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I never imagined what's
happening right now

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could ever happen.

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It didn't dawn on us that
we would come under attack.

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Do you like people?

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Have you a real love
of books and learning?

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You may well consider the
vocation of a librarian.

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We just never imagined

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we would be in the forefront.

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We're not supposed to
necessarily be seen and felt.

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We're stewards of the space,
stewards of the resources,

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we're the stewards for the people.

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Now I think we've moved into a vanguard.

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We have to be out in
front telling the story.

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It's about us.

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Texas
republicans are launching

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an investigation into what types of books

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school districts have, specifically ones

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that pertain to race and sexuality.

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In a letter to
the Texas Education Agency,

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lawmakers pointed to Texas districts

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that recently removed
books from classrooms

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after parent complaints.

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Republican
State Representative,

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Matt Krause of Fort Worth,

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sent this list of 850 books

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to a number of public school districts.

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There is no information on

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who helped Representative
Krause compile the list.

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We were right there in the
crosshairs of this rising call.

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So we felt like everything
that we did was being watched.

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It's not just 850 books
which we've all fixated on,

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he says, "And any other books."

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I’m just immediately angry,
because it's so obvious

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that he is targeting LGBTQ
titles, and authors of color,

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and books about race, and
books about sex education.

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He is asking districts to remove these

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and any other books that might embarrass

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or shame someone due to sex or race.

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What struck me was, one,
there was a list of 850 books.

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He wanted to know if
school districts had them,

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how much money had been spent on them.

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The list includes titles

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like a book on the history of the KKK

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and another about
desegregation in schools.

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There are also books
about gender identity,

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the LGBTQ+ community, and
the history of Roe v. Wade.

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I didn't even think, you know,

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most school districts
would entertain this.

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I remember looking
at it thinking,

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"They're singling us out again."

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A couple days later,
our governor doubled down

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and sent a letter to the Texas
Association of School Boards

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asking them to do something

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about pornography in our libraries.

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I'm calling for the immediate removal

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of this very graphic pornographic material

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from our libraries and our schools,

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and want to establish standards

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so that parents have the assurance

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that their children will
not be exposed to it.

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I remember
seeing Governor Abbott's letter,

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and my district was
mentioned specifically.

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That was the first moment that
I realized school librarians

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could be criminalized for selecting books

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and making them available on the shelf.

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All those books, Ulysses,

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I wonder what they say in all those books.

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Politicians are playing
a very dangerous game

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when they try to make school
libraries battlegrounds

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for their political war,

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because the only people
that that is going to hurt

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are our kids.

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This space, these resources
are supposed to be

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this magical entry point to the world,

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to stories, to ideas.

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There it is, see it?

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Something they're saying in there.

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Where, Lionel?

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There's an A.

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Yep, that's an A right there.

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I sure would like to know

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what they're saying in there, though.

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Every letter's different.

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Well, ladies
and gentlemen, here we are

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at Granbury High School.

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You know, it's always exciting,

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the first day of school,
kids are dressed up,

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parents are excited,
especially new moms and dads

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- Yeah.
- Taking that walk

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for the first time with
those five year olds

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into kindergarten, it's a great feeling.

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We were called into a meeting

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and told anything that
is "sexually explicit"

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that could meet the "penal code,"

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you are responsible for in your library.

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And I piped up, I said, "Just the Krause list?"

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and got the evil eye.

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We spent the rest of the afternoon

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in that meeting going through our catalogs

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and trying to figure out what we have

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and what we don't have.

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I was sitting in the library, reading,

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and these men came in with this big cart,

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and they went up to the librarians

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and they started saying,
"Where are the books?

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We need to get these things out of here."

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We were just told, "Get rid of 'em.

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Get rid of 'em, deal with it.

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00:09:06,420 --> 00:09:07,380
Get rid of 'em."

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Getting 'em off the shelves,
putting 'em on carts,

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putting 'em on whenever,
going through books

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and just chucking them.

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They had no room downtown, the
offices were full of books.

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The high school was full of books.

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When you have to go through
probably 10,000 books,

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what are you gonna do?

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To me as a librarian, that was trauma.

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I went to the campus of a librarian

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I particularly feared for,
and she took me into a closet.

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Was very careful to let me know,

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"What I'm about to show
you is behind three locks,

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so I feel like it's safe."

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The librarian unlocks each of those,

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when we get to the cabinets,
we open the cabinets,

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it's shelves and shelves of books.

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Harmless books.

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I've just started putting them
on the carts and said, "No."

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Every book that was on that
shelf felt like a student

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that we were saying,

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"We've gotta put you behind three locks.

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We've gotta hide you
back here in the dark."

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Mr. Reed Harris, you wrote a book.

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And at the time you wrote this book,

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did you feel that marriage

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should be cast out of our civilization

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as antiquated and stupid
religious phenomenon?

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You put an implication on it

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and you feature this
particular point out of a book,

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which, of course, is quite out of context,

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does not give a proper impression
of the book as a whole,

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the American public doesn't
get an honest impression

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of even that book.

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Well, then, let's continue
to read your old writing.

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If we would go back in history

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to McCarthyism, it felt
like that happened to them,

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it wouldn't happen to us,
it wouldn't happen now.

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And our hearts swell with pride

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because those who went before you worked

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to give to us today, standing here,

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this pride.

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Don't join the book burners,

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don't think you're going to conceal faults

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by concealing evidence
that they ever existed.

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Don't be afraid to go in your
library and read every book.

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We do have a code of ethics

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around intellectual freedom,

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around privacy, around representation

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and access to information,

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and a diversity of
perspectives and issues.

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Those are all part of our code.

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I couldn't remove a book

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because it has ideas we don't like.

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Can't we look at this from
a practical point of view?

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Take my word for it, it's not unreasonable

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to ask you to take out just this one book.

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If you can control the library,

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you can control the community.

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'Cause if you can control
the flow of information,

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if you can control the
ideas, you've got it.

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00:12:01,929 --> 00:12:03,556
You've got everything.

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00:12:03,973 --> 00:12:06,726
Of course you are coming
after school librarians first.

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Of course you are.

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who says she lost her job because of it.

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That was my office.

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Where is it?

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These are two books that
I was asked to be removed,

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and I would not remove them.

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No, they asked us to put
these behind the counter

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so that they weren't available

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unless you knew they were here.

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Now they've separated all of the pluses

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from the regular books, the LGBTQ books.

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00:13:03,324 --> 00:13:04,866
They were all integrated before,

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00:13:04,867 --> 00:13:06,660
but now they've separated them.

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But also we went out of our way

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to get Christian books just for this group

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when they started making problems.

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So we got two series down here
just so that their children

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who were more Christian based
could have their books too.

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I have to show you our children's library.

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You know, that's where
our porn lives.

194
00:13:28,557 --> 00:13:30,976
"A Day in the Life of Marlon
Bundo", have you seen that one?

195
00:13:31,227 --> 00:13:33,353
It's a story about a bunny rabbit,

196
00:13:33,354 --> 00:13:36,273
he meets another male bunny,

197
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so the bunnies end up getting married.

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They don't know that's here.

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Because they're just
looking on their list.

200
00:13:47,910 --> 00:13:51,162
So yes, there are books
here that they may not like,

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00:13:51,163 --> 00:13:53,040
but they're here.

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00:13:57,294 --> 00:14:00,255
This is the actual rules of
the Llano County Library.

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00:14:00,256 --> 00:14:03,383
"In no case should any book
be excluded because of race,

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00:14:03,384 --> 00:14:05,009
or nationality, or the political,

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00:14:05,010 --> 00:14:06,345
or religious views of the writer."

206
00:14:06,512 --> 00:14:08,931
I followed these rules
and I got fired for it.

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00:14:15,062 --> 00:14:18,274
That's me when I was in the US Army.

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00:14:20,276 --> 00:14:23,736
When we take our oath
to protect the country,

209
00:14:23,737 --> 00:14:25,197
it doesn't stop there.

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00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,075
You protect the constitution
of the United States

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00:14:29,076 --> 00:14:34,081
from attacks both external and internal.

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00:14:36,959 --> 00:14:38,502
Did you know this book existed?

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00:14:39,670 --> 00:14:44,675
Everybody's afraid to say what
these people are acting like,

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00:14:45,092 --> 00:14:48,929
but if you read history, you
know what they are acting like.

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00:14:51,473 --> 00:14:55,018
It says, "No to decadence
and moral corruption.

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00:14:55,019 --> 00:14:58,606
Yes to decency and morality
in family and state.

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00:14:59,940 --> 00:15:02,066
You do well to commit to the flames

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00:15:02,067 --> 00:15:03,861
the evil spirit of the past.

219
00:15:04,069 --> 00:15:07,406
This is a strong, great,
and symbolic deed."

220
00:15:26,216 --> 00:15:28,259
A lot of
the books that he burned

221
00:15:28,260 --> 00:15:32,806
were not just the Jewish
authors, they were the LGBTQ+,

222
00:15:33,182 --> 00:15:36,560
they were those authors that they burned.

223
00:15:43,609 --> 00:15:44,817
Start throwing it in there.

224
00:15:44,818 --> 00:15:46,819
Start throwing it in there.
Start throwing it in there.

225
00:15:46,820 --> 00:15:48,613
Start throwing it in there.
Burn it.

226
00:15:48,614 --> 00:15:50,156
Burn it, burn it.

227
00:15:53,994 --> 00:15:55,411
Hallelujah.

228
00:15:55,412 --> 00:15:57,121
Whoo!
- There we go.

229
00:15:57,122 --> 00:15:59,207
Mom, let me throw some books.

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00:16:26,610 --> 00:16:29,988
I pledge
allegiance to thee, Texas,

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00:16:29,989 --> 00:16:33,409
one state under God, one and indivisible.

232
00:16:36,078 --> 00:16:38,372
I do wanna clarify a couple of points

233
00:16:38,497 --> 00:16:39,873
on behalf of the district.

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00:16:40,290 --> 00:16:43,627
As you know, Texas education

235
00:16:44,211 --> 00:16:45,837
is a responsibility of the state,

236
00:16:45,838 --> 00:16:49,091
which essentially makes
Governor Abbott our CEO.

237
00:16:50,092 --> 00:16:51,509
I wanna start this out simple.

238
00:16:51,510 --> 00:16:53,720
The job of the Superintendent
and the school board

239
00:16:53,721 --> 00:16:55,889
is to not only protect the
students in this district,

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00:16:56,265 --> 00:16:57,682
but to make them feel
like they have a place

241
00:16:57,683 --> 00:16:58,308
in this community.

242
00:16:58,726 --> 00:17:00,852
But I gotta tell you, from
what I've seen so far,

243
00:17:00,853 --> 00:17:02,104
you are failing at your job.

244
00:17:07,943 --> 00:17:09,236
Hey, guys, come on in.

245
00:17:10,821 --> 00:17:13,531
We've all read "Fahrenheit"
our freshman year,

246
00:17:13,532 --> 00:17:18,120
and we talk about the
scariness of book banning.

247
00:17:18,412 --> 00:17:20,455
Literally on the windows of our library,

248
00:17:20,456 --> 00:17:22,124
our library has a big windowed wall,

249
00:17:22,249 --> 00:17:26,628
there are freshmen students' drawings

250
00:17:26,962 --> 00:17:28,839
about "Fahrenheit 451".

251
00:17:30,507 --> 00:17:31,884
Look, these are all novels

252
00:17:33,343 --> 00:17:35,387
all about people that never existed.

253
00:17:36,597 --> 00:17:37,513
The people that read them,

254
00:17:37,514 --> 00:17:39,057
it makes them unhappy
with their own lives,

255
00:17:39,058 --> 00:17:40,558
makes them want to live in other ways

256
00:17:40,559 --> 00:17:42,728
that can never really be.

257
00:17:43,645 --> 00:17:47,691
So we must burn the books, Montag.

258
00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:50,652
All the books.

259
00:17:50,861 --> 00:17:51,819
And seeing that

260
00:17:51,820 --> 00:17:55,073
and knowing what is going
on within that library,

261
00:17:55,074 --> 00:17:59,368
it feels like it's blatant
that there's a facade here.

262
00:17:59,369 --> 00:18:02,663
We have books in the
library that are pretty heavy

263
00:18:02,664 --> 00:18:05,459
and have sexual assault, like
"A Clockwork Orange" even,

264
00:18:05,876 --> 00:18:07,711
and that wasn't pulled, so.

265
00:18:08,879 --> 00:18:10,798
Had I not picked this book up,

266
00:18:11,799 --> 00:18:14,593
I don't think I would be sitting here now.

267
00:18:14,802 --> 00:18:18,012
If it's a cis straight
white male or a female,

268
00:18:18,013 --> 00:18:19,097
well, it's no issue.

269
00:18:19,098 --> 00:18:21,933
But as soon as you've got
any kind of diversity,

270
00:18:21,934 --> 00:18:23,726
hmm, red flag, red flag.
- Got a gay person,

271
00:18:23,727 --> 00:18:27,231
a Brown person, cut it out.

272
00:18:27,689 --> 00:18:30,233
An analysis of the 850 book list

273
00:18:30,234 --> 00:18:32,361
found the following likely
reasons for inclusion.

274
00:18:32,820 --> 00:18:37,407
60% because of LGBTQ+, 8%
because of race and racism,

275
00:18:37,658 --> 00:18:39,618
13% because of sexual education,

276
00:18:39,785 --> 00:18:42,371
something that is not
taught in all Texas schools.

277
00:18:42,538 --> 00:18:44,539
Stop the censorship in our district,

278
00:18:44,540 --> 00:18:46,749
wake up to the reality
that we are all different

279
00:18:46,750 --> 00:18:48,543
and we should all embrace
each other with love,

280
00:18:48,544 --> 00:18:49,545
not blatant hate.

281
00:18:49,878 --> 00:18:52,630
I'm simply gonna say that no government,

282
00:18:52,631 --> 00:18:54,716
and public school is an
extension of government,

283
00:18:54,925 --> 00:18:58,261
has ever banned books and banned
information from its public

284
00:18:58,262 --> 00:19:00,347
and been remembered in
history as the good guys.

285
00:19:00,556 --> 00:19:02,056
Let's not misrepresent things.

286
00:19:02,057 --> 00:19:04,851
We're not taking Shakespeare
or Hemingway off the shelves,

287
00:19:04,852 --> 00:19:08,187
and we're not going and grabbing
every socially, culturally,

288
00:19:08,188 --> 00:19:11,023
or religiously diverse
book and pulling them.

289
00:19:11,024 --> 00:19:12,109
That's absurd.

290
00:19:12,901 --> 00:19:15,361
And the people that are
saying that are gaslighters

291
00:19:15,362 --> 00:19:18,031
and it's designed to incite division.

292
00:19:23,620 --> 00:19:25,037
I might need somebody
else to help me

293
00:19:25,038 --> 00:19:26,247
I need to pass these out.

294
00:19:26,248 --> 00:19:28,458
Maybe somebody else to help Karen?

295
00:19:28,876 --> 00:19:31,669
You can give them to the board,
definitely she needs help.

296
00:19:31,670 --> 00:19:33,296
I brought you some excerpts of books.

