you. thank you to those of you in attendance tonight, we are so happy you could make the journey and to of you who wanted to be with us but could not. you are missed. thank you. to those who participate in our virtual finalists reading which premiered last night on youtube, where it remains for your vie

take, for instance, the literary achievement of toni morrison. no one has stretched the american imagination like she has, and no one has produced and is so complicated, so brilliant that countless scholars devote their entire to studying her work. but very few scholars praise. howard university as the incubator, her intelligence. if it were a white school, it would get all the glory people mention howard in her biography. but don't wonder of the nature of her professors who must have known and taught literature, literary analysis, even than her. it's as if she went to howard, but gained no intellectual transformation. there, as if she arrived as brilliant as ever would be. this is not true. she couldn't have achieved such a literary had she not been trained by the likes of sterling brown. charlotte wilkins, owen dodson. however, no one is looking for these figures in history because few understand or even believe that they were greater intellectually than the student they produced. i understand this phenomenon firsthand. people ask me incessantl

take for instance the immeasurable literary achievement of toni morrison. no one scratched the american imagination like she has been no one has moved so brilliantly to countless scholars to move to studying for work but very few scholars praised howard university at the incubator of intelligence. if it were a white school it would get all the glory. people mentioned her biography but they don't under the nature of her professors who must have known and taught literature and literary analysis even better than her. as if she went to our to gain no intellectual transformation there, as if she arrived as brilliance as she ever would be. she couldn't have achieved such literary heights and she not been trained by the lights like some sterling brown, all in dotson o, however no one is looking for these figures because you understand or believe that they were greater in intellectually the students they produced. i understand this phenomenon firsthand. people ask me where i got my phd yet without doubt my undergrad years at the college were just as difficult, just

toni morrison came to random house while i was there and we became fast friends after she asked. i was a secretary at random house when i first came and she asked me to and some others to help her type a a manuscript that she was preparing. and what we didn't know at the time that we were typing the bluest eye. but that that was my world left random for howard university press, where i met others and where i met a lot of historians. charles harris, who started howard university, was a visionary, was one the first black editors in publishing and was a visionary about publishing history. and so i first met john hope franklin there. i met many others on his reading, all that that generation. ralph, that generation of of of scholars. and after howard working at a news magazine called encore magazine on american world wide news, the first black news magazine where went to put up and this and this inquiry was inquiry was always there what is this thing. went to paris for encore magazine i was the paris bureau chief which meant the paris bureau was me and whatever stringers i could find

schools are allowed to bend classics like the blue star from black or white or tony morrison. for example, i'm sure many of our viewers are familiar with this mosque. peas and why is advanced, because it deals with racism of textbooks above the holocaust of the black lives matters, movement are rejected as they are seen as disturbing. and to know would probably voice media, most thoughtful, coming back from our re tool reporting trip is really the fear of teachers losing their job. and therefore they are not using material which could be controversial and clean out the bookshelves and the school libraries. and that means that not only important parts of the us history won't be taught, but also the kids liked them. see when we just got to know a little bit who do not have the support as she has on fine folks and material in school, which could have them on their challenging journey. and maybe i can share this with all of you as nicole. there is a longer version of my interview with them. she and her parents, jamie and dennis on our dw, uh youtube channel, and make sure to check

the bluest are by toni morrison and the hand bates. tale by margaret atwood, who made a video with an unbearable metal alloy. a copy of her book. when we have an effort to pick and choose what can be taught in schools, what can be accessed by students? what kinds of identities we're trying to learn about that is in our front too democracy. utah recently passed a bill allowing parents to challenge books. they weren't kept out of school libraries, it's basically a roddic, a sexual context. so it's, it's pictures of people having sex. it's the graphic description or written words of people having sex. you would not be able to distribute pornographic material on the streets to a minor. you would be arrested, but right now some of that content is in school libraries, davis, cody, utah, is school system, remove more than 30 volumes of their parent challenges. but then things got complicated, and anonymous parent filed a formal complaint against a certain book. they said with a truck full of sex and violence, and that book was the bible. the school district removed age bibles from elementary

the bluest eye, by tony morrison.terary works, and that's where i really say we have to draw the line. hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on this, time, hours and hours. instead of working on kids learning to read. kids that need to make up losses during covid, there are so many things we need to do, and what is happening is that teachers are leaving, librarians are quitting, and that's the tragedy. it's part of what i see as an overall attempt to destroy public education, voucher bills, homeschooling, many schools, school choice. this is one aspect. and it's very dangerous. these are the most important freedoms, the freedom to read, the freedom to speak, academic freedom, and i'm very concerned about it. and i think there will be lawsuits to follow, i'm pretty sure but these are unconstitutional laws. >> i do share your concern. this is about the deliberate destruction of public education, it's about just more than just about books. thank you so much for time tonight, i appreciate it. >> thank you for h

