My hometown, Newtown, Connecticut, is in the middle of a book ban controversy which also includes Curato’s book, “Flamer”. Her letter to the editor of the Newtown Bee is intended for students at the local high school – where his book remains in circulation, at least for the time being – and reproduced here in its entirety, with the explicit permission of Curato.
The following letter to the students of Newtown High School has been received for publication by The Newtown Bee:
To the students of Newtown High,
This letter is for you. Regardless of the outcome of this book challenge and the other challenges to come, there are things I need you to know.
Don’t forget that you have the agency. It is difficult for others to decide for you. But your life is in your hands. You have a voice. Use it. Don’t let anyone silence you. Let him out. Speak it, sing it, write it, paint it, dance it. Censorship is fought through expression. It’s your first amendment right, no matter your age or station.
Remember you are the future. Remember this moment. Remember how you feel. Remember what everyone said. Soon you will be an adult member of the community. What rights will you defend? What injustices will you fight to right? Who else in your community has been relegated to the margins? How can you help them? Lead with facts and compassion.
And above all, know this: you deserve to be here. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you believe or who you love. When I was young, it implied that there was no place in this world for someone like me. Unless I followed their rules. I tried to be the person I thought everyone wanted me to be, and it broke me. Do not do that. Don’t let anyone use shame to dictate how you should live your life. I almost lost my life because of this lie. But I survived, and in living my truth I found the greatest joy. Flame is my truth and my joy. It may make some people uncomfortable, but their comfort is NOTHING compared to your safety and happiness.
Remember: they can ban my book, but no one has the right to ban YOU.
THANKS
mike curat
Author and illustrator of Flame
Still in the news:
Simon Rosenberg/”Hopium Chronicles” on Substack:
The past few weeks have been good for Democrats
Biden’s strong launch, major election wins, Rs all kinds of ugly
All of that is why I think this election is about expansion. The R’s offer us an incredible opportunity to grow; we have the infrastructure to do it; now that the campaign is over, it’s time to start. So many things are possible for us now.
We keep winning, everywhere– As we did in 2022, so far this year Dems hasre performing at the top end of what is possible. We’ve won Supreme Court races, mayoral races, state representative races. We won in Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. We flipped two cities, Jacksonsville and Colorado Springs, that have been Republicans for decades. Look how awful the GOP brand is now (below). These are horrible numbers. We have to stay on the offensive and continue to take more political real estate from them.
Will Bunch/Philadelphia Investigator:
From Philadelphia to Colorado Springs, America voted no to extremism on Tuesday
Voters in cities and suburbs — in the mayoral race of Philly, Jacksonville and Colorado Springs — chose moderation on Tuesday.
In Pennsylvania’s Delaware County, in a special state House election that would determine whether Harrisburg lawmakers would have the right to vote to bring their own version of an abortion ban to voters, an increase postal ballots was the first sign of a landslide victory for the pro-choice Democrat. Just north of Montgomery County, Republican primary voters decided to finally enough of right-wing County Commissioner Joe Gale, a rabid supporter of Donald Trump who had wanted to ban mail-in ballots and survived calls to be ousted in 2020 after labeling Black Lives Matter “a hate group.”
It was a bad night for extremists all over America. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, known for its conservative politics (and as the site of six high-profile mass shootings since 2007), Yemi Mobolade, a Nigerian immigrant, shocked the local Republican establishment become the city’s first elected black mayor. In Jacksonville, Fla. — the nation’s largest city with a GOP mayor, ruled mostly by Republicans for 30 years — the candidate heavily backed by both DeSantis and ultraconservative, book-for-freedom moms lost against Democrat Donna Deegan in a huge upheaval.
Ronald Brownstein/Atlantic:
Why Outspoken Women Scare Trump
Making fun of the calculus of sexual harassment is a hallmark of Donald Trump’s political persona.
In part, the laughs demonstrated the strength of Trump’s grip on his supporters. But the reaction also showed something much less often discussed: the extent to which the GOP coalition is resisting more assertive roles in society for women, which has produced, among other things, more frequent accusations and more visible sexual impropriety against men.
The astonishing laughter when Trump belittled Carroll underscored how, for many Republican voters, skepticism over allegations of unfair or inappropriate treatment of women is now intermingled with hostility towards other forms of cultural change, including increasing racial diversity and demands for equal treatment from the LGBTQ community. “We are in the midst of a backlash of racial and gendered progress, in which Trump has normalized the expression of racist and gendered beliefs,” Tresa Undem, a pollster for progressive organizations specializing in attitudes to gender, told me. regard to gender and race. “He constantly taps into those beliefs.”
Julia Azari/POLICY :
Trump’s GOP dominance isn’t what it seems
He presides over a movement, not a party.
For years, political scientists have judged presidents on their strength as party leaders — how well they’ve been able to develop a coalition and cement a majority — but Trump is changing the way we think about politics.
Instead, it now appears that Trump is not so much a party leader, but a movement figure. That might seem like the kind of distinction only academics care about. But it’s essential to understanding the current state of American politics and the dilemmas currently facing GOP leaders as the MAGA movement threatens to completely overtake the Republican Party itself.
Bill Scher/Washington Monthly:
Republicans want to impeach Mayorkas. And if you offer him a medal?
Homeland Security Secretary and Cuban refugee is pilloried by the right and some on the left for his immigration policies, but the Biden administration succeeds in slowing the influx of refugees and ending the cruelty of the Trump era.
What the administration has done over the past two years may have seemed confusing. First, the Biden administration attempted to overturn Title 42, upsetting conservatives. Then, federal judges stayed the order while it was litigated. Meanwhile, the administration has expanded the use of Title 42, upsetting progressives. And then the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shut down the entire COVID-19 public health emergency. Conservatives cheered the end of Dr. Anthony Fauci-era restrictions, but not the end of Title 42 powers that disappeared with them.
Because Title 42 was used as a deterrent against migration, the Biden administration’s moves to end it were seen as deliberately — for some, recklessly — inviting more migration. But that was an oversimplification. The objective has always been to create more ordered migration system.
Greg Sargent/The Washington Post:
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s impeachment stunt destroys a great MAGA myth
Greene’s call for Biden’s impeachment is a joke: McCarthy is unlikely to seek him out, and it’s not at all clear that Republicans would have the votes for it. Yet, as Greene told reportersGOP leaders engaged in serious dialogue with her about what impeachment would look like.
Additionally, McCarthy would have feel real pressure to impeach Mayorkas, in part because of Greene’s campaign against him. All of this shows that Republicans need to take seriously his ability, as leader of the MAGA wing of the party, to tap into the feelings surging inside the GOP base.