297
00:19:33,297 --> 00:19:35,047
I pray you really are able to stop

298
00:19:35,048 --> 00:19:37,301
this kind of content
from going in the school.

299
00:19:37,676 --> 00:19:40,595
These people put sexually explicit content

300
00:19:40,596 --> 00:19:41,638
into your libraries.

301
00:19:44,641 --> 00:19:47,560
Get ready for
truth and transparency,

302
00:19:47,561 --> 00:19:50,396
from an ocean of liberal tears.

303
00:19:50,397 --> 00:19:54,066
Let's talk about
Superintendent Dr. Jeremy Glenn

304
00:19:54,067 --> 00:19:57,028
and the smut and porn
in the library books.

305
00:19:57,029 --> 00:19:59,113
And it's not just his position,

306
00:19:59,114 --> 00:20:01,115
it's the position of the school board,

307
00:20:01,116 --> 00:20:04,119
it's the position of
this community at large.

308
00:20:04,328 --> 00:20:07,288
Bottom line, this is about removing

309
00:20:07,289 --> 00:20:09,749
pornographic, sexually explicit,

310
00:20:09,750 --> 00:20:12,960
and vulgar materials
from school libraries.

311
00:20:12,961 --> 00:20:14,837
I want you to know this,
tonight I'm gonna go home

312
00:20:14,838 --> 00:20:16,672
and I'm gonna get a great night's sleep,

313
00:20:16,673 --> 00:20:20,801
because unlike you, I've actually
read what's in those books

314
00:20:20,802 --> 00:20:23,554
and I'm proud that they've
been removed from our shelves

315
00:20:23,555 --> 00:20:25,349
and we've made the
right decision for kids.

316
00:20:32,814 --> 00:20:34,565
I taught
for about five years.

317
00:20:34,566 --> 00:20:36,442
I've taught in a private school setting

318
00:20:36,443 --> 00:20:39,111
and I've taught sixth
grade social studies,

319
00:20:39,112 --> 00:20:41,948
I've taught third grade general education,

320
00:20:41,949 --> 00:20:43,992
so all the core classes.

321
00:20:44,368 --> 00:20:46,869
My concern was that there
might have been stuff

322
00:20:46,870 --> 00:20:48,829
that they just didn't know was there,

323
00:20:48,830 --> 00:20:51,082
that they just weren't aware,

324
00:20:51,083 --> 00:20:53,417
because they didn't know where to look.

325
00:20:53,418 --> 00:20:55,504
And at first, I didn't know where to look.

326
00:20:58,382 --> 00:21:00,299
I had gone to a Moms for Liberty event

327
00:21:00,300 --> 00:21:03,262
where we had a preview to a documentary.

328
00:21:03,929 --> 00:21:07,056
You are teaching
children adult child sex,

329
00:21:07,057 --> 00:21:09,184
you're teaching transgender issues,

330
00:21:09,476 --> 00:21:12,853
and children are moldable
and influenced by that.

331
00:21:12,854 --> 00:21:14,272
In my humble opinion,

332
00:21:14,273 --> 00:21:17,109
it will be worse before it gets better.

333
00:21:22,572 --> 00:21:24,865
My kids go to the schools here,

334
00:21:24,866 --> 00:21:27,451
my family's kids go to the schools here,

335
00:21:27,452 --> 00:21:29,578
my friend's kids go to the schools here.

336
00:21:29,579 --> 00:21:31,580
It was disheartening to think that

337
00:21:31,581 --> 00:21:34,041
that was actually
happening in my hometown.

338
00:21:57,774 --> 00:21:59,608
We first really encountered

339
00:21:59,609 --> 00:22:03,029
the Moms for Liberty
organizations during COVID

340
00:22:03,030 --> 00:22:07,451
as they really pushed to open
schools and unmask children.

341
00:22:07,617 --> 00:22:09,160
And that's when we started

342
00:22:09,161 --> 00:22:11,538
to hear about their parental rights.

343
00:22:11,788 --> 00:22:14,957
Some of us moms out here
have really struggled,

344
00:22:14,958 --> 00:22:16,584
have children that have really struggled

345
00:22:16,585 --> 00:22:18,045
with wearing a mask.

346
00:22:18,628 --> 00:22:23,633
Then when that crisis was
over, they turned to the books.

347
00:22:23,967 --> 00:22:26,135
The things that Moms for
Liberty is fighting against

348
00:22:26,136 --> 00:22:27,928
is pornography in school,

349
00:22:27,929 --> 00:22:31,223
teaching young children
scientific ideologies

350
00:22:31,224 --> 00:22:33,852
that are non-scientific ideologies.

351
00:22:56,625 --> 00:22:58,502
And it just spread.

352
00:22:59,836 --> 00:23:02,756
We could almost see a
preview of what was to come,

353
00:23:03,173 --> 00:23:06,051
and this playbook emerged.

354
00:23:08,303 --> 00:23:09,553
We were afraid.

355
00:23:09,554 --> 00:23:10,971
We were told not to tweet,

356
00:23:10,972 --> 00:23:13,224
we were told not to
put things on Facebook.

357
00:23:13,225 --> 00:23:16,769
They came after me and
they came after our library.

358
00:23:16,770 --> 00:23:18,772
They came after our library board.

359
00:23:20,273 --> 00:23:22,274
We were called evil specialist

360
00:23:22,275 --> 00:23:24,027
instead of media specialist.

361
00:23:26,029 --> 00:23:27,029
I know they're gonna fire me,

362
00:23:27,030 --> 00:23:28,697
I know they're making a case to fire me,

363
00:23:28,698 --> 00:23:31,534
I know it's coming, but
I'm not gonna shut up.

364
00:23:31,535 --> 00:23:32,285
I'm just not gonna do it.

365
00:23:33,161 --> 00:23:34,912
You continue to speak out,

366
00:23:34,913 --> 00:23:36,580
you will be on the chopping block.

367
00:23:36,581 --> 00:23:37,791
You will lose your job.

368
00:23:37,958 --> 00:23:40,543
We have guns, when can we
start killing liberals?

369
00:23:40,544 --> 00:23:42,336
When could they start hunting us?

370
00:23:42,337 --> 00:23:45,714
Hold the line against the LGBT Mafia

371
00:23:45,715 --> 00:23:48,342
and their dang pedo fans.

372
00:23:48,343 --> 00:23:51,262
We had to bring in law
enforcement to meetings.

373
00:23:51,263 --> 00:23:53,556
This white truck pulled up behind us

374
00:23:53,557 --> 00:23:56,851
and the guy rolled down his
window and he yelled at me,

375
00:23:56,852 --> 00:23:58,811
he said, "We're coming after you next."

376
00:23:58,812 --> 00:24:00,688
We're gonna keep coming so hard,

377
00:24:00,689 --> 00:24:03,107
the only thing these
woketards got to figure out

378
00:24:03,108 --> 00:24:04,692
is whether it's on their face, back,

379
00:24:04,693 --> 00:24:07,195
butt, or thighs, whoo.

380
00:24:10,323 --> 00:24:11,490
A Florida school district

381
00:24:11,491 --> 00:24:14,703
has pulled 176 books from its libraries

382
00:24:14,995 --> 00:24:17,580
to comply with a new
State Education Reform Law

383
00:24:17,581 --> 00:24:19,790
championed by Governor Ron DeSantis.

384
00:24:19,791 --> 00:24:21,417
We are gonna make sure

385
00:24:21,418 --> 00:24:23,128
that parents have a seat at the table

386
00:24:23,628 --> 00:24:25,921
and that we protect their rights.

387
00:24:25,922 --> 00:24:28,674
Under
Florida's HB 1467 law,

388
00:24:28,675 --> 00:24:31,260
school books have to
be free of pornography

389
00:24:31,261 --> 00:24:33,596
or certain race-based teachings.

390
00:24:33,597 --> 00:24:36,474
Violating parts of the
law could lead teachers

391
00:24:36,475 --> 00:24:38,268
to be charged with a felony.

392
00:24:43,982 --> 00:24:45,065
Librarians are pulling books

393
00:24:45,066 --> 00:24:46,651
without anyone challenging them.

394
00:24:48,862 --> 00:24:50,821
The teachers in Manatee County were told,

395
00:24:50,822 --> 00:24:55,826
"By Friday at 3:00 PM, you
will either cover with paper,

396
00:24:55,827 --> 00:24:58,163
turn them to the walls,
or take your books home."

397
00:24:58,872 --> 00:25:01,917
They thought they were airing
on the side of caution.

398
00:25:02,501 --> 00:25:04,126
But the kids were so upset,

399
00:25:04,127 --> 00:25:06,879
they actually texted
their parents and said,

400
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:08,797
"Everyone's crying, everyone's upset,

401
00:25:08,798 --> 00:25:10,717
we need our books, we want our books."

402
00:25:10,884 --> 00:25:13,469
They wrote emails to the principal saying,

403
00:25:13,470 --> 00:25:14,930
"Please don't take away our books."

404
00:25:20,310 --> 00:25:24,147
Part of what I see as my calling
is taking care of children.

405
00:25:25,982 --> 00:25:29,319
Elizabeth Ann Seton was the
patron saint of teachers.

406
00:25:32,906 --> 00:25:36,492
I do not believe that scripture

407
00:25:36,493 --> 00:25:38,328
is there for us to use as a weapon

408
00:25:39,454 --> 00:25:41,581
or to make our political points.

409
00:25:45,418 --> 00:25:48,088
Please do some research as
to our founding fathers.

410
00:25:48,713 --> 00:25:51,675
Their biggest fear was
that we become a theocracy.

411
00:25:52,050 --> 00:25:54,051
They did not want to be governed by a king

412
00:25:54,052 --> 00:25:56,429
and they did not want
to be governed by a God.

413
00:25:57,597 --> 00:25:59,057
They wanted freedom.

414
00:26:02,102 --> 00:26:04,687
Librarians have heard
from hundreds of kids

415
00:26:04,688 --> 00:26:06,106
that books have saved their lives.

416
00:26:06,982 --> 00:26:08,107
That's why to me,

417
00:26:08,108 --> 00:26:11,319
I see this as the civil
rights fight of our time.

418
00:26:17,784 --> 00:26:20,161
And they're not banning just any books.

419
00:26:20,787 --> 00:26:22,998
They're banning the best books.

420
00:26:36,928 --> 00:26:39,638
We reject woke ideology.

421
00:26:40,765 --> 00:26:43,225
We fight the woke in the legislature,

422
00:26:43,226 --> 00:26:45,352
we fight the woke in the schools,

423
00:26:45,353 --> 00:26:47,479
we fight the woke in the corporations.

424
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:51,233
We will never ever
surrender to the woke mob.

425
00:26:51,234 --> 00:26:54,529
Florida is where woke goes to die.

426
00:27:08,084 --> 00:27:12,671
We've got down here, "The
Librarian of Auschwitz"

427
00:27:12,672 --> 00:27:16,550
some people are challenging, or "Flamer",

428
00:27:16,551 --> 00:27:18,094
which is actually a really good one,

429
00:27:18,303 --> 00:27:20,263
and then of course, "The Handmaid's Tale".

430
00:27:23,183 --> 00:27:25,352
I had been at the school for nine years.

431
00:27:26,269 --> 00:27:28,103
It had been a dream job

432
00:27:28,104 --> 00:27:31,107
for the first seven of those nine years.

433
00:27:31,524 --> 00:27:33,777
The governor says this
is child pornography.

434
00:27:34,527 --> 00:27:37,946
In June, one of the Moms
for Liberty in our area

435
00:27:37,947 --> 00:27:40,783
had posted a video about the second book

436
00:27:40,784 --> 00:27:42,826
in the "Court of Thorns and Roses" series,

437
00:27:42,827 --> 00:27:44,787
and she tagged all of the schools

438
00:27:44,788 --> 00:27:46,790
that had the book in their library.

439
00:27:47,082 --> 00:27:48,708
So then the district decided

440
00:27:49,209 --> 00:27:51,752
to just quietly pull the books

441
00:27:51,753 --> 00:27:53,046
from the shelves and delete them.

442
00:27:53,463 --> 00:27:55,756
And I happened to notice a few days later

443
00:27:55,757 --> 00:27:56,966
when I went up to work.

444
00:27:57,175 --> 00:27:58,217
I was very concerned

445
00:27:58,218 --> 00:28:00,720
that this was kind of getting out of hand.

446
00:28:01,304 --> 00:28:03,013
So I went to the school board meeting.

447
00:28:03,014 --> 00:28:04,473
Hi, good evening.

448
00:28:04,474 --> 00:28:05,933
My name is Julie Miller.

449
00:28:05,934 --> 00:28:10,605
My address is on file and I
am a high school librarian.

450
00:28:12,524 --> 00:28:15,944
I know, we're kind of seen as the bad guy.

451
00:28:16,361 --> 00:28:18,112
So I just wanted to give you guys

452
00:28:18,113 --> 00:28:22,783
just a moment of hearing
straight from one of us

453
00:28:22,784 --> 00:28:24,202
who are boots on the ground

454
00:28:24,452 --> 00:28:27,539
to let you know a little bit about us.

455
00:28:27,831 --> 00:28:31,250
I am a Baptist minister's wife

456
00:28:31,251 --> 00:28:33,753
and daughter of a minister as well.

457
00:28:34,254 --> 00:28:39,174
It was at that same meeting
where Bruce Friedman showed up.

458
00:28:39,175 --> 00:28:41,969
This
year at least 102 books

459
00:28:41,970 --> 00:28:44,681
have been banned in Clay County, Florida.

460
00:28:44,931 --> 00:28:46,849
They were removed from school libraries

461
00:28:46,850 --> 00:28:50,728
thanks in large part to this
single conservative activist.

462
00:28:50,729 --> 00:28:53,440
I represent No Left Turn in Education.

463
00:28:53,606 --> 00:28:54,815
That's the Florida chapter.

464
00:28:54,816 --> 00:28:56,400
I also run the New York chapter.

465
00:28:56,401 --> 00:28:58,236
I'm also a member of Moms for Liberty.

466
00:28:58,611 --> 00:29:03,199
I spent 45 minutes after
that meeting talking to him.

467
00:29:03,491 --> 00:29:05,994
And it was a pleasant...

468
00:29:06,202 --> 00:29:08,663
weird, but pleasant conversation.

469
00:29:08,913 --> 00:29:10,998
And the next thing I know is

470
00:29:10,999 --> 00:29:14,294
Bruce essentially said in an article,

471
00:29:14,878 --> 00:29:17,588
I'm gonna clean up the
libraries in Clay County,

472
00:29:17,589 --> 00:29:19,131
anyone who gets in my way,

473
00:29:19,132 --> 00:29:21,509
I'm gonna run over them like a dead body.

474
00:29:21,718 --> 00:29:23,385
Which is like, first of all,

475
00:29:23,386 --> 00:29:26,264
who runs over a dead body,
like, what does that even mean?

476
00:29:27,182 --> 00:29:29,851
But very triggering language.

477
00:29:31,227 --> 00:29:34,939
And then he started writing
my name on challenge forms.

478
00:29:36,399 --> 00:29:37,691
"Talk to Julie Miller."

