ICYMI: “I’m with the Banned” Highlights and Another Chance to Stand Up for Your Freedom to Read

"I'm with the Banned"

High Meadows Branch Library hosted a special musical event on Saturday to celebrate the freedom to read and to raise awareness of the ongoing threats to that constitutionally protected right. The event, punnily dubbed "I'm with the Banned," was presented by longtime Harris County Public Library partners Apollo Chamber Players and Dacamera of Houston and featured performances by Apollo, Dacamera Young Artist Isaac Foreman, and the Graeme Francis Trio, as well as special guests from the local activist group Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT). 

Apollo Chamber Players performed a musical commentary on the “reasoning” behind book censorship and control, with nods to notable books that have been banned including Catcher in the Rye, Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Huckleberry Finn. Apollo was joined onstage by guest vocalist Kenneth Gayle.

Dacamera Young Artist Isaac Foreman performed on keyboard, accompanied by violinist Yu-Ming Ma, lesser-known selections by Jewish Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco, whose music was banned by Mussolini’s antisemitic laws. The music was interwoven with images and video clips taken from Foreman's interview with Diana Castelnuovo Tedesco (the composer's granddaughter and biographer). The program told the story of the composer's artistic persecution in Italy, subsequent immigration to the US, and continued struggles as an artist separated from his homeland.

The Graeme Francis Trio presented "Pop Gets Jazzed," a multimedia experience featuring interactive discussions and exciting live performances of popular music drawn from the early 1900’s to the present day. Musical selections reflected popular music’s gradual shifts from jazz to rock and roll, synth-pop, R&B, and hip-hop.

The Fight Continues

Banned Books Week 2024 is over, but the struggle against censorship, unfortunately, is necessarily a year-round pursuit. The group Unite Against Book Bans has made October 19, 2024 The Freedom to Read Community Day of Action. Libraries, bookstores, readers, and allies nationwide are hosting rallies and community events to unite against book bans and demonstrate our shared commitment to this fundamental freedom. HCPL's Barbara Bush Branch Library will host a Banned Books Read-In 

Freedom to Read Day of Action
Banned Books Read-In

Barbara Bush Branch Library | Directions
Saturday, October 19, 2024, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m

• If you value your freedom to read.
• If you believe authors of color should not be silenced.
• If you believe LGBTQ+ authors should not be silenced
• If you believe intellectual freedom is the cornerstone of America's past and future success.
• If you are a true Texas who thinks and speaks for yourself and won't allow others to take that right from you.
• If you believe the U.S. Constitution should remain the supreme law of the land.

Come stand with Harris County Public Library and Texans like yourself.

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