Last week, the best-selling graphic novel "Persepolis" was removed from Chicago's middle and high school reading lists. This week, a spokeswoman for the school system has claimed that the word "censorship" was inappropriate, as teachers could still assign the book so long as they were willing to sit through a class on how to teach such "sensitive material". These extra classes appear designed [...]
Despite receiving accolades ranging from the National Book Award to the Pulitzer, these five notorious novels have been banned by schools across the United States. Their Eyes Were Watching God —Zora Neal Hurston, 1937 "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is a bildungsroman about a young Black woman growing up in the Deep South. In 1997 parents in Brentsville, Virgina attempted to [...]
"Black comics are given such strict censorship rules to follow, TV networks might as well hire somebody else," said Black comic Rodney Perry. Check out the two clips below of legendary comic Richard Pryor. The first is his first (heavily-censored) tv debut in 1964, followed by his uncensored special "Live in Concert" filmed 15 years later. Which clip is funnier: [...]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ZyuULy9zs Since the 1920's, disgruntled Americans have tried to ban the performing of music they deem morally unsound. From the emergence of jazz almost a century ago to modern hip-hop, cutting-edge Black music has always been at war with those who can't tell a good tune when they hear it. Check out Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit", a haunting ballad once [...]