479
00:29:37,692 --> 00:29:39,401
"Julie Miller has this one."

480
00:29:39,402 --> 00:29:40,820
Surprise, surprise.

481
00:29:41,070 --> 00:29:42,739
"Disgusting."

482
00:29:43,281 --> 00:29:45,241
It was like, what is going on?

483
00:29:57,837 --> 00:30:02,382
Julie was very helpful
in research of the books

484
00:30:02,383 --> 00:30:05,470
that have been banned, the
books that have been removed.

485
00:30:07,180 --> 00:30:09,807
♪ Get ready ♪
♪ Get ready ♪

486
00:30:09,808 --> 00:30:11,350
♪ For when He returns ♪
♪ For when He returns ♪

487
00:30:11,351 --> 00:30:14,520
To attempt
to take Black history

488
00:30:14,521 --> 00:30:18,899
and take a lot of our
stories away from children

489
00:30:18,900 --> 00:30:22,445
is one of the most evil things
I think a person can do.

490
00:30:24,447 --> 00:30:25,405
When it comes to the number

491
00:30:25,406 --> 00:30:28,450
of banned books at schools,
Florida leads the nation,

492
00:30:28,451 --> 00:30:30,911
and Clay County is
number one in the state.

493
00:30:34,624 --> 00:30:36,834
Clay County is one of the last

494
00:30:36,835 --> 00:30:39,796
good old boy frontiers in North Florida.

495
00:30:40,797 --> 00:30:43,048
If you ride through Clay County,

496
00:30:43,049 --> 00:30:47,637
most of the streets are
named after slave owners.

497
00:30:48,471 --> 00:30:52,015
And so that symbolism and that ideology,

498
00:30:52,016 --> 00:30:53,851
it gives them opportunity

499
00:30:53,852 --> 00:30:57,896
to be deep-seated in government positions,

500
00:30:57,897 --> 00:31:00,274
superintendent, school board,

501
00:31:00,275 --> 00:31:02,484
city managers, all of that.

502
00:31:07,615 --> 00:31:09,117
These are some of the books.

503
00:31:09,534 --> 00:31:10,577
"Stamped".

504
00:31:12,662 --> 00:31:14,913
Anybody ever seen the
movie "The Color Purple"?

505
00:31:14,914 --> 00:31:16,124
- Yes.
- Yes.

506
00:31:16,374 --> 00:31:19,918
And of course, "1619 Project".

507
00:31:19,919 --> 00:31:24,089
Do you care whether books that are written

508
00:31:24,090 --> 00:31:29,095
by African Americans, or books like,

509
00:31:29,679 --> 00:31:31,222
this book was banned.

510
00:31:32,515 --> 00:31:36,059
As a kid, going to a
predominantly white school,

511
00:31:36,060 --> 00:31:39,981
I was always questioning who I was.

512
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:43,067
Like, hair, skin color.

513
00:31:43,651 --> 00:31:47,279
I feel like this "New Kid", "Hair Love",

514
00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:48,655
I feel like that would've made me feel

515
00:31:48,656 --> 00:31:51,826
a little bit more
comfortable in my own skin.

516
00:31:53,411 --> 00:31:56,038
What's dangerous with this book banning

517
00:31:56,039 --> 00:32:01,836
is it's being led by people
who say they love God.

518
00:32:02,754 --> 00:32:06,423
And I call for the fire of
God, and the glory of God,

519
00:32:06,424 --> 00:32:09,551
and the fear of the Lord to
fall on Clay County, Florida

520
00:32:09,552 --> 00:32:10,969
in the name of Jesus.

521
00:32:13,556 --> 00:32:15,683
Next
we have Jeffrey Dove.

522
00:32:23,066 --> 00:32:26,486
I do not wish the fire of
your God to fall on you all.

523
00:32:30,114 --> 00:32:31,866
That's not the God I serve.

524
00:32:32,241 --> 00:32:34,953
I'm a lot of things, I'm
a pastor, I'm a father,

525
00:32:35,203 --> 00:32:37,413
and most of all, I'm a strong Black man.

526
00:32:38,498 --> 00:32:39,498
But when you start talking

527
00:32:39,499 --> 00:32:42,292
about removing African American authors

528
00:32:42,293 --> 00:32:45,088
and African American history,
I got a problem with that.

529
00:32:46,339 --> 00:32:48,675
Because right now we are an embarrassment

530
00:32:51,052 --> 00:32:52,387
in the state of Florida.

531
00:32:53,262 --> 00:32:55,639
And we got the list of these books

532
00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:57,307
are to be removed immediately,

533
00:32:57,308 --> 00:32:59,185
so says the oversight committee.

534
00:33:02,146 --> 00:33:06,483
I wrote an email back and just asked like,

535
00:33:06,484 --> 00:33:10,404
"Could you please provide
us with the reason

536
00:33:10,405 --> 00:33:12,906
why each of these books is being removed?"

537
00:33:12,907 --> 00:33:16,994
So months had went by, I
asked someone about Julie

538
00:33:16,995 --> 00:33:18,538
and how she was doing?

539
00:33:18,913 --> 00:33:22,625
That one thing that I dreaded
the most had happened.

540
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,547
I lost my job, I was
removed from my library

541
00:33:28,631 --> 00:33:30,717
for asking questions.

542
00:33:31,718 --> 00:33:33,969
They're gonna say it's
because I was refusing

543
00:33:33,970 --> 00:33:35,304
to follow directives.

544
00:33:36,097 --> 00:33:37,764
That's not the case at all.

545
00:33:37,765 --> 00:33:41,269
It's really just because
I kept pushing back.

546
00:33:45,023 --> 00:33:46,566
Okay,
at this time I will open.

547
00:33:46,858 --> 00:33:48,985
I sat there three hours.

548
00:33:49,527 --> 00:33:52,279
I wasn't giving up, I wasn't budging,

549
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:53,613
I don't care how long it was,

550
00:33:53,614 --> 00:33:55,408
they were going to hear me that day.

551
00:33:56,993 --> 00:33:58,577
All right, so before actually

552
00:33:58,578 --> 00:34:00,328
we move into school board member comments.

553
00:34:00,329 --> 00:34:02,373
I did have a question from the audience.

554
00:34:03,374 --> 00:34:05,500
And this is from Mr. Dove.
- Yeah, the reason I came back

555
00:34:05,501 --> 00:34:09,588
because I saw one of you
all's media specialist

556
00:34:09,589 --> 00:34:11,591
in Clay County was removed.

557
00:34:12,508 --> 00:34:13,384
It's wrong.

558
00:34:15,636 --> 00:34:19,766
Don't do people like that when
they have a different view.

559
00:34:20,016 --> 00:34:21,017
It's not fair.

560
00:34:22,060 --> 00:34:26,605
If anybody has to be
responsible for this caboodle

561
00:34:26,606 --> 00:34:28,523
we are leading the United States,

562
00:34:28,524 --> 00:34:31,736
and books that are not
on the shelf, it's y'all.

563
00:34:33,321 --> 00:34:34,321
Shame on you.

564
00:34:34,322 --> 00:34:35,823
Shame, shame, shame on you.

565
00:34:37,075 --> 00:34:40,870
Moms for Liberty are
making a lot of ground.

566
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:43,915
Very smart young ladies.

567
00:34:45,291 --> 00:34:47,210
I call it wicked genius.

568
00:34:47,710 --> 00:34:52,465
It's a genius that curtails
to oppressing people.

569
00:34:53,633 --> 00:34:57,178
It was like snuffing out a candle.

570
00:34:58,971 --> 00:35:02,391
It just happened, so, like, quietly,

571
00:35:03,142 --> 00:35:06,312
and it's like, "You're dismissed."

572
00:35:07,438 --> 00:35:09,816
And it's all politically
motivated, right?

573
00:35:11,901 --> 00:35:13,986
But I met the young man outside.

574
00:35:15,696 --> 00:35:17,657
And I said, "How you doing, brother?"

575
00:35:20,576 --> 00:35:24,122
He says, "I hate librarians."

576
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:27,291
This can't be America.

577
00:35:31,921 --> 00:35:33,548
No, this can't be America.

578
00:35:43,641 --> 00:35:44,724
And it feels like I'm living

579
00:35:44,725 --> 00:35:46,643
in a dystopian novel right now.

580
00:35:46,644 --> 00:35:48,937
Like, if you would've
asked me 10 years ago

581
00:35:48,938 --> 00:35:51,356
if I was gonna have security concerns

582
00:35:51,357 --> 00:35:54,568
at a librarian conference,
I'd been like, "You're nuts."

583
00:35:57,113 --> 00:36:00,448
This is the highest number
of attempted book bans

584
00:36:00,449 --> 00:36:03,744
since we began compiling
these lists 20 years ago.

585
00:36:04,495 --> 00:36:07,539
And I hate that censorship
affects our professional lives,

586
00:36:07,540 --> 00:36:08,791
but it is a reality.

587
00:36:09,917 --> 00:36:11,877
Sometimes librarians are relocated

588
00:36:11,878 --> 00:36:13,837
to other buildings or grade levels,

589
00:36:13,838 --> 00:36:17,340
and sometimes librarians
are outright fired

590
00:36:17,341 --> 00:36:19,093
for defending intellectual freedom.

591
00:36:20,428 --> 00:36:22,888
And then there are the
cases where librarians fear

592
00:36:22,889 --> 00:36:26,100
for their physical safety and
for those of their families.

593
00:36:27,226 --> 00:36:29,186
One librarian had her tires slashed

594
00:36:29,187 --> 00:36:30,730
during a library board meeting.

595
00:36:31,731 --> 00:36:34,649
We understand what's going on right now,

596
00:36:34,650 --> 00:36:37,320
on a very real and personal
level for some of us,

597
00:36:38,946 --> 00:36:43,117
but I know that as librarians,
we continue to remember

598
00:36:43,284 --> 00:36:47,913
and focus on our professionalism
and the work that we do.

599
00:36:47,914 --> 00:36:51,124
We want to make sure that
we are reinforcing to you

600
00:36:51,125 --> 00:36:53,877
that even in the darkest of days,

601
00:36:53,878 --> 00:36:57,089
this is still what we do.

602
00:37:01,594 --> 00:37:03,803
We wanna talk about a
book banning controversy

603
00:37:03,804 --> 00:37:05,847
underway in Island Trees, New York.

604
00:37:05,848 --> 00:37:08,808
For six years, "The Naked
Ape", "Slaughterhouse-Five",

605
00:37:08,809 --> 00:37:11,061
and seven other books
labeled by the school board

606
00:37:11,062 --> 00:37:12,938
as anti-American or obscene

607
00:37:12,939 --> 00:37:15,774
have been banned from Island
Tree's library shelves.

608
00:37:15,775 --> 00:37:17,984
Steven Pico, you are one of the students

609
00:37:17,985 --> 00:37:19,194
to bring action, were you not?

610
00:37:19,195 --> 00:37:21,238
We filed suit because we believe

611
00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:23,490
that every American, regardless of age,

612
00:37:23,491 --> 00:37:26,034
has the right to be exposed
to diversity of viewpoints

613
00:37:26,035 --> 00:37:28,161
and gain a number of perspectives on life.

614
00:37:28,162 --> 00:37:30,205
The Supreme Court today sharply curbed

615
00:37:30,206 --> 00:37:31,915
the authority of local school boards

616
00:37:31,916 --> 00:37:33,751
to ban books from school libraries.

617
00:37:36,295 --> 00:37:41,007
For laypeople, this is the
Roe v. Wade of libraries.

618
00:37:41,008 --> 00:37:42,259
When the Krause list came back,

619
00:37:42,260 --> 00:37:45,303
when Granbury boxed up hundreds of books,

620
00:37:45,304 --> 00:37:48,557
they were infringing on
what Pico established.

621
00:37:49,141 --> 00:37:50,642
A book cannot be removed

622
00:37:50,643 --> 00:37:53,270
because of a disagreement with the ideas

623
00:37:53,271 --> 00:37:54,480
that are in the book.

624
00:37:56,816 --> 00:37:57,899
We're highly trained

625
00:37:57,900 --> 00:38:00,652
in the selection of age
appropriate material.

626
00:38:00,653 --> 00:38:02,988
Most of us have Library
and Information Science

627
00:38:02,989 --> 00:38:04,198
master's degrees.

628
00:38:05,533 --> 00:38:08,911
We learned legal precedent
and we take courses on it.

629
00:38:09,328 --> 00:38:12,539
The thing that truly concerns
us is when an individual,

630
00:38:12,540 --> 00:38:14,874
whether it be a parent, or a non-parent,

631
00:38:14,875 --> 00:38:17,877
or a single group within the
society tries to determine

632
00:38:17,878 --> 00:38:20,213
what is correct for not only that child

633
00:38:20,214 --> 00:38:21,923
but other children as well.

634
00:38:21,924 --> 00:38:23,718
That is what we fight.

635
00:38:34,228 --> 00:38:36,814
When I was growing up,
we had one road here,

636
00:38:36,981 --> 00:38:40,026
and if you were Black, you
lived on that one road.

637
00:38:41,902 --> 00:38:44,237
In our parish, we have
the highest concentration

638
00:38:44,238 --> 00:38:47,490
of like KKK, Aryan Nation,

639
00:38:47,491 --> 00:38:48,534
those type of groups.

640
00:38:52,538 --> 00:38:53,496
I'm not gonna say my parents

641
00:38:53,497 --> 00:38:55,248
are white Christian nationalists,

642
00:38:55,249 --> 00:38:57,417
but when I started being targeted,

643
00:38:57,418 --> 00:38:58,961
they didn't speak to me for a week.

644
00:38:59,086 --> 00:39:01,797
It's kind of a mess in here.

645
00:39:04,258 --> 00:39:05,176
There we go.

646
00:39:05,634 --> 00:39:06,510
Let me turn this.

647
00:39:09,180 --> 00:39:09,805
All right.

648
00:39:10,806 --> 00:39:13,683
For 40 years I've been
wanting to build a cannon.

649
00:39:13,684 --> 00:39:15,019
See, it rolls real easy.

650
00:39:15,936 --> 00:39:17,980
It's called a Confederate mountain rifle.

651
00:39:19,190 --> 00:39:21,483
It's an exact replica of
what you would've seen

652
00:39:21,484 --> 00:39:23,277
back to the Civil War.

653
00:39:29,492 --> 00:39:32,660
You know, I've done a lot of
family history and research.

654
00:39:32,661 --> 00:39:35,373
My ancestors listed slaves as property,

655
00:39:35,664 --> 00:39:37,249
and I'm not proud of that.

656
00:39:37,875 --> 00:39:39,043
It's uncomfortable.

657
00:39:39,627 --> 00:39:41,252
But I think sometimes we
have to be uncomfortable

658
00:39:41,253 --> 00:39:42,421
and face that fact.

659
00:39:42,713 --> 00:39:45,716
Why would you want to
embarrass white kids or?

660
00:39:47,843 --> 00:39:48,676
It's like she said,

661
00:39:48,677 --> 00:39:50,763
that's the past and we can't change that.

