Donations spotlight: Help the National Women’s Law Center fight book bans targeting women and people of color

Note from the CREDO Mobile team: This October, the National Women’s Law Center is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO Mobile community will support the NWLC as it works to protect and advance women’s legal rights, with a focus on economic security, education, employment, health and other policy areas that are vital to women and their families.

 Read this important blog post by Mercedes Hightower, NWLC’s Senior Manager for Campaigns, Education Justice, then visit CREDODonations.com and cast your vote to help send much-needed grant money to the group to assist its efforts—and the efforts of our other outstanding October grantees.

The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy and in our society—working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break down the barriers that harm all of us, especially women of color, LGBTQ people, and low-income women and families. For over 50 years, we have been on the leading edge of every major legal and policy victory for women.

In this post, we’ll examine the way that book bans disproportionately target books by and about women, people of color and LGBTQI+ individuals, and detail the impact of such censorship. At the National Women’s Law Center, we’re committed to ensuring all students have the opportunity to learn with safety and dignity. Please consider voting for the NWLC to receive a portion of CREDO Mobile’s monthly donation this October. Your support could make a significant difference during a critical time for gender justice!

Targeted censorship silences voices and erases people

In the United States, there has always been a struggle to provide equal access to stories and histories of diverse communities. We’ve slowly been making progress but a renewed focus on banning books seeks to take us backward. These bans disproportionately target books by and about women, people of color and LGBTQI+ people. This targeted censorship silences the voices and erases the complex histories and experiences of these communities, sending the message that there is something obscene about bringing visibility to their stories—and further normalizing stigma and discrimination against them.

Historically, book bans have been tools of oppression used to maintain the status quo by suppressing dissenting ideas and perspectives. Today, the books most frequently challenged are those that confront societal norms (which are often grounded in white, cis-hetero ideals of how people should look or act) or provide a voice to those who have been historically silenced and marginalized. The works of authors like Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and Yaa Gyasi are frequently found on banned book lists—not because they promote harmful ideologies but because they tell difficult truths about the experiences of people in the U.S. who have managed to thrive in the face of extreme discrimination and violence.

The danger of book bans extends beyond the immediate silencing of authors and stories. They contribute to a broader cultural amnesia, systematically erasing the histories and experiences of marginalized communities. This erasure not only distorts our understanding of the world but also perpetuates the marginalization of these communities by denying their stories a place in our collective consciousness.

Moreover, the targeting of books by and about women and people of color sends a chilling message: that their stories are less valuable and less worthy of being told. It reinforces the idea that the dominant narratives—the white, male, cis, heterosexual experience—are the only ones that matter. This undermines the importance of diversity in literature and deprives readers of both crucial representation of their identities and experiences and the opportunity to engage with a wide range of perspectives and experiences.

Book bans limit our understanding of the world

In a time when we should be encouraging the exploration of diverse voices and stories, book bans do the opposite. They limit our understanding of the world and reinforce harmful stereotypes and prejudices. Instead of banning books, we should be promoting them—especially those that challenge us to think critically about the world we live in and the people in that world with us.

As we consider the impact of these book bans, it is crucial to recognize that the fight against censorship is also a fight to elevate the voices of women, people of color, LGBTQ+ folks and many other marginalized communities. By fighting back against these bans, we affirm the importance of diverse stories and the power of literature to broaden our understanding of the world and people who are different from us. To ban a book is to silence a voice—and when that happens, we lose the opportunity to learn, grow and see the world through the eyes of another. In the end, it is not just the books that are at risk but our collective hope to be and do better.

To highlight our fight against banning books, NWLC staff are sharing a list of some of our favorite books and what they’ve meant to us. We created two lists: one focused on young adult and adult books and another focused on children’s books. This list is just a small snapshot of the books now being targeted across the country and we will fight for everyone’s right to read them if they choose.

To learn more about our work fighting for equitable access to education and the history of diverse communities, visit NWLC.org.