Georgia parent banned from reading sexually explicit book about slavery

Georgia parent banned from reading sexually explicit book about slavery at school board meeting

A Georgia parent was banned from reading an excerpt from the book at a school board meeting last week because it was “inappropriate,” even though the novel is still available to district high school students.

Michelle Brown attended a Cherokee County School Board meeting last Thursday demanding answers about the inclusion of Yaa Gyasi’s book Homecoming in school libraries.

After explaining the complicated bureaucratic process of removing a book from the shelves, Brown began reading the award-winning novel in an attempt to illustrate why it should be banned in a district of 42,000 students.

“Now excited, he entered her as she closed her eyes as tightly as she could,” she read.

Her tongue curled around her lips. He pressed harder, his breathing heavy and labored. She scratched his back and he cried out. She bit his ear and pulled his hair,” she continued, adding, “And that’s not all. It’s Fifty Shades of Gray at CCSD.”

Published in 2016, Homecoming tells the story of two African half-sisters, born in the mid-18th century, who grow up to live very different lives because of the slave trade.

When Brown was ranting about a book that is not being used in classroom teaching, board member Patsy Jordan interrupted her.

— Excuse me, I’m sorry, we have children at home. This is a live stream and you really shouldn’t be reading this,” Jordan said.

Don’t you find irony in this? shouted Brown, at one point striking the pulpit. “You’re saying exactly what I’m telling you!” You give it to our children! I would never give this to my children!”

Michelle Brown was banned from reading an excerpt from the book at a school board meeting in Cherokee County, Georgia last week because it was

Michelle Brown was banned from reading an excerpt from the book at a school board meeting in Cherokee County, Georgia last week because it was “inappropriate.”

A parent read an excerpt from 33-year-old writer Yaa Gyasi's award-winning novel Homecoming, which describes how the lives of two sisters intertwined during the transatlantic slave trade.

A parent read an excerpt from 33-year-old writer Yaa Gyasi’s award-winning novel Homecoming, which describes how the lives of two sisters intertwined during the transatlantic slave trade.

— Excuse me, I'm sorry, we have children at home.  This is a live stream and you really shouldn't be reading this,” board member Patsy Jordan (bottom right) said.

— Excuse me, I’m sorry, we have children at home. This is a live stream and you really shouldn’t be reading this,” board member Patsy Jordan (bottom right) said.

The CSSD told that Brown has no high school-age children in the area, about an hour north of Atlanta. It is not clear if she has children in the district’s elementary schools.

Another board member chimes in: “I think we got the gist of the information you wanted to share with us tonight.”

“So you’re interrupting me?” Brown asks at a March 17 meeting.

“So you have the last 30 seconds – our lawyer said: “Not okay,” the board member replies.

“I suggest not sending books to anyone else,” adds Brown. “It’s not our job, it’s your job to get these books. All this happened under your supervision.

“Perhaps if you spent more time reading these books than counting the demographic statistics of those who sent in the books, you wouldn’t be looking after our children.

Homecoming was written by 33-year-old Ghanaian-American writer Yaa Gyasi.  Pictured above, Gyasi receives the PEN/Hemingway Award for

Homecoming was written by 33-year-old Ghanaian-American writer Yaa Gyasi. Pictured above, Gyasi receives the PEN/Hemingway Award for “Coming Home” at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston on April 2, 2017.

The CCSD says the mother who burst into applause has no high school-age children in the district.

The CCSD says the mother who burst into applause has no high school-age children in the district.

Are you saying we’re embarrassing you? Well, you’re a disgrace to us and our children.

‘This is not good! You must provide them with a safe place in the school. These books? If I can’t email them to you, if I can’t pronounce them, they shouldn’t be in school!”

What is Yaa Gyasi’s book Homecoming about?

1648173599 963 Georgia parent banned from reading sexually explicit book about slavery

Homegoing was published in 2016 by Penguin Random House.

The 320-page novel was written by 33-year-old Ghanaian-American writer Yaa Gyasi.

It tells the story of two half-sisters born in mid-18th century Ghana who grew up and lived very different lives.

Effia marries the British governor of Cap Coast Castle and lives a life of luxury, while her sister Esi is captured during a raid on her village and held in a dungeon under Effia before being put on a slave ship. The book chronicles the lives of the sisters’ descendants as it shows how the legacy of slavery affects them in the present.