662
00:39:51,013 --> 00:39:55,225
What you don't want
to do is teach your kids

663
00:39:55,226 --> 00:39:56,726
to hate their country.

664
00:39:56,727 --> 00:39:59,396
'Cause then when they grow
up, we won't have a country.

665
00:39:59,397 --> 00:40:00,688
I love my country,

666
00:40:00,689 --> 00:40:02,817
but I think we have to acknowledge
that we're not perfect.

667
00:40:03,067 --> 00:40:07,237
You don't teach only the bad,

668
00:40:07,238 --> 00:40:09,323
the bad, the bad, the bad, the bad, bad.

669
00:40:12,576 --> 00:40:14,911
While the
rest of us were in lockdown,

670
00:40:14,912 --> 00:40:17,539
Live Oak Middle librarian, Amanda Jones,

671
00:40:17,540 --> 00:40:19,916
and her students were traveling the world.

672
00:40:19,917 --> 00:40:22,168
I decided if they couldn't
go out in the world,

673
00:40:22,169 --> 00:40:23,420
I was gonna bring the world to them.

674
00:40:23,421 --> 00:40:24,295
She was awarded

675
00:40:24,296 --> 00:40:28,174
the 2021 National School
Librarian of the Year.

676
00:40:28,175 --> 00:40:30,969
And I hope to use it
as a platform to advocate

677
00:40:30,970 --> 00:40:32,972
for school libraries across the country.

678
00:40:35,975 --> 00:40:37,142
"Here's Amanda Jones

679
00:40:37,143 --> 00:40:39,060
at the Livingston Parish
Library board meeting

680
00:40:39,061 --> 00:40:40,896
on Tuesday, July 19th.

681
00:40:41,063 --> 00:40:43,606
Why is she fighting so hard
to keep sexually erotic

682
00:40:43,607 --> 00:40:46,026
and pornographic material
in the kids section?

683
00:40:47,445 --> 00:40:49,320
The reason I got targeted attacks

684
00:40:49,321 --> 00:40:51,781
is 'cause I spoke at our
public library board meeting

685
00:40:51,782 --> 00:40:53,033
as a parent.

686
00:40:54,452 --> 00:40:56,995
"If a middle school teacher
is promoting pornography

687
00:40:56,996 --> 00:40:58,913
and erotic content to kids,

688
00:40:58,914 --> 00:41:01,459
I don't care what kind
of pedigree she has."

689
00:41:02,334 --> 00:41:05,337
And I've never promoted pornography
and erotica to children.

690
00:41:06,964 --> 00:41:10,216
Our local representative
came for a photo op

691
00:41:10,217 --> 00:41:12,177
when I got National School
Librarian of the Year.

692
00:41:12,178 --> 00:41:14,054
She was there for that photo op.

693
00:41:14,388 --> 00:41:18,184
Two years later, she's
perpetuating lies about me.

694
00:41:20,895 --> 00:41:23,396
Jones was the
subject of harsh memes,

695
00:41:23,397 --> 00:41:25,315
comments, and threats.

696
00:41:25,316 --> 00:41:28,319
Police couldn't determine
who was threatening her.

697
00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:33,823
I have made it very well known

698
00:41:33,824 --> 00:41:36,826
that I travel with a
weapon, multiple weapons,

699
00:41:36,827 --> 00:41:39,330
and we got security all around our home.

700
00:41:39,830 --> 00:41:42,457
I have escape routes
wherever I go in my head,

701
00:41:42,458 --> 00:41:44,709
and I get my groceries delivered,

702
00:41:44,710 --> 00:41:46,754
I don't go in public in my community.

703
00:41:48,881 --> 00:41:51,842
'Cause the things they say
online are so horrible,

704
00:41:53,594 --> 00:41:54,928
you know, and I should be killed,

705
00:41:54,929 --> 00:41:57,806
and I shouldn't be alive.

706
00:41:58,140 --> 00:42:00,351
And it's sad, it's just my life now.

707
00:42:04,104 --> 00:42:05,773
I don't think any of us imagined

708
00:42:05,898 --> 00:42:09,109
when we started out that one
day our lives might be at risk.

709
00:42:09,568 --> 00:42:11,904
I reached out to a lawyer,

710
00:42:12,196 --> 00:42:15,366
just got some background
information about our county DA,

711
00:42:15,658 --> 00:42:18,117
and who in Texas would want to be

712
00:42:18,118 --> 00:42:20,370
the first district attorney

713
00:42:20,371 --> 00:42:23,249
to try to prosecute a school librarian.

714
00:42:24,500 --> 00:42:26,919
That was an existential moment for me.

715
00:42:27,211 --> 00:42:29,629
Imagining my face on the wanted poster

716
00:42:29,630 --> 00:42:32,716
and my friends being
taken away in handcuffs.

717
00:42:33,842 --> 00:42:36,302
You are obsolete, Mr. Wordsworth.

718
00:42:36,303 --> 00:42:39,013
A lie! No man is obsolete!

719
00:42:39,014 --> 00:42:41,933
You're a librarian, Mr. Wordsworth!

720
00:42:41,934 --> 00:42:43,936
I'm a human being, I exist!

721
00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:48,274
And if I speak one thought
aloud, that thought lives!

722
00:42:48,399 --> 00:42:50,442
Even after I'm shoveled into my grave!

723
00:42:51,527 --> 00:42:53,820
You waste our time, Mr. Wordsworth,

724
00:42:53,821 --> 00:42:55,614
and you are not worth the waste.

725
00:42:57,199 --> 00:42:59,159
How do you find, ladies and gentlemen?

726
00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:01,953
Obsolete.

727
00:43:01,954 --> 00:43:03,830
- Obsolete.
- Obsolete.

728
00:43:03,831 --> 00:43:05,666
- Obsolete.
- I concur.

729
00:43:20,848 --> 00:43:24,268
When I was first attacked back in 2021,

730
00:43:24,518 --> 00:43:29,523
a student who was not a
library regular previously

731
00:43:30,357 --> 00:43:33,401
started showing up in the first
couple of weeks in September

732
00:43:33,402 --> 00:43:37,156
every day during lunchtime and
would just roam the stacks.

733
00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:42,910
And I'd go out and I'd say,
"Can I help you find anything?"

734
00:43:42,911 --> 00:43:44,120
And he would say, "No."

735
00:43:44,121 --> 00:43:45,580
And I would leave it at that,

736
00:43:45,581 --> 00:43:47,625
I don't wanna nag a kid.

737
00:43:48,917 --> 00:43:50,668
After two weeks of this every day

738
00:43:50,669 --> 00:43:53,254
I see the kid emerge from the stacks

739
00:43:53,255 --> 00:43:55,924
holding "Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison.

740
00:44:09,688 --> 00:44:12,107
I read the book myself and loved it.

741
00:44:13,609 --> 00:44:15,443
And I was kind of dumbfounded,

742
00:44:15,444 --> 00:44:18,404
because it was not a wildly popular book,

743
00:44:18,405 --> 00:44:20,156
it wasn't on many people's radar.

744
00:44:20,157 --> 00:44:22,283
And of all the 20,000
books in the library,

745
00:44:22,284 --> 00:44:23,661
he emerges with that one.

746
00:44:23,911 --> 00:44:25,621
I said, "How'd you learn about it?"

747
00:44:26,038 --> 00:44:29,917
And he said, "My parents told me about it

748
00:44:30,042 --> 00:44:32,670
and said I should look
for it in the library."

749
00:44:33,504 --> 00:44:35,005
24 hours later,

750
00:44:36,965 --> 00:44:39,175
that student's mother was standing

751
00:44:39,176 --> 00:44:40,843
in front of the Board of Education.

752
00:44:40,844 --> 00:44:43,096
Martha Hickson, our school librarian,

753
00:44:43,097 --> 00:44:45,890
remarked to my son as he
was checking out the books,

754
00:44:45,891 --> 00:44:48,434
"I love that book."

755
00:44:48,435 --> 00:44:50,520
And calling me a
pornographer, pedophile,

756
00:44:50,521 --> 00:44:51,813
and groomer of children.

757
00:44:51,814 --> 00:44:55,316
This amounts to an
effort to groom our kids,

758
00:44:55,317 --> 00:44:57,485
to make them more willing to participate

759
00:44:57,486 --> 00:45:00,196
in the heinous acts
described in these books.

760
00:45:00,197 --> 00:45:01,489
It grooms them to accept

761
00:45:01,490 --> 00:45:03,992
the inappropriate advances of an adult.

762
00:45:05,577 --> 00:45:07,538
My principal was in that room,

763
00:45:07,913 --> 00:45:10,582
the assistant superintendent
was in that room,

764
00:45:10,833 --> 00:45:13,210
but they sat there in silence.

765
00:45:13,544 --> 00:45:15,963
And here's the really painful part.

766
00:45:16,255 --> 00:45:19,341
They have maintained that
silence for three years.

767
00:45:32,896 --> 00:45:35,190
Being a librarian,
I started researching.

768
00:45:38,235 --> 00:45:40,946
I was watching Texas and
Florida both very carefully.

769
00:45:44,074 --> 00:45:46,409
I felt like that's sort of the petri dish

770
00:45:46,410 --> 00:45:48,412
of what could be coming up here.

771
00:45:50,164 --> 00:45:52,750
This started in Llano, Texas.

772
00:45:53,625 --> 00:45:54,877
About a week later,

773
00:45:55,169 --> 00:45:58,379
a woman in Virginia
saw the Llano challenge

774
00:45:58,380 --> 00:46:00,506
and picked up some of that language.

775
00:46:00,507 --> 00:46:04,385
Both of these books include pedophilia.

776
00:46:04,386 --> 00:46:08,097
Do not interrupt my time.

777
00:46:08,098 --> 00:46:10,933
And then about two weeks later,

778
00:46:10,934 --> 00:46:13,020
same claim showed up at our board meeting,

779
00:46:13,187 --> 00:46:15,731
and that suggested to
me something was afoot.

780
00:46:16,774 --> 00:46:18,942
And I said, "I don't
think this is organic.

781
00:46:19,943 --> 00:46:21,779
I don't think this is spontaneous.

782
00:46:22,488 --> 00:46:23,655
This is organized."

783
00:46:28,076 --> 00:46:30,077
Moms for Liberty
are having their town hall

784
00:46:30,078 --> 00:46:32,122
here tonight on the Upper East Side.

785
00:46:33,165 --> 00:46:34,373
Welcome, New York.

786
00:46:34,374 --> 00:46:35,708
We are thrilled to be here.

787
00:46:35,709 --> 00:46:37,752
Thank you so much for joining us tonight.

788
00:46:39,004 --> 00:46:41,339
It seems like there's a lot
of misconceptions out there

789
00:46:41,340 --> 00:46:43,133
about who we are and what we do.

790
00:46:43,550 --> 00:46:46,594
We were founded in 2021
by Tiffany Justice and I,

791
00:46:46,595 --> 00:46:48,222
who are both former school board members.

792
00:46:48,472 --> 00:46:49,680
What is Mom's for Liberty?

793
00:46:49,681 --> 00:46:50,765
"The New Yorker" calls them

794
00:46:50,766 --> 00:46:53,476
the right wing mothers
fueling the school board wars.

795
00:46:53,477 --> 00:46:55,686
No one's gonna fight for
any issue like a parent.

796
00:46:55,687 --> 00:46:57,980
We're not in it for the
money. There's no glory.

797
00:46:57,981 --> 00:46:59,190
We love our children

798
00:46:59,191 --> 00:47:01,400
and we're willing to
do anything to protect

799
00:47:01,401 --> 00:47:04,153
their future.
- What money? What money?

800
00:47:04,154 --> 00:47:05,906
Now they'll tell you that their funding

801
00:47:06,114 --> 00:47:08,492
for these national conferences

802
00:47:08,784 --> 00:47:11,578
comes from selling their $15 t-shirts.

803
00:47:12,996 --> 00:47:15,874
You don't get Ron DeSantis to
show up at your conference,

804
00:47:16,041 --> 00:47:18,418
Donald Trump to show at your conference

805
00:47:18,752 --> 00:47:20,420
just from selling t-shirts.

806
00:47:20,754 --> 00:47:24,090
But this grassroots group
is registered as a 501,

807
00:47:24,091 --> 00:47:26,552
they are not to disclose their donors,

808
00:47:26,718 --> 00:47:30,346
but we do know that their pack
received a $50,000 donation

809
00:47:30,347 --> 00:47:33,767
this year from Julie Fancelli,
the largest single donor,

810
00:47:33,934 --> 00:47:36,143
to the January 6th Stop The Steal Rally

811
00:47:36,144 --> 00:47:38,062
that led to the capitol insurrection.

812
00:47:38,063 --> 00:47:40,773
We asked Moms for Liberty who
else is among their donors,

813
00:47:40,774 --> 00:47:43,109
and they did not respond
with any specific names.

814
00:47:43,110 --> 00:47:47,071
What ideology are the children
being indoctrinated into?

815
00:47:47,072 --> 00:47:49,616
I think parents' fears are realized.

816
00:47:49,867 --> 00:47:51,284
They're looking at these books

817
00:47:51,285 --> 00:47:53,452
where sexual discussions are happening

818
00:47:53,453 --> 00:47:55,539
with their children at
younger and younger ages.

819
00:47:55,873 --> 00:47:57,456
"And Tango Makes Three"

820
00:47:57,457 --> 00:48:00,669
has been challenged in at least 32 states.

821
00:48:00,794 --> 00:48:01,878
It's about two male penguins

822
00:48:01,879 --> 00:48:03,797
who care for an abandoned baby penguin.

823
00:48:04,256 --> 00:48:05,339
The book has been labeled

824
00:48:05,340 --> 00:48:08,135
a tool for so-called grooming.

825
00:48:09,011 --> 00:48:11,138
Maurice Sendak's
"In the Night Kitchen",

826
00:48:11,471 --> 00:48:12,639
they drew pants.

827
00:48:14,182 --> 00:48:15,976
You're getting to the point of

828
00:48:16,226 --> 00:48:19,563
talking about a period
as sexually explicit.

829
00:48:20,272 --> 00:48:21,272
Under the new law,

830
00:48:21,273 --> 00:48:23,734
"Lord of the Rings" is
considered being inappropriate.

831
00:48:24,902 --> 00:48:27,653
There's some Facebook moms group

832
00:48:27,654 --> 00:48:32,659
that said that Pandas
symbolized something.

833
00:48:34,036 --> 00:48:36,830
The graphic novel
of the diary of Anne Frank.

834
00:48:39,708 --> 00:48:42,044
Yep, there's
your nudity right there.

835
00:48:43,962 --> 00:48:48,967
And "Maus", which has
to do with mouse nudity

836
00:48:49,509 --> 00:48:51,178
in a concentration camp.

837
00:48:52,346 --> 00:48:54,222
When they go after the books,

838
00:48:54,348 --> 00:48:56,308
what they're really going after

839
00:48:56,516 --> 00:49:01,021
is those kids that come into
my library for a safe space,

840
00:49:01,271 --> 00:49:03,065
and I cannot abide that.

841
00:49:08,820 --> 00:49:10,488
It is part of the ethics of our profession

842
00:49:10,489 --> 00:49:15,494
to support the First Amendment
and to fight censorship.