testify was informed by their individual and collective sense of, self love, self-respect and what toni morrison called regard. targeted people's testimonies provide, a counter-narrative to the we've been told about reconstruction. suppose that failure speaking with one voice, they said white southerners were waging war on reconstruction by attacking the people who are making the most of freedom and naming their attackers, detailing their injuries, saying the names of their slain crying out for justice and doing what they could to keep the record of what happened to them alive. survivors said black people's lives, freedoms and mattered. reporting and testifying about the war on freedom or. survivors best defense against erasure. these testimonies did help to drive the federal. that eventually drove the klan underground, but not before they seriously undercut freedom and black people's participation in american. after confederate overthrew reconstruction and boarded the temple of liberty, they crafted i call the big lie of the 19th century that the experience in american democracy had failed they

spending, you know, as as writers, i guess, you know, part of this is connected to my experience with toni morrison who was my professor when i was a student and i i remember her playing in the dark. she talks not only about the literary imagination, but she talks about the creative process. the literary imagination is a context where you as a writer are making certain intellectual and artistic decisions in order to generate a narrative, a story for people to understand, but creative process is something that's not so easily documented that the process that you use to the literature. so what times of the day do you wake up when you go to bed? when do you write? you know, letters of correspondence, you know, the various editions of a work over time. and so knowing the the decisions that you can make across these various revision as that aspect of a life, the creative process can be manifest, especially in the biographical details that you could gather in the archive. and i was beneficial to have access to the ohio historical society's compilation of dunbar's letters of correspondence not only his ow

the bluest are by toni morrison and the hand bates. tale by margaret atwood, who made a video with an unbearable metal alloy a copy of her book. when we have an effort to pick and choose what can be taught in schools, what can be accessed by students? what kinds of identities we're trying to learn about that is in our front too democracy. utah recently passed a bill allowing parents to challenge books. they weren't kept out of school libraries, it's basically a roddic sexual context. so it's, it's pictures of people having sex. it's the graphic description or written words of people having sex. you would not be able to distribute pornographic material on the streets to a minor. you would be arrested, but right now some of that content is in school libraries, davis, cody, utah, is school system, remove more than 30 volumes of their parent challenges. but then things got complicated. and anonymous parent filed a formal complaint against a certain book. they said was truck full of sex and violence, and that book was the bible. the school district removed age bible's from elementary and j

the bluest are by toni morrison and the hand bates. tale by margaret atwood, who made a video with an and burnable metal alloy a copy of her book. when we have an effort to pick and choose what can be taught in schools, what can be accessed by students? what kinds of identities we're trying to learn about that is in our front too democracy. utah recently passed a bill allowing parents to challenge books. they weren't kept out of school libraries, it's basically a roddic, a sexual context. so it's, it's pictures of people having sex. it's the graphic description or written words of people having sex. you would not be able to distribute pornographic material on the streets to a minor. you would be arrested, but right now some of that content is in school libraries, davis, cody, utah, is school system, remove more than 30 volumes of their parent challenges. but then things got complicated, and anonymous parent filed a formal complaint against a certain book. they said with a truck full of sex and violence, and that book was the bible. the school district removed age bibles from elementar

tony morrison was a master craftsman in this regard. >> if i had to say what the thesis of martin's on think and act, but you are able to control you. when it comes down to it, the only question that matters is this, if nothing in the world ever changes, what type of person are you going to be? >> the 16 19 project is unconsciously patriotic because what it argues, despite what critics say, is that black people have believed in this country despite everything that this country is done to black people. they have loved it and they have fought to make it a country of our highest ideals. >> next weekend, we are honoring juneteenth with more literature that explores the black experience. keep your eyes on twitter for next author. that does it for me, thank you for watching, catching back here tomorrow morning at 10 am to noon eastern. don't forget velshi is available as a podcast, subscribe to listen for free wherever you or your podcast will be. i was where that vest when i podcast. stay right where your, alex witt reports begins right after a quick break. witt reports begins right afte a

but i think of books like carrie by king the bluest eye, by toni morrison, the kite runner by collettehosseini. they're all works of first fiction, all iconic books in their own rights, and yet they're made more impressive by the bodies of that have followed. so tonight, getting to acknowledge and honor these authors and their stories feels like a celebration of the great that has been done, as well as an invitation for more to come. a call to continue with the writing revision and commentary that made these books sing. this award is the only one of tonight's honors that nods to the past, present and future of these authors and to literature as a whole. and so ultimately what i'm saying is, to all the nominees. your work is fantastic and i cannot wait to read whatever it. is that you do next and the finalists for the 2022 arts and bomb award first fiction are the return of faraz ali by amina ahmad. this is the gripping story of a policeman sent back to his home in the red light district of lahore to cover up a murder. this novel told, from multiple perspectives, is propulsive, thrillin