Dear friends,
Love takes many forms, and I just want to mention a few recent manifestations today, by way of good news.
It is amazing how folks manage to meet some of the most difficult moments with open-hearted goodness. The Brooklyn Public Library, one of my favorite institutions, responded to the Texas ban on hundreds of books by offering digital subscriptions to the library’s huge collection of e-books and audiobooks.
Derecka Purnell, author of Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom, writes that the backlash against books and knowledge is an affront against “love, liberty, and justice”:
[T]oday’s book banning efforts belong to a broader political backlash to the current Black liberation movement. The ideas and demands that Black people, and all people, deserve freedom from police violence, deserve quality housing, deserve universal healthcare, deserve a world that has different problems from what Dr King identified as the triple evils of racism, capitalism and militarism. Prison officials, politicians and rightwing pundits target knowledge found in critical race theory because they know that theory leads to action for people who care about love, liberty and justice.
In defense of love, liberty, and justice, BPL launched Books Unbanned last April.
“We thought we were getting 100, 200 emails from people wanting to get a digital subscription card," says Leigh Hurwitz, outreach programs manager at the Brooklyn Public Library and a member of the team leading the Books Unbanned project.
“We also thought that the project would have a limited duration. We seriously misjudged the needs. There is no end in sight now.”
In fact, almost 6,000 young people, ages 13-21, have acquired free digital subscriptions. Brooklyn is extending its long arms to embrace these young people, the majority of whom are LGBTQ+, and remind them that they are welcome, visible, and important.
Support the work of Brooklyn Public Library, which practices love without boundaries.
Tell the Governor why you love the library and ask her to restore funding to public libraries. Feel free to borrow (for free) my reasons!
Love also entails truth-telling. Emily Sanders wrote yesterday that Exxon has finally retreated from touting their research into an algae-based biofuel. She points out that this
confirms what many of us already knew: that it was nothing more than a well-funded, long-form greenwashing attempt to get us off their backs.
I am not suggesting that Exxon retreated out of love for the planet or its people. Sanders ends by quoting a source who notes that for Exxon,
“Wrecking the planet is their business model.”
We need a better model. Telling the truth and addressing the very real challenges we face are manifestations of love.
NY Renews invites us to show our love for climate justice by telling legislators to reject the lies from the fossil fuel industry.
Australia’s Minister of the Environment blocked a new (?!?) coal mine project because of threats it would pose to the Great Barrier Reef. The minister was persuaded by the many thousands of public comments she received in opposition to the project.
Also in response to public comments, the College Board apologized for their failure to promptly denounce the allegation that their own Advanced Placement African American Studies course “lacks educational value.”
Their statement also clarified the interactions between the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) and the College Board:
We have made the mistake of treating FDOE with the courtesy we always accord to an education agency, but they have instead exploited this courtesy for their political agenda. After each written or verbal exchange with them, as a matter of professional protocol, we politely thanked them for their feedback and contributions, although they had given none.
[Florida has] claimed credit for the specific changes we made to the official framework. In their February 7, 2023, letter to us, which they leaked to the media within hours of sending, Florida expresses gratitude for the removal of 19 topics, none of which they ever asked us to remove, and most of which remain in the official framework.
I had been critical of the College Board for what appeared to be an erasure of marginalized members of American society because they don’t fit into a narrow conception of people deserving of rights and a place in history.
In fact, the College Board is seeking to obtain permission
to include works on our AP Classroom digital platform by every author mentioned in any iteration of the [African American Studies course], bringing these readings to students worldwide by enabling AP teachers to assign them with one click.
Telling all of our stories is the best way to love one another. StoryCorps is collecting stories that answer the question:
When have you listened to someone, or been listened to, and felt it was an act of love?
Tell a love story about listening or being heard!
with love,
L