843
00:49:16,119 --> 00:49:17,704
That's what I've been trained to do.

844
00:49:25,128 --> 00:49:27,880
The North Hunterdon-Voorhees
Regional High School

845
00:49:27,881 --> 00:49:30,299
District Board of Education
meeting on Tuesday,

846
00:49:30,300 --> 00:49:32,761
January 30th is now called to order.

847
00:49:34,554 --> 00:49:38,392
If I were a younger person,
I may have left by now,

848
00:49:39,685 --> 00:49:43,021
but I believe firmly in what's right.

849
00:49:43,522 --> 00:49:46,650
And then I also believe
firmly in my students.

850
00:49:46,984 --> 00:49:49,652
If I were to say to the
board or someone at school,

851
00:49:49,653 --> 00:49:52,405
"You are a vile and disgusting C word

852
00:49:52,406 --> 00:49:54,073
and a danger to young people",

853
00:49:54,074 --> 00:49:56,617
I could and should be
escorted out of this building

854
00:49:56,618 --> 00:49:57,411
by the police.

855
00:49:57,661 --> 00:49:59,787
This is the exact language
that has been sent

856
00:49:59,788 --> 00:50:02,248
to our school librarian by a group

857
00:50:02,249 --> 00:50:04,001
led by the spouse of someone on the board.

858
00:50:04,209 --> 00:50:06,836
If you wanna get rid
of and censor books,

859
00:50:06,837 --> 00:50:09,088
you are no different than a fascist,

860
00:50:09,089 --> 00:50:13,176
for every fascist movement
began the same exact way.

861
00:50:13,468 --> 00:50:16,220
You're here to ban books
with gay characters,

862
00:50:16,221 --> 00:50:18,849
you might as well be here
to start the Fourth Reich.

863
00:50:20,183 --> 00:50:21,977
- You want him out.
- Yes!

864
00:50:22,811 --> 00:50:24,812
You guys cursed at my fucking children

865
00:50:24,813 --> 00:50:26,355
at your fucking book banning meeting!

866
00:50:26,356 --> 00:50:29,400
You guys all cursed at
my fucking children.

867
00:50:50,130 --> 00:50:53,633
The book itself, "Queerfully
and Wonderfully Made",

868
00:50:54,968 --> 00:50:56,720
that's a going against the scripture,

869
00:50:57,262 --> 00:50:58,930
it's fearfully and wonderfully made.

870
00:50:59,514 --> 00:51:00,640
And that's what we are.

871
00:51:00,974 --> 00:51:04,853
I could go through the
whole chapter of the Bible.

872
00:51:05,228 --> 00:51:07,396
If this book is considered nonfiction,

873
00:51:07,397 --> 00:51:09,274
and it is including Christianity.

874
00:51:10,150 --> 00:51:11,609
The Bible doesn't support this,

875
00:51:11,610 --> 00:51:15,321
so that already debunks the
nonfiction status of this book.

876
00:51:15,322 --> 00:51:17,074
So we're talking about pornography.

877
00:51:17,949 --> 00:51:19,451
I was born and raised in Holden.

878
00:51:20,035 --> 00:51:22,621
I'm also trans-feminine
and I'm a queer person.

879
00:51:23,789 --> 00:51:25,956
I don't think y'all
understand what it's like

880
00:51:25,957 --> 00:51:27,542
to grow up in an environment like this

881
00:51:27,959 --> 00:51:30,628
where even your family members
are constantly telling you

882
00:51:30,629 --> 00:51:32,172
that you're gonna burn in hell.

883
00:51:33,006 --> 00:51:36,384
Books like this say, "Hey, you are loved.

884
00:51:36,968 --> 00:51:40,889
There is a community that
will be there for you."

885
00:51:42,349 --> 00:51:44,016
Sorry, my anxiety is running very high,

886
00:51:44,017 --> 00:51:47,020
because I can tell that y'all
very much misunderstand us.

887
00:51:47,646 --> 00:51:51,982
This require

888
00:51:51,983 --> 00:51:52,818
Thank you.

889
00:52:04,913 --> 00:52:07,290
Hello, my name is Amanda Jones.

890
00:52:08,125 --> 00:52:09,291
The great thing about books

891
00:52:09,292 --> 00:52:12,796
is that we all have different
ways that we interpret them.

892
00:52:13,922 --> 00:52:18,051
I read this book and I
interpret it as meaning

893
00:52:18,385 --> 00:52:20,637
a push for love and acceptance.

894
00:52:22,097 --> 00:52:23,931
It was written by pastors

895
00:52:23,932 --> 00:52:28,061
and mental health
professionals for Christians.

896
00:52:28,562 --> 00:52:31,606
This book is not in the
children's picture book section.

897
00:52:31,815 --> 00:52:34,901
It is in the teen nonfiction section,

898
00:52:35,110 --> 00:52:38,572
where it belongs because
it was written for teens.

899
00:52:39,030 --> 00:52:40,866
Monitor your own children,

900
00:52:41,241 --> 00:52:44,369
don't let your children read
it if you don't want to.

901
00:52:44,578 --> 00:52:46,705
No one's forcing you to check it out.

902
00:52:47,205 --> 00:52:50,666
LGBTQ youth who report having
at least one accepting adult

903
00:52:50,667 --> 00:52:53,503
are 40% less likely to attempt suicide.

904
00:52:54,421 --> 00:52:57,215
Some kids don't have those
adults in their life.

905
00:52:58,258 --> 00:53:03,847
I have lost over 12
students who were ostracized

906
00:53:04,264 --> 00:53:08,184
because they were made to
feel less than in this parish.

907
00:53:08,185 --> 00:53:10,102
And I feel it right now,

908
00:53:10,103 --> 00:53:12,147
even though I'm not from that community,

909
00:53:12,439 --> 00:53:15,859
from the hate that's coming
from some people in this room.

910
00:53:16,401 --> 00:53:18,194
It would be easy to move this book

911
00:53:18,195 --> 00:53:21,322
and placate a few people for
the sake of bypassing drama.

912
00:53:21,323 --> 00:53:22,699
It would be easy.

913
00:53:23,700 --> 00:53:27,245
But sometimes doing what's
easy is not what's right.

914
00:53:34,753 --> 00:53:36,630
The board would like to protect children

915
00:53:36,838 --> 00:53:38,172
from inappropriate material

916
00:53:38,173 --> 00:53:40,674
and would prefer to remove
the challenged materials

917
00:53:40,675 --> 00:53:43,136
while the library processes its request.

918
00:53:47,474 --> 00:53:50,143
I'll be damned if we're
gonna lose another kid

919
00:53:50,644 --> 00:53:52,686
because of something
our community has done

920
00:53:52,687 --> 00:53:54,064
to make them feel less.

921
00:53:56,816 --> 00:53:58,735
I've had former students reach out to me

922
00:53:59,277 --> 00:54:01,154
that have told me books have saved them.

923
00:54:01,655 --> 00:54:04,658
And then there's the kids that
grew up and killed themselves

924
00:54:05,033 --> 00:54:07,576
because they were
ostracized in our community

925
00:54:07,577 --> 00:54:08,828
for who they are.

926
00:54:09,663 --> 00:54:14,541
And if I was silent, my
silence would be my compliance,

927
00:54:14,542 --> 00:54:18,463
and I'm not going to be complicit
in the death of children

928
00:54:19,714 --> 00:54:23,008
or even the hurtful feelings,

929
00:54:23,009 --> 00:54:25,428
I'm not gonna participate in that anymore.

930
00:54:26,471 --> 00:54:29,765
'Cause even though I didn't
actively participate in before,

931
00:54:29,766 --> 00:54:32,018
I was silent and I saw stuff,

932
00:54:32,435 --> 00:54:34,104
and I'm not gonna do that anymore.

933
00:54:34,562 --> 00:54:36,480
I'm gonna speak out about it, so.

934
00:54:36,481 --> 00:54:38,524
This is my strong willed
child and I thought,

935
00:54:38,525 --> 00:54:41,945
"Mm-mm, she's not gonna
lay down and take this."

936
00:54:58,169 --> 00:55:00,588
Our district was doing
an okay job before this.

937
00:55:01,006 --> 00:55:02,424
Was it perfect? No.

938
00:55:02,716 --> 00:55:04,259
But they were doing a
pretty darn good job,

939
00:55:04,634 --> 00:55:06,051
and they were watching out for our kids,

940
00:55:06,052 --> 00:55:08,846
and they were trying to keep
their own personal politics

941
00:55:08,847 --> 00:55:10,181
out of the decision making.

942
00:55:10,348 --> 00:55:11,766
But that's not what we're doing anymore.

943
00:55:11,933 --> 00:55:14,268
Now it's all the culture wars of America

944
00:55:14,269 --> 00:55:16,437
are just right smack dab right here

945
00:55:16,438 --> 00:55:17,731
in the middle of my kid's school district.

946
00:55:19,524 --> 00:55:21,483
After more
than a year of controversy,

947
00:55:21,484 --> 00:55:25,696
Keller ISD voted to ban
books about gender identity.

948
00:55:25,697 --> 00:55:29,491
I pledge
allegiance to thee, Texas,

949
00:55:29,492 --> 00:55:33,079
one state under God, one and indivisible.

950
00:55:42,881 --> 00:55:44,757
Hi, I'm Laney.

951
00:55:44,758 --> 00:55:47,510
I'm a mom of four kids in Keller ISD.

952
00:55:47,635 --> 00:55:50,137
As soon as our new Patriot
Mobile school board was elected,

953
00:55:50,138 --> 00:55:51,847
your top priority was to disregard

954
00:55:51,848 --> 00:55:54,267
all the parent district
and community input.

955
00:55:54,434 --> 00:55:56,310
Since then, you've created a hateful,

956
00:55:56,311 --> 00:55:57,853
contradictory, nonsensical,

957
00:55:57,854 --> 00:56:00,482
and unconstitutional book banning rubric.

958
00:56:01,441 --> 00:56:03,400
You are also passing a policy tonight

959
00:56:03,401 --> 00:56:05,027
that gives you the power to hire

960
00:56:05,028 --> 00:56:06,987
and fire every employee in the district

961
00:56:06,988 --> 00:56:09,656
all the way down to the cafeteria workers.

962
00:56:09,657 --> 00:56:12,451
You don't trust your admin, you
don't trust your principals,

963
00:56:12,452 --> 00:56:15,371
you don't trust your teachers,
you don't trust the parents.

964
00:56:15,372 --> 00:56:17,164
You are coming for
teachers and librarians,

965
00:56:17,165 --> 00:56:19,125
you've made it clear, and they know it.

966
00:56:20,543 --> 00:56:23,754
We have a movement within
America that has decided

967
00:56:23,755 --> 00:56:25,589
that school boards are now where they want

968
00:56:25,590 --> 00:56:27,008
to push their agenda.

969
00:56:33,264 --> 00:56:34,640
Patriot Mobile.

970
00:56:34,641 --> 00:56:36,266
They aren't just a wireless provider,

971
00:56:36,267 --> 00:56:38,102
they are a political movement.

972
00:56:38,103 --> 00:56:41,063
Up to 5% of every
Patriot Mobile phone bill

973
00:56:41,064 --> 00:56:43,190
goes directly to
supporting Patriot Mobile's

974
00:56:43,191 --> 00:56:44,608
political action committee.

975
00:56:44,609 --> 00:56:47,403
We need to put our
money behind companies

976
00:56:47,404 --> 00:56:48,404
that share our values.

977
00:56:48,405 --> 00:56:51,532
I'm looking at Glenn over
here from Patriot Mobile.

978
00:56:51,533 --> 00:56:52,825
We know that Patriot Mobile,

979
00:56:52,826 --> 00:56:54,660
they admitted to coming
into our communities

980
00:56:54,661 --> 00:56:56,120
and interviewing people

981
00:56:56,121 --> 00:56:58,205
and finding who they
thought would best represent

982
00:56:58,206 --> 00:57:00,290
their interests, and
that's who they backed

983
00:57:00,291 --> 00:57:02,377
with the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

984
00:57:03,628 --> 00:57:06,631
It wasn't until we started
getting these mailers

985
00:57:06,923 --> 00:57:08,925
that we realized what was happening.

986
00:57:10,176 --> 00:57:12,594
We're talking probably 7, 8, 9, 10 flyers

987
00:57:12,595 --> 00:57:13,471
these people are getting

988
00:57:13,972 --> 00:57:16,140
covered with images of crying children

989
00:57:16,141 --> 00:57:18,268
and saying they've been
exposed to porn in school,

990
00:57:18,476 --> 00:57:21,563
and your kid is being made to
feel guilty for being white.

991
00:57:21,771 --> 00:57:24,149
All of these things that
are just simply untrue.

992
00:57:25,024 --> 00:57:26,776
And then we started sharing them online

993
00:57:26,985 --> 00:57:29,862
and then we found out the school
districts neighboring ours

994
00:57:29,863 --> 00:57:33,950
had the exact same flyers paid
for by the exact same pack,

995
00:57:34,951 --> 00:57:36,034
but just with the pictures

996
00:57:36,035 --> 00:57:38,246
of the candidates inter
swapped with theirs.

997
00:57:39,456 --> 00:57:40,914
And we were like, "Oh my goodness,

998
00:57:40,915 --> 00:57:44,460
this is a large scale, coordinated effort

999
00:57:44,461 --> 00:57:47,338
to take over school boards
across the state of Texas."

1000
00:57:47,797 --> 00:57:50,007
One of the keys is the
school boards, right?

1001
00:57:50,008 --> 00:57:52,552
The school boards are the
key that picks the lock.

1002
00:57:53,428 --> 00:57:55,763
This was their blueprint
and they succeeded.

1003
00:57:56,431 --> 00:57:59,475
They backed 11 candidates in North Texas.

1004
00:57:59,476 --> 00:58:03,730
All 11 candidates won and
now they hold a majority,

1005
00:58:04,105 --> 00:58:05,731
and the president, vice president,

1006
00:58:05,732 --> 00:58:07,733
and secretary on all four school boards

1007
00:58:07,734 --> 00:58:09,110
that they decided to fund.

1008
00:58:09,527 --> 00:58:11,445
And they're going to
continue to spread it.

1009
00:58:11,446 --> 00:58:13,405
We're focused on school
boards here for now,

1010
00:58:13,406 --> 00:58:17,159
but our goal is to spread
this as large as we can

1011
00:58:17,160 --> 00:58:18,577
to other states and other communities

1012
00:58:18,578 --> 00:58:20,746
that are quite frankly wanting

1013
00:58:20,747 --> 00:58:23,082
what we're doing here
in their communities.

1014
00:58:46,856 --> 00:58:48,899
They had the school board meeting

1015
00:58:48,900 --> 00:58:53,488
completely packed with people.
- Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure.

1016
00:58:54,364 --> 00:58:56,365
Somebody told me this
morning to go online

1017
00:58:56,366 --> 00:58:57,950
and look at the Republican Club,

1018
00:58:57,951 --> 00:59:00,577
they had some meeting, I guess, last week,

1019
00:59:00,578 --> 00:59:02,664
and it was all about book banning.

