Do Not Click on ‘Repeat’

The theologian Kierkegaard once said, “History can only be understood backwards!” I often wonder how people will write about this time in history. As for me and my children, we read these books and talked about them. The opportunity to encourage understanding and empathy was always found in these conversations. We did not speak of them from a lens of shame and guilt, but as opportunities to teach empathy, compassion, and cultural humility. We continue the teaching from home to help our children understand history, especially the concept that if misunderstood, history will repeat itself again. And this appears to be happening right now, in small and large towns all over the country!

We are living in an unprecedented time of social change that might be moving a bit too fast for some people. However, the suppression of these books is a lesson from history that some people seem to have forgotten. What brings more attention to an abuse of power than attempts to sequester stories, books, rights and other liberties? These attempts, however successful they are in the short term, ultimately bring more attention and resistance for the long term. More people are going to desire to read banned books, possibly even re-read, and purchase these books. It will make a comeback so strong that these attempts ultimately backfire. However, our elected officials in government and on school boards need to hear from us now! School board meetings need our attendance. Our governed officials need to hear from us. Some need to know many of their constituents are not in favor of suppressing certain narratives and stories. Now!

I love books, reading, and these stories. There is no threat for me in my expansion of knowledge and history, even in the discomfort of learning how European Americans caused so much suffering. This is the price we pay for advancing as a society and part of the ongoing process of evolution. However, for some people, sharing power is a very real threat. The illusion of maintaining control by suppressing the exposure of narratives by oppressed and marginalized people is just that…an illusion. People will go to great lengths, such as banning books in schools, to avoid the exposure of abuse by those in positions of power. Pay attention to these people and what is going on in our schools where certain books that tell stories from a different point of view are being banned and removed. If we don’t stand up and speak out against this, we obviously have not learned from history, and it is definitely repeating again!

I have accepted that what I speak of and stand for may not be popular in my community. However, I know my heart and my intentions, so this does not phase me anymore as it once did. I have come to anticipate it and plan accordingly. Over my 30+ years of providing professional counseling, I have witnessed the transformative healing that comes when we speak truth to power.

There is a Universal Law that claims ‘the truth always catches up to the lie!’ I believe the truth will set us free, but not without some upset along the way. This upset does not need to be in the form of guilt for our ‘white’ children whose ancestors aggressed against certain groups of people, as many have proposed. We are freed by the truth, historical understanding, and stories told from multiple perspectives. We gain insight into the full pictures that allows a more accurate portrayal of history. Restorative justice is a natural by-product of naming abuse, speaking our unique stories, and working towards shared power for all children. The strong desire to suppress stories and ban books is the loss of power that truth brings. It’s time to share that power! What we run from eventually catches up to us and the time has arrived!

This collection will make an incredible gift if you have an avid reader who may be denied the opportunity to read any one of them. Let them read, let them learn, let them peer out at life through another person’s eyes, to feel their feelings, to experience their emotions, to understand another’s perspective, to hear all stories, for this is what empathy-building is all about! Happy reading everyone!

~ A Wrinkle In Time ~ The House on Mango Street ~ The Color Purple ~ And Tango Makes Three ~ The Catcher In the Rye ~ ~ Of Mice and Men ~ The Bridge to Terabithia ~ Harry Potter ~ ~ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ~ The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ~ The Handmaid’s Tale ~ The Giver ~ ~The Bluest Eye ~ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn ~ Forever ~ ~ The Kite Runner ~ To Kill a Mockingbird ~ 13 Years a Slave ~