The novel received the John Leonard Award from the National Book Critics Circle in 2016. That same year, author Ta-Nehisi Coates selected him for the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 25 Award. It was also selected as one of Oprah Winfrey’s “Best Books of the Year”.

Writing for the New York Times, Isabelle Wilkerson called the book “hypnotic” and called Gyasi “a stunningly gifted young writer”.

The vulture said, “Rich. . . . Charming. . . . Each chapter is carefully crafted, and there are unsettling, even thrilling, climaxes.”

Sources: Penguin Random House, Amazon, Goodreads.

Brown left to the applause of the audience.

Homecoming was written by 33-year-old Ghanaian-American writer Yaa Gyasi and published in 2016.

It tells the story of two half-sisters born in Ghana in the mid-18th century who grew up and lived very different lives. Effia marries the British governor of Cap Coast Castle and lives a life of luxury, while her sister Esi is captured during a raid on her village and held in a dungeon under Effia before being put on a slave ship.

The book then explores the lives of the two sisters’ descendants as it shows how the legacy of slavery affects them in the present.

The Goodreads description, which gives the book 4.47 stars, states: “Extraordinary in its exquisite language, its relentless sorrow, its soaring beauty, and its monumental portrayal of the forces that shape families and nations, Homecoming heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction. literature.”

The novel received the John Leonard Award from the National Book Critics Circle in 2016. The prize is given to the best debut book in any genre.

That same year, author Ta-Nehisi Coates selected him for the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 25 Award.

Writing for the New York Times, Isabelle Wilkerson called the book “hypnotic” and called Gyasi “a stunningly gifted young writer”.

During a meeting last week, Brown said the waiting time for the county’s review of the book would run until November.

She also added that as part of the takedown process, any member of the District Review Committee could object to the takedown of the book, meaning it would remain on the shelves.

She claimed that instructions told parents to “get over the shock” of students reading profanity, including the word “see you next Tuesday.”

The appeals committee for the book seizure includes a student who said Homecoming should remain in libraries because it is on her AP class’s reading list, Brown said.

Brown spoke after a woman who introduced herself as a parent of two in CCSD. The woman spoke of her concerns about the “recent increase in contested books” in the county.

Brown said, “If anyone in this room were to give one of those books she’s talking about to a child, you’d go to jail, why then are you putting them in our libraries?” the mother asked.

Homeschooling is not being used for classroom instruction and is currently available at media centers at four high schools, a Cherokee County school district spokesperson told .

The spokeswoman said parents could stop their children from checking books.

“Furthermore, the speaker, who is not a parent of CCSD high school students, has previously been told multiple times that she could apply for the possible removal of the book from CCSD High School media centers, but she did not submit such a challenge,” the spokeswoman said.

Homegoing is the latest book to come under fire from conservative parents and school officials who are increasingly concerned about their children being allowed to read in schools.

Earlier this year, the Tennessee School Board voted unanimously to remove the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about Holocaust survivors from the eighth grade curriculum, citing a drawing of a nude woman, eight swear words and its “imprudent and unhealthy” content.

The McMinn County School Board in Tennessee voted 10–0 to remove

The McMinn County School Board in Tennessee voted 10–0 to remove “Mouse” Art Spiegelman from the eighth grade curriculum due to eight swear words and nudity.

The graphic novel by Art Spiegelman (above) is inspired by the story of Art's parents.

The graphic novel by Art Spiegelman (above) is inspired by the story of Art’s parents.

Board member Tony Allman (left) suggested that the book should at least be censored.

Board member Tony Allman (left) suggested that the book should at least be censored. “Why is the education system promoting this kind of thing, it’s unwise and unhealthy,” he said.

On January 10, the McMinn County Board of Education voted 10–0 to remove “Maus” Art Spiegelman from the curriculum, despite educators arguing that the graphic novel is an “anchor text” in eighth grade English teaching and a central element of instruction. months of research into the Holocaust.

Maus, published in 1991, is inspired by the story of Spiegelman’s parents, Wladek and Anya, who are Holocaust survivors after being sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The graphic novel depicts Nazis as cats and Jews as mice.

The council listened to school leaders and other school officials who defended the use of the book in the classroom, but were unanimously rejected.

“I went to school here for 13 years. I learned math, English, reading and history. I’ve never had a naked picture book, never had a swear book. … So, the idea that we have to have this kind of material in the classroom to teach history, I don’t like it,” board member Mike Cochran said.

Spiegelman, 73, called the ban “Orwellian” in an interview with CNBC, saying he learned about it the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day.