1020
00:59:02,830 --> 00:59:06,793
And they had speakers come in,
so they got 'em all riled up

1021
00:59:07,001 --> 00:59:08,710
and gave them all their talking points

1022
00:59:08,711 --> 00:59:11,129
so that they could all
come to this meeting

1023
00:59:11,130 --> 00:59:14,132
and completely drown
anybody else's voices out.

1024
00:59:14,133 --> 00:59:15,343
That's what they did.

1025
00:59:15,843 --> 00:59:17,053
That's what they do.

1026
00:59:17,220 --> 00:59:18,971
Well, you know,

1027
00:59:18,972 --> 00:59:22,849
a lot of these people actually
make threats, you know,

1028
00:59:22,850 --> 00:59:25,561
about having a gun, and yada, yada, yada.

1029
00:59:25,562 --> 00:59:26,688
Mm.

1030
00:59:26,980 --> 00:59:31,108
They drive around in
trucks with, you know...

1031
00:59:31,109 --> 00:59:33,610
- Confederate flags.
- Yeah, confederate flags

1032
00:59:33,611 --> 00:59:35,821
and those secret organizations

1033
00:59:35,822 --> 00:59:37,239
that are not secret. - Oath Keepers,

1034
00:59:37,240 --> 00:59:39,449
Three Percenters.
- Yeah, Three Percenters.

1035
00:59:39,450 --> 00:59:41,160
Yeah, you see that all the time.

1036
00:59:41,828 --> 00:59:46,748
It's just so ate up with hate.
- Yeah.

1037
00:59:46,749 --> 00:59:49,586
And there's not
enough voices countering it.

1038
00:59:50,670 --> 00:59:53,463
Of the United
States and of this state.

1039
00:59:53,464 --> 00:59:56,300
Of the United
States and of this state.

1040
00:59:56,301 --> 00:59:58,176
- So help me God.
- So help me God.

1041
00:59:58,177 --> 00:59:59,803
- Congratulations.
- Thank you.

1042
01:00:01,472 --> 01:00:02,765
I ran on this platform.

1043
01:00:04,017 --> 01:00:05,392
The porn, and the grooming,

1044
01:00:05,393 --> 01:00:07,228
and pedophiles in schools.

1045
01:00:10,356 --> 01:00:12,733
I felt like it was there,

1046
01:00:12,734 --> 01:00:15,235
people just didn't know or
they didn't know where to look,

1047
01:00:15,236 --> 01:00:18,363
and I was gonna find it, doggonit.

1048
01:00:18,364 --> 01:00:21,242
So that's what I did, that's why I ran.

1049
01:00:23,077 --> 01:00:24,537
And so I did the research.

1050
01:00:25,830 --> 01:00:30,292
I was expecting to find
something that would relate

1051
01:00:30,293 --> 01:00:33,712
to what they were saying,
but nothing even came close.

1052
01:00:33,713 --> 01:00:36,173
I mean, it didn't even come close.

1053
01:00:36,174 --> 01:00:38,342
It just became very apparent

1054
01:00:38,343 --> 01:00:42,679
that what they were trying to tell parents

1055
01:00:42,680 --> 01:00:45,098
and what was actually
happening in our schools

1056
01:00:45,099 --> 01:00:46,768
were two completely different things.

1057
01:00:48,645 --> 01:00:53,565
This was just complete
sexualization of the kids,

1058
01:00:53,566 --> 01:00:56,234
and it's not stopping,
it's not going backwards,

1059
01:00:56,235 --> 01:00:57,944
it's moving forward.

1060
01:00:57,945 --> 01:00:59,822
It's moving full steam ahead.

1061
01:01:01,115 --> 01:01:02,949
Our mission on "The Blue Shark Show"

1062
01:01:02,950 --> 01:01:05,827
was to bring transparency
to our local government.

1063
01:01:05,828 --> 01:01:08,622
It pains me to say that GISD,

1064
01:01:08,623 --> 01:01:10,874
through the inaction of
the board of trustees

1065
01:01:10,875 --> 01:01:13,001
and the upper level administrators,

1066
01:01:13,002 --> 01:01:16,004
are grooming your children.

1067
01:01:16,005 --> 01:01:18,799
The ah-ha moment for
me was a conversation

1068
01:01:18,800 --> 01:01:22,011
I had with one of my former co-hosts.

1069
01:01:22,178 --> 01:01:24,346
I felt we need to let our community know

1070
01:01:24,347 --> 01:01:26,306
that it's not in the schools.

1071
01:01:26,307 --> 01:01:30,269
And he told me to stop
talking to my fellow trustees,

1072
01:01:30,561 --> 01:01:32,855
just to completely cut off communication.

1073
01:01:35,066 --> 01:01:37,484
Granbury races for the trustees.

1074
01:01:37,485 --> 01:01:39,861
We've got three positions that are up.

1075
01:01:39,862 --> 01:01:42,072
If you want more morally sound schools

1076
01:01:42,073 --> 01:01:43,991
that don't have satanic cartoon porn

1077
01:01:44,158 --> 01:01:45,660
- Yep.
- And Jihadi sympathizer

1078
01:01:45,785 --> 01:01:48,496
material in the library,
this is a no brainer.

1079
01:01:48,913 --> 01:01:49,913
They wanted to flip the board,

1080
01:01:49,914 --> 01:01:51,039
they wanted to flip the
commissioner's court,

1081
01:01:51,040 --> 01:01:53,667
they wanna flip the city council
every level of government

1082
01:01:53,668 --> 01:01:56,461
here locally to get their candidates in.

1083
01:01:56,462 --> 01:01:57,921
When you're trying to get people

1084
01:01:57,922 --> 01:02:00,173
in every level of government,

1085
01:02:00,174 --> 01:02:02,427
something else is going
on behind the scenes.

1086
01:02:04,595 --> 01:02:07,597
I refused to do their bidding and I said,

1087
01:02:07,598 --> 01:02:10,935
"No, I'm not doing
that. That's not right."

1088
01:02:11,102 --> 01:02:15,022
Now I'm enemy number one with
them, surprise, surprise.

1089
01:02:19,193 --> 01:02:21,820
Courtney Gore has been
a entire and complete

1090
01:02:21,821 --> 01:02:23,280
and total disappointment.

1091
01:02:23,281 --> 01:02:27,159
Yes, I would say
disappointment is a big word.

1092
01:02:27,160 --> 01:02:29,494
And I go back to that culture of,

1093
01:02:29,495 --> 01:02:30,912
do you wanna do the right thing

1094
01:02:30,913 --> 01:02:32,790
and not be liked by everybody?

1095
01:02:33,624 --> 01:02:35,126
I guess Courtney's woke.

1096
01:02:36,753 --> 01:02:38,795
She woke.
- Courtney's woke?

1097
01:02:38,796 --> 01:02:41,215
I guess she's woke now,
is what they're saying.

1098
01:02:41,966 --> 01:02:44,177
- Courtney?
- Yes!

1099
01:02:45,803 --> 01:02:47,637
You can't say there's
not porn in schools,

1100
01:02:47,638 --> 01:02:48,681
'cause there is.

1101
01:02:50,391 --> 01:02:52,017
I knew I was gonna get backlash,

1102
01:02:52,018 --> 01:02:54,144
but I never thought it was gonna rise

1103
01:02:54,145 --> 01:02:55,480
to the level that it did.

1104
01:02:55,772 --> 01:02:57,898
There was a June meeting
where a gentleman,

1105
01:02:57,899 --> 01:03:02,487
it was actually his grandfather,
came with a firearm.

1106
01:03:03,571 --> 01:03:05,489
Yeah, I've got something for you too,

1107
01:03:05,490 --> 01:03:06,324
you just wait.

1108
01:03:09,702 --> 01:03:11,244
I don't play with the rules anymore.

1109
01:03:11,245 --> 01:03:13,498
I haven't played with
the rules since Vietnam

1110
01:03:14,457 --> 01:03:15,792
and I'm not gonna start now.

1111
01:03:16,584 --> 01:03:19,628
We have profile sheets on Courtney Gore,

1112
01:03:19,629 --> 01:03:20,797
which she's not here.

1113
01:03:21,631 --> 01:03:23,256
Profile sheets, we know what you do,

1114
01:03:23,257 --> 01:03:24,549
we know where you live.

1115
01:03:24,550 --> 01:03:28,304
He's threatening.

1116
01:03:29,388 --> 01:03:31,431
One of my younger
brothers came over here

1117
01:03:31,432 --> 01:03:34,143
and actually slept on our
front porch that night

1118
01:03:35,019 --> 01:03:36,478
just to make sure we were safe.

1119
01:03:36,479 --> 01:03:38,855
I feel like by talking,

1120
01:03:38,856 --> 01:03:41,024
that is the only way I'm gonna
be able to protect myself.

1121
01:03:41,025 --> 01:03:42,693
Like, I have to be vocal,

1122
01:03:43,110 --> 01:03:46,906
and if I'm not, that's
when they get the power.

1123
01:03:55,164 --> 01:03:56,582
Last day in Granbury.

1124
01:03:58,167 --> 01:04:00,044
We're very excited to be leaving.

1125
01:04:01,003 --> 01:04:03,756
This is a place Mindy
and I both grew up in,

1126
01:04:04,715 --> 01:04:06,843
came back to raise our kids in.

1127
01:04:07,677 --> 01:04:10,387
I ran the Baseball and
Softball Association,

1128
01:04:10,388 --> 01:04:13,140
I served on the school board,
and this place changed,

1129
01:04:13,432 --> 01:04:16,434
people more willing to impose
their religion on others,

1130
01:04:16,435 --> 01:04:18,562
discriminate against others.

1131
01:04:18,563 --> 01:04:20,273
We've been fighting for years.

1132
01:04:21,357 --> 01:04:24,277
The book ban is the latest piece.

1133
01:04:25,528 --> 01:04:27,237
I have a proven conservative record,

1134
01:04:27,238 --> 01:04:29,865
always considered one of the
top conservatives in the House,

1135
01:04:29,866 --> 01:04:31,867
whether it's pro-life-
- Before the Krause list,

1136
01:04:31,868 --> 01:04:36,746
there had been zero parent
requests to review books,

1137
01:04:36,747 --> 01:04:38,499
not even one.

1138
01:04:39,584 --> 01:04:41,502
So why are we doing this?

1139
01:04:42,420 --> 01:04:44,629
My Texas House rep,

1140
01:04:44,630 --> 01:04:47,425
while I was serving on the school board,

1141
01:04:47,758 --> 01:04:49,467
the first time he got elected,

1142
01:04:49,468 --> 01:04:52,554
we met with him as a
school board and said,

1143
01:04:52,555 --> 01:04:55,473
"Here's the things we care
about in public education.

1144
01:04:55,474 --> 01:04:57,059
We'd love your support."

1145
01:04:58,352 --> 01:05:00,646
He told us, "Yes, yes! Absolutely!"

1146
01:05:01,230 --> 01:05:03,316
And when it came time to vote,

1147
01:05:03,691 --> 01:05:05,818
he voted exactly the opposite.

1148
01:05:06,736 --> 01:05:08,571
I couldn't understand why.

1149
01:05:08,821 --> 01:05:11,573
You told us you were
gonna support our schools

1150
01:05:11,574 --> 01:05:13,867
and then you voted
against them every time,

1151
01:05:13,868 --> 01:05:17,413
and honestly started to
bad mouth our schools.

1152
01:05:17,663 --> 01:05:20,875
And that's truly what made
me start digging into money.

1153
01:05:22,001 --> 01:05:25,838
60%, 70% of his money was
coming from one source,

1154
01:05:26,172 --> 01:05:29,008
which was a billionaire
out in Cisco, Texas.

1155
01:05:59,538 --> 01:06:01,748
I did the thing
that people do, right?

1156
01:06:01,749 --> 01:06:04,834
When you discover something,
is you put it on Facebook

1157
01:06:04,835 --> 01:06:07,254
or you put it on Twitter
and you talk about it.

1158
01:06:08,547 --> 01:06:10,966
Our schools are not to be used

1159
01:06:10,967 --> 01:06:13,301
for personal political agendas,

1160
01:06:13,302 --> 01:06:16,347
and our children are here for education,

1161
01:06:16,472 --> 01:06:18,723
not religious indoctrination.

1162
01:06:18,724 --> 01:06:23,061
Go tell your pastor, "Our
schools are not your church."

1163
01:06:23,062 --> 01:06:23,896
Thank you.

1164
01:06:25,439 --> 01:06:27,065
I'm good at spreadsheets.

1165
01:06:27,066 --> 01:06:29,985
So I built pie charts, and yeah,

1166
01:06:29,986 --> 01:06:31,862
I built a site to make it go.

1167
01:06:32,029 --> 01:06:33,780
We have Chris Tackett,

1168
01:06:33,781 --> 01:06:39,203
who is a former trustee
of this school board.

1169
01:06:39,537 --> 01:06:41,705
Pie chart guy for the Texas,

1170
01:06:41,706 --> 01:06:43,415
for all the state reps.
- He does pie charts, right?

1171
01:06:43,416 --> 01:06:46,251
- Pie chart man.
- For all the conservatives

1172
01:06:46,252 --> 01:06:48,128
to show where all the dark money goes.

1173
01:06:48,129 --> 01:06:50,922
It was kind of an
eyeopener for me to realize

1174
01:06:50,923 --> 01:06:53,466
that there was this bigger
agenda behind everything.

1175
01:06:54,510 --> 01:06:55,719
Some of the people

1176
01:06:55,720 --> 01:06:58,263
that are pushing this agenda
believe it is their duty

1177
01:06:58,264 --> 01:07:00,016
to take over everywhere,

1178
01:07:00,391 --> 01:07:02,350
government, public schools, media,

1179
01:07:02,351 --> 01:07:04,353
every aspect of our lives.

1180
01:07:04,562 --> 01:07:07,439
You're going to read
about certain verticals

1181
01:07:07,440 --> 01:07:10,776
or structures that the
enemy is working on.

1182
01:07:11,485 --> 01:07:15,113
Satan wants to occupy
the seat of influence

1183
01:07:15,114 --> 01:07:17,115
over the Supreme Court,
over the government,

1184
01:07:17,116 --> 01:07:19,410
over education with indoctrination.

1185
01:07:20,369 --> 01:07:23,163
We are the force that
is hindering the devil

1186
01:07:23,164 --> 01:07:24,790
from doing what he wants to do.

1187
01:07:24,957 --> 01:07:28,710
God takes what the
devil meant to harm us

1188
01:07:28,711 --> 01:07:31,379
and He turns it into good.

1189
01:07:31,380 --> 01:07:33,174
He blesses us with it.

1190
01:07:33,716 --> 01:07:35,258
Every time we're attacked
at Patriot Mobile,

1191
01:07:35,259 --> 01:07:37,887
our sales just go through the roof.

1192
01:07:38,137 --> 01:07:39,638
We increase our sales.

1193
01:07:39,972 --> 01:07:42,266
And so what does
increasing our sales mean?

1194
01:07:42,433 --> 01:07:43,975
It means we can give more money back

1195
01:07:43,976 --> 01:07:46,853
to organizations like Moms for Liberty.

1196
01:07:47,813 --> 01:07:52,358
This is a spiritual war,
not a political war.

1197
01:07:54,195 --> 01:07:57,238
Is the agenda to gain power and money,

1198
01:07:57,239 --> 01:08:00,451
or is it to make our country
a Christian theocracy?

1199
01:08:01,410 --> 01:08:03,120
Or are they one and the same?

1200
01:08:10,628 --> 01:08:13,255
Thank you for having me, all of you.

1201
01:08:14,173 --> 01:08:17,842
I moved to Granbury in
2020, and I really hope

1202
01:08:17,843 --> 01:08:20,971
it stands up to the
reputation it had when I came.

1203
01:08:21,806 --> 01:08:24,308
The word I have on my heart is repentance.

1204
01:08:24,600 --> 01:08:27,268
Not all of us had a hand
in what's happened here,

1205
01:08:27,269 --> 01:08:30,856
but we are the ones who are
present to solve the issues.

1206
01:08:31,357 --> 01:08:34,442
The last book I read was 600 plus pages

1207
01:08:34,443 --> 01:08:38,071
and it was a whipping for
poor quality, number one,

1208
01:08:38,072 --> 01:08:39,614
but also sexual content.

1209
01:08:39,615 --> 01:08:40,907
And I'm sorry to point fingers,

1210
01:08:40,908 --> 01:08:43,868
but we have librarians
who are misunderstanding

1211
01:08:43,869 --> 01:08:45,745
what is healthy and good for children.

1212
01:08:45,746 --> 01:08:49,083
I think you ought to have
people of good moral standards,

1213
01:08:49,583 --> 01:08:51,835
people in the community that
maybe even are voted on.

1214
01:08:51,836 --> 01:08:54,546
Pastors like Paul Duncan, he
would never steer you wrong

1215
01:08:54,547 --> 01:08:56,673
and he'll put you in a
safety zone with your books.

1216
01:08:56,674 --> 01:08:58,341
You don't have to have

1217
01:08:58,342 --> 01:09:00,928
these ultra controversial
books in your library.

1218
01:09:01,637 --> 01:09:03,471
Hey TikTok, I got a wild one for ya.

1219
01:09:03,472 --> 01:09:06,558
In 2018, I received this text from my mom

1220
01:09:06,559 --> 01:09:09,394
after coming out and was
effectively cut off my family

1221
01:09:09,395 --> 01:09:10,688
and eight younger siblings.

1222
01:09:10,938 --> 01:09:13,565
I came across this video
showing my mom speaking

1223
01:09:13,566 --> 01:09:15,233
at a school board meeting in Texas,

1224
01:09:15,234 --> 01:09:17,026
calling for the district to remove books,

1225
01:09:17,027 --> 01:09:19,237
repent, and appoint a pastor to review

1226
01:09:19,238 --> 01:09:20,905
and approve educational material.

1227
01:09:20,906 --> 01:09:23,658
She even filed charges against librarians

1228
01:09:23,659 --> 01:09:24,785
in Granbury, Texas.

1229
01:09:24,910 --> 01:09:26,995
Literally, you have thousands of books,

1230
01:09:26,996 --> 01:09:30,166
so what harm is it to
let go of some of them?

1231
01:09:30,499 --> 01:09:32,459
And that's all I have to say.

1232
01:09:32,751 --> 01:09:34,253
Thank you Ms. Brown.

1233
01:09:42,511 --> 01:09:44,053
Your kids do not go school here.

1234
01:09:44,054 --> 01:09:46,139
- No, they don't.
- You're on a political agenda

1235
01:09:46,140 --> 01:09:47,640
and everybody knows what you're doing.

1236
01:09:47,641 --> 01:09:50,560
You're trying to get
school staff arrested.

1237
01:09:50,561 --> 01:09:51,603
You've already tried it.

1238
01:09:51,604 --> 01:09:52,729
That's what you're doing

1239
01:09:52,730 --> 01:09:54,606
and we know that's what you're doing.

1240
01:09:54,607 --> 01:09:55,773
That's fine with me if you know it,

1241
01:09:55,774 --> 01:09:57,483
I'm not hiding anything.

1242
01:09:57,484 --> 01:09:59,611
You'll notice I haven't hid a thing.

1243
01:09:59,612 --> 01:10:00,445
I'm not hiding anything.
- Me neither.

1244
01:10:00,446 --> 01:10:02,530
And I do have a problem
with sexually explicit books

1245
01:10:02,531 --> 01:10:03,865
in the library.
- I'm sure you do.

1246
01:10:03,866 --> 01:10:05,950
- And expose the wrong.
- You're trying to arrest

1247
01:10:05,951 --> 01:10:08,578
librarians, I have nothing to say to you.

1248
01:10:08,579 --> 01:10:13,708
You're trying to arrest librarians.

1249
01:10:13,709 --> 01:10:14,876
You're a fascist.

1250
01:10:14,877 --> 01:10:16,252
You're a fascist. - There you go.

1251
01:10:16,253 --> 01:10:17,086
Fascist.

1252
01:10:17,087 --> 01:10:18,505
Fascist. Fascist.

1253
01:10:26,764 --> 01:10:30,351
When I moved here to San
Diego, I got a bunch of prints.

1254
01:10:30,684 --> 01:10:33,061
My siblings from a few years back,

1255
01:10:33,062 --> 01:10:34,897
one of the last times I got to see them.

1256
01:10:35,064 --> 01:10:38,692
And my partner here, his name's Andrew.

1257
01:10:40,861 --> 01:10:43,029
Growing up, none of my siblings,

1258
01:10:43,030 --> 01:10:44,614
there's nine of us total,

1259
01:10:44,615 --> 01:10:47,451
none of us have stepped
foot in a public school.

1260
01:10:49,620 --> 01:10:50,995
Every piece of printed material

1261
01:10:50,996 --> 01:10:53,916
that came into our home
was curated by my parents.

1262
01:10:55,793 --> 01:11:00,798
I'm starting a little collection of books.

1263
01:11:01,590 --> 01:11:03,174
It's off to a small start.

1264
01:11:03,175 --> 01:11:06,679
The book that started it
all, "All Boys Aren't Blue".

1265
01:11:07,763 --> 01:11:09,222
Right off the bat, this book is saying,

1266
01:11:09,223 --> 01:11:11,100
"Hey, there are some heavy topics.

1267
01:11:12,726 --> 01:11:13,977
Be aware."

1268
01:11:18,232 --> 01:11:22,278
It all seems so much
smaller and depressing.

1269
01:11:24,738 --> 01:11:27,407
I hope my siblings can
make it out unscathed.

1270
01:11:27,408 --> 01:11:28,908
And I'm worried that they're growing up

1271
01:11:28,909 --> 01:11:32,704
in even more extreme circumstances,

1272
01:11:32,705 --> 01:11:37,918
and I hope that they're able
to find their own path as well.

1273
01:11:39,503 --> 01:11:42,630
What my parents, the people
that my parents learned from,

1274
01:11:42,631 --> 01:11:44,215
are doing is so harmful

1275
01:11:44,216 --> 01:11:47,261
and they deserve to be
put back in their lane.

1276
01:11:53,142 --> 01:11:55,184
Hello, everyone, my name is Weston Brown.

1277
01:11:55,185 --> 01:11:56,686
I was born and raised in Texas

1278
01:11:56,687 --> 01:11:59,148
and I'm grateful for the
opportunity to speak here tonight.

1279
01:11:59,606 --> 01:12:01,733
A few months ago I saw
my mom, Monica Brown,

1280
01:12:01,734 --> 01:12:04,277
standing at this podium calling
for the removal of books

1281
01:12:04,278 --> 01:12:05,945
and asking the school to follow

1282
01:12:05,946 --> 01:12:07,656
the guidance of a religious leader.

1283
01:12:07,990 --> 01:12:10,492
Weston Brown.

1284
01:12:20,169 --> 01:12:21,961
From a young age, I was
taught to give a voice

1285
01:12:21,962 --> 01:12:24,255
to people who were disregarded,

1286
01:12:24,256 --> 01:12:26,717
elevate the marginalized,
and love my neighbor.

1287
01:12:28,135 --> 01:12:31,138
Today I strive to be the person
I needed when I was young.

1288
01:12:31,555 --> 01:12:33,806
Someone who would stand up, speak out,

1289
01:12:33,807 --> 01:12:35,851
and protect the kid that felt alone.

1290
01:12:37,311 --> 01:12:39,270
Growing up we read the
Bible cover to cover

1291
01:12:39,271 --> 01:12:41,106
from the earliest age I can remember.

1292
01:12:42,024 --> 01:12:45,651
We repetitively read graphic
depictions of sex, violence,

1293
01:12:45,652 --> 01:12:48,447
genocide, sexual assault, and incest.

1294
01:12:49,073 --> 01:12:50,990
However, topics related to dating,

1295
01:12:50,991 --> 01:12:53,284
safe sex, drugs, alcohol,

1296
01:12:53,285 --> 01:12:55,703
or sexual identity were
deemed inappropriate

1297
01:12:55,704 --> 01:12:57,289
or too heavy to discuss.

1298
01:12:58,123 --> 01:13:00,875
I would've given anything to
read a book with a character

1299
01:13:00,876 --> 01:13:02,503
that felt the feelings I felt,

1300
01:13:03,837 --> 01:13:05,756
ask the questions I couldn't ask,

1301
01:13:06,215 --> 01:13:08,592
and learned the lessons
that I needed to learn.

1302
01:13:09,718 --> 01:13:12,638
It's been nearly five years
since I came out to my family.

1303
01:13:17,393 --> 01:13:20,437
I'm not allowed to join in
family celebrations or holidays

1304
01:13:20,729 --> 01:13:23,107
or be a part of my eight
younger siblings lives,

1305
01:13:24,024 --> 01:13:25,734
solely because I'm not straight.

1306
01:13:27,152 --> 01:13:30,739
I am here today to implore
you to listen to librarians,

1307
01:13:31,115 --> 01:13:33,492
educators, and students,

1308
01:13:34,076 --> 01:13:36,452
not those speaking from
a religious perspective

1309
01:13:36,453 --> 01:13:39,540
or at the bidding of a political group.

1310
01:13:40,624 --> 01:13:42,375
If you choose to marginalize difference

1311
01:13:42,376 --> 01:13:45,212
and remove representation,
you will only cause harm.

1312
01:13:46,588 --> 01:13:48,923
History will remember your decisions

1313
01:13:48,924 --> 01:13:50,509
and demand accountability.

1314
01:13:51,427 --> 01:13:54,138
Show the world that Granbury
will not succumb to fear,

1315
01:13:56,640 --> 01:13:57,933
but will shine brightly,

1316
01:13:58,142 --> 01:14:00,601
leading the way for the
next generation of Texans.

1317
01:14:00,602 --> 01:14:01,936
Thank you for listening.

1318
01:14:13,615 --> 01:14:16,452
Next
up we have Monica Brown.

1319
01:14:23,250 --> 01:14:24,167
Thank you.

1320
01:14:24,168 --> 01:14:26,295
And I knew that was
coming what came tonight.

1321
01:14:26,462 --> 01:14:27,378
It's no surprise.

1322
01:14:27,379 --> 01:14:29,214
Not all true,

1323
01:14:30,174 --> 01:14:33,050
but it is true that we
have said now in our home

1324
01:14:33,051 --> 01:14:34,928
for what we expect in our family.

1325
01:14:35,971 --> 01:14:38,056
Whether that matters to any of you or not.

1326
01:14:38,515 --> 01:14:39,765
Just as an example, you know,

1327
01:14:39,766 --> 01:14:41,934
in the scripture it says Adam knew Eve.

1328
01:14:41,935 --> 01:14:45,771
That's not the same as saying
he stuck his dick in her body,

1329
01:14:45,772 --> 01:14:47,690
but that's what you got in your library.

1330
01:14:47,691 --> 01:14:51,569
Listen, that's what you got.
- It's in your library.

1331
01:14:51,570 --> 01:14:56,491
That's my mom who
birthed me, who raised me,

1332
01:14:56,492 --> 01:14:58,243
and fed me, and took care of me.

1333
01:14:58,827 --> 01:15:02,164
Is it some sort of religious psychosis?

1334
01:15:02,664 --> 01:15:06,167
Years of messaging from extremist pastors

1335
01:15:06,168 --> 01:15:07,503
and political leaders?

1336
01:15:09,379 --> 01:15:10,463
'Cause when I look at my mom,

1337
01:15:10,464 --> 01:15:12,841
I see someone who absolutely
believes what she's saying,

1338
01:15:13,175 --> 01:15:15,928
and I see someone who looks scared.

1339
01:15:16,053 --> 01:15:17,930
- Thank you for coming.
- Thank you so much.

1340
01:15:20,057 --> 01:15:20,891
Okay.

1341
01:15:25,270 --> 01:15:28,397
Your mother has been
involved in this process.

1342
01:15:28,398 --> 01:15:30,441
What was it like to stand here tonight

1343
01:15:30,442 --> 01:15:32,151
knowing she's here as well.

1344
01:15:32,152 --> 01:15:33,778
You know, in my mind,

1345
01:15:33,779 --> 01:15:35,279
that wasn't as interesting.

1346
01:15:35,280 --> 01:15:37,073
It wasn't what was top of mind for me.

1347
01:15:37,074 --> 01:15:39,367
I don't have a message for my family,

1348
01:15:39,368 --> 01:15:41,285
or for my mom, or my dad specifically.

1349
01:15:41,286 --> 01:15:44,163
I have brought and said
everything that I have to say

1350
01:15:44,164 --> 01:15:47,333
to them in many conversations,
many times over.

1351
01:15:47,334 --> 01:15:49,544
And so my perspective tonight isn't to try

1352
01:15:49,545 --> 01:15:51,212
to reach through to my parents,

1353
01:15:51,213 --> 01:15:53,965
that's a conversation that
they have the tools they need,

1354
01:15:53,966 --> 01:15:56,342
they know what they need
to do to build the bridge.

1355
01:15:56,343 --> 01:15:58,261
But my goal, not my goal,

1356
01:15:58,262 --> 01:16:01,347
my plea is for librarians, educators,

1357
01:16:01,348 --> 01:16:05,102
student, and the boards to
pay attention to what matters.

1358
01:16:07,521 --> 01:16:09,480
Monica,
do you have any comments?

1359
01:16:09,481 --> 01:16:10,899
This is Monica Brown.

1360
01:16:11,233 --> 01:16:13,317
Monica, we're with NBC 5,

1361
01:16:13,318 --> 01:16:15,779
is there anything that
you would like to say?

1362
01:16:25,497 --> 01:16:27,999
I think as librarians,

1363
01:16:28,000 --> 01:16:30,043
we recognize that we're on a continuum.

1364
01:16:31,336 --> 01:16:36,091
That the swing between
these polarizing views

1365
01:16:37,342 --> 01:16:38,926
are having catastrophic effects

1366
01:16:38,927 --> 01:16:41,429
on our social structures
and our communities.

1367
01:16:41,430 --> 01:16:47,101
We are on the precipice of
some very, very bad things

1368
01:16:47,102 --> 01:16:48,811
happening in this country.

1369
01:16:48,812 --> 01:16:51,231
I just hope and pray that
people are waking up.

1370
01:16:52,232 --> 01:16:54,484
It's gone way beyond
the Krause list, honey,

1371
01:16:54,985 --> 01:16:57,070
way beyond the Krause list.

1372
01:16:57,321 --> 01:17:00,531
We are going to take back our schools.

1373
01:17:00,532 --> 01:17:02,116
This is what I will
do to the grooming books

1374
01:17:02,117 --> 01:17:03,659
when I become Secretary of State.

1375
01:17:07,998 --> 01:17:09,332
Being offended is the basis

1376
01:17:09,333 --> 01:17:10,499
for House Bill 666.

1377
01:17:10,500 --> 01:17:12,293
They feel
that this legislation

1378
01:17:12,294 --> 01:17:14,920
could be used to threaten
schools to remove books

1379
01:17:14,921 --> 01:17:18,842
or face arrest just because
someone does not like a book.

1380
01:17:20,594 --> 01:17:23,763
Is it so hurtful to
maybe nurture morality?

1381
01:17:23,764 --> 01:17:25,348
Is that so awful to do that?

1382
01:17:25,349 --> 01:17:27,475
I think that there's
going to come a time

1383
01:17:27,476 --> 01:17:30,728
in some of these books where
it crosses a criminal line.

1384
01:17:30,729 --> 01:17:33,482
It's called contributing to
the delinquency of a minor.

1385
01:17:41,281 --> 01:17:42,657
Good seeing ya.

1386
01:17:42,658 --> 01:17:45,452
I had been home for three days,

1387
01:17:46,453 --> 01:17:49,665
and in that last day,

1388
01:17:49,915 --> 01:17:52,249
I had people calling me left and right,

1389
01:17:52,250 --> 01:17:54,294
"Are you okay? What's going on?"

1390
01:17:54,628 --> 01:17:57,047
I was like, "What are you talking about?"

1391
01:18:01,927 --> 01:18:05,429
A Hood County constable
attempted to bring felony charges

1392
01:18:05,430 --> 01:18:07,139
against three librarians

1393
01:18:07,140 --> 01:18:09,892
for providing students with library books

1394
01:18:09,893 --> 01:18:11,978
the constable deemed obscene.

1395
01:18:13,438 --> 01:18:15,648
Now, I'm not one of those crazy,

1396
01:18:15,649 --> 01:18:18,235
overthrow the government anarchist types.

1397
01:18:19,403 --> 01:18:22,072
But it is a legitimate question to ask,

1398
01:18:22,739 --> 01:18:25,199
what do you do when your government

1399
01:18:25,200 --> 01:18:27,536
doesn't follow its own rules?

1400
01:18:32,791 --> 01:18:34,500
How does a sheriff arrest someone

1401
01:18:34,501 --> 01:18:37,170
for violating your constitutional rights?

1402
01:18:37,504 --> 01:18:39,714
I had some complainants come in on Friday

1403
01:18:39,715 --> 01:18:44,176
and talked about making
a report about the books.

1404
01:18:44,177 --> 01:18:45,136
- Okay.
- Do you know

1405
01:18:45,137 --> 01:18:48,305
if they use student aids in the libraries?

1406
01:18:48,306 --> 01:18:49,015
Yes.

1407
01:18:49,641 --> 01:18:53,602
I was told that my library
aids were gonna be pulled,

1408
01:18:53,603 --> 01:18:58,190
because for every piece of pornography

1409
01:18:58,191 --> 01:18:59,817
that was found in the library,

1410
01:18:59,818 --> 01:19:03,864
I would be served with one
felony for every student.

1411
01:19:04,740 --> 01:19:08,033
Constable London was
trying to tell the librarians

1412
01:19:08,034 --> 01:19:13,039
that if minors had actually
put those books on the shelves,

1413
01:19:13,373 --> 01:19:16,418
then it was then elevated to a felony.

1414
01:19:16,960 --> 01:19:18,252
I'm doing a
criminal investigation

1415
01:19:18,253 --> 01:19:19,671
into some of your staff.

1416
01:19:20,130 --> 01:19:23,299
Obviously, there's been
an allegation of books

1417
01:19:23,300 --> 01:19:27,261
that were in conflict of the
penal code in the library.

1418
01:19:27,262 --> 01:19:29,973
Essentially, the
librarians are my suspects.

1419
01:19:30,390 --> 01:19:32,057
If they're the ones
that are choosing books

1420
01:19:32,058 --> 01:19:34,059
and putting 'em in there, you know,

1421
01:19:34,060 --> 01:19:36,688
they're the ones that are
carrying the criminal liability.

1422
01:19:37,189 --> 01:19:39,899
Constable London
was able to get the names

1423
01:19:39,900 --> 01:19:43,737
of the minors that
checked out those books.

1424
01:19:43,945 --> 01:19:45,946
To me, as a parent,

1425
01:19:45,947 --> 01:19:48,200
that is extremely concerning,

1426
01:19:50,911 --> 01:19:53,163
So then I got to tell those poor kids

1427
01:19:53,371 --> 01:19:55,706
that they were not gonna be
allowed to be library aids,

1428
01:19:55,707 --> 01:19:56,582
because people are afraid

1429
01:19:56,583 --> 01:19:58,293
that there's pornography in the library.

1430
01:19:58,919 --> 01:20:00,294
I'm definitely on that list.

1431
01:20:00,295 --> 01:20:03,297
I was in the library
literally every single day

1432
01:20:03,298 --> 01:20:04,548
of my senior year.

1433
01:20:04,549 --> 01:20:06,635
That is really, really scary,

1434
01:20:07,969 --> 01:20:16,311
and that is information that
can be used in such a evil way.

1435
01:20:16,561 --> 01:20:19,146
If the student was underage,

1436
01:20:19,147 --> 01:20:21,274
was he gonna go after the parents

1437
01:20:21,525 --> 01:20:23,234
for the kids checking out pornography?

1438
01:20:23,235 --> 01:20:25,152
Was he gonna go after other students

1439
01:20:25,153 --> 01:20:27,864
who may have been 18 at the time?

1440
01:20:30,325 --> 01:20:31,826
As someone who's not had

1441
01:20:31,827 --> 01:20:34,537
anything to do with
breaking the law and that,

1442
01:20:34,538 --> 01:20:36,831
I mean, maybe a speeding ticket,

1443
01:20:36,832 --> 01:20:39,709
but who would've thought
child pornography?

1444
01:20:41,127 --> 01:20:43,171
I fear that we are at the point now where

1445
01:20:44,965 --> 01:20:46,883
we're gonna see teachers in handcuffs.

1446
01:20:53,557 --> 01:20:57,268
There are forces that want to manipulate

1447
01:20:57,269 --> 01:21:00,939
and to control the
dissemination of information.

1448
01:21:02,691 --> 01:21:07,195
Some of us feel that
depth of responsibility

1449
01:21:07,362 --> 01:21:10,824
to help our communities navigate.

1450
01:21:11,908 --> 01:21:12,992
That's why we're here.

1451
01:21:12,993 --> 01:21:14,703
Librarians are the firewall.

1452
01:21:24,629 --> 01:21:26,964
I happen to
come in contact last year

1453
01:21:26,965 --> 01:21:29,550
with our State Senator Andrew Zwicker,

1454
01:21:29,551 --> 01:21:31,385
who after hearing my story,

1455
01:21:31,386 --> 01:21:33,680
put forth the New Jersey
Freedom to Read Act.

1456
01:21:38,226 --> 01:21:40,519
I went down to Trenton to testify

1457
01:21:40,520 --> 01:21:43,899
in front of the education
committee in favor of the bill.

1458
01:21:44,274 --> 01:21:46,191
There is a
proposed committee substitute,

1459
01:21:46,192 --> 01:21:48,986
which establishes requirements
for library material

1460
01:21:48,987 --> 01:21:50,988
and public school libraries

1461
01:21:50,989 --> 01:21:53,574
and establishes protections
for school library,

1462
01:21:53,575 --> 01:21:55,285
staff members, and librarians.

1463
01:21:56,328 --> 01:22:00,497
Being your vast experience
over the years in your role,

1464
01:22:00,498 --> 01:22:02,667
do you see a distinction
between book banning

1465
01:22:02,792 --> 01:22:05,336
and restricting access to
pornography for minors?

1466
01:22:05,337 --> 01:22:06,378
In my professional role,

1467
01:22:06,379 --> 01:22:09,548
there is no pornography for
minors in school library,

1468
01:22:09,549 --> 01:22:11,468
so there is no need to restrict it.

1469
01:22:12,510 --> 01:22:14,637
Book restrictions are, however,

1470
01:22:14,638 --> 01:22:16,097
a form of censorship.

1471
01:22:16,264 --> 01:22:20,060
Your personal opinion about
obscenity does not make it so.

1472
01:22:20,602 --> 01:22:21,977
Thank you for sharing.

1473
01:22:21,978 --> 01:22:24,229
I believe a penis is
inappropriate for fifth grade,

1474
01:22:24,230 --> 01:22:25,856
but thank you, we can talk offline.

1475
01:22:25,857 --> 01:22:26,691
Thank you.

1476
01:22:27,609 --> 01:22:29,569
Had I been
permitted to speak further,

1477
01:22:29,819 --> 01:22:34,199
I would've reminded her that
fifth graders have penises.

1478
01:22:43,792 --> 01:22:45,292
A county in central Texas

1479
01:22:45,293 --> 01:22:49,171
will consider shutting down its
entire public library system

1480
01:22:49,172 --> 01:22:52,675
because a federal judge ordered
it to return banned books.

1481
01:22:52,676 --> 01:22:54,176
This dispute ultimately led

1482
01:22:54,177 --> 01:22:56,596
to a special meeting in
commissioner's court.

1483
01:22:57,847 --> 01:23:01,141
I am in favor of closing
the libraries temporarily

1484
01:23:01,142 --> 01:23:03,060
until we find a solution

1485
01:23:03,061 --> 01:23:05,270
to the pornographic filth we do have.

1486
01:23:05,271 --> 01:23:07,356
How do we think it's okay that

1487
01:23:07,357 --> 01:23:11,610
the librarians would actually
facilitate that and deal that

1488
01:23:11,611 --> 01:23:13,780
like a drug dealer to our kids,

1489
01:23:14,197 --> 01:23:16,324
and now they're becoming porn dealers?

1490
01:23:16,616 --> 01:23:18,702
Is that what our librarians have become?

1491
01:23:20,370 --> 01:23:22,122
My name is Suzette Baker.

1492
01:23:22,539 --> 01:23:25,542
I'm the former head librarian
for Kingsland, Texas.

1493
01:23:25,834 --> 01:23:27,627
I'm also a military veteran.

1494
01:23:28,586 --> 01:23:32,798
The books that are in the
library are not pornographic.

1495
01:23:32,799 --> 01:23:34,009
None of them are.

1496
01:23:34,342 --> 01:23:35,300
I would like to know

1497
01:23:35,301 --> 01:23:39,014
how the history of the
KKK is pornographic.

1498
01:23:39,681 --> 01:23:43,018
"How to Be an Antiracist,"
how's that pornographic?

1499
01:23:43,560 --> 01:23:44,477
It's not.

1500
01:23:45,061 --> 01:23:48,231
This is about taking away rights.

1501
01:23:48,773 --> 01:23:50,984
Keep the libraries open,

1502
01:23:51,234 --> 01:23:56,239
keep the information
available to all equally.

1503
01:23:56,614 --> 01:23:59,284
This is not a communist nation.

1504
01:23:59,576 --> 01:24:03,955
You do not get to pick our
reading material, it is ours.

1505
01:24:05,457 --> 01:24:07,375
So with that, I'll take a motion.

1506
01:24:13,006 --> 01:24:14,089
I'll second.

1507
01:24:14,090 --> 01:24:15,799
The library will remain open.

1508
01:24:15,800 --> 01:24:17,676
We will try this in the courts,

1509
01:24:17,677 --> 01:24:20,889
not through social media
or through news media.

1510
01:24:21,389 --> 01:24:24,016
Libraries
in Llano will stay open

1511
01:24:24,017 --> 01:24:27,062
after a passion filled afternoon.

1512
01:24:30,815 --> 01:24:31,983
Come here!

1513
01:24:35,904 --> 01:24:37,405
It's good to know we're not alone.

1514
01:24:48,291 --> 01:24:50,584
- Hey, you! How are you?
- Hey!

1515
01:24:50,585 --> 01:24:51,502
Good! How are you?

1516
01:24:51,503 --> 01:24:55,631
I'm proud of you, I forgot
my FReadom shirt at home!

1517
01:24:55,632 --> 01:24:56,966
Will you take a picture of me beside it?

1518
01:24:57,175 --> 01:24:58,801
Yes! I just took a picture.

1519
01:25:05,058 --> 01:25:06,266
I couldn't be more delighted

1520
01:25:06,267 --> 01:25:08,393
to introduce Amanda Jones to you,

1521
01:25:08,394 --> 01:25:10,521
author of "That Librarian",

1522
01:25:10,522 --> 01:25:12,898
part memoir, part manifesto.

1523
01:25:12,899 --> 01:25:14,233
No one should have to endure

1524
01:25:14,234 --> 01:25:16,235
everything that Amanda has had to endure,

1525
01:25:16,236 --> 01:25:19,196
and I fear that other people in this room

1526
01:25:19,197 --> 01:25:21,157
may have had similar experiences.

1527
01:25:21,533 --> 01:25:25,035
We are so grateful for all
you do on the front lines.

1528
01:25:29,040 --> 01:25:30,667
How can you stay?

1529
01:25:32,001 --> 01:25:33,502
- Oh, stay in my town?
- Yeah.

1530
01:25:33,503 --> 01:25:34,586
Oh, it's my town.

1531
01:25:34,587 --> 01:25:35,797
They can all go to hell.

1532
01:25:42,053 --> 01:25:44,012
You my hero, you know that, right?

1533
01:25:44,013 --> 01:25:46,432
- Thank you.
- You absolutely my hero.

1534
01:26:03,908 --> 01:26:05,493
I don't know what's gonna happen next.

1535
01:26:06,703 --> 01:26:11,708
I cannot imagine us being on
a cliff, that's just too much.

1536
01:26:15,044 --> 01:26:18,381
But I don't know, maybe we
are and we've gone over.

1537
01:26:24,220 --> 01:26:25,471
Our stories have power.

1538
01:26:27,765 --> 01:26:29,601
I can't stay anonymous.

1539
01:26:30,143 --> 01:26:32,020
I can't stay in the shadows anymore.

1540
01:26:39,903 --> 01:26:42,071
I can't let them keep
my story in the dark.

1541
01:26:43,656 --> 01:26:44,782
I won't be censored.

1542
01:26:45,241 --> 01:26:47,534
Just like we can't let them keep censoring

1543
01:26:47,535 --> 01:26:48,953
the stories in our books.

1544
01:26:52,373 --> 01:26:56,377
What I do know is that our
story is still being written,

1545
01:26:58,546 --> 01:27:00,505
but now it's everyone's story.