Connecting Censorship and the 1960s Freedom Schools
Ashley Hope Pérez (center) teaching Banned Book and the Cost of Censorship, a class she created at Ohio State University. Photo by Jodi Miller
School Library Journal features an article about how Ashley Hope Pérez, author of Out of Darkness, teaches about the 1960s Freedom Schools movement using resources from Putting the Movement Back Into Civil Rights Teaching. Pérez uses the lesson Exploring the History of Freedom Schools to help her Ohio State University students understand the impact of the current book bans and learn how to take action against censorship now. Says Pérez:
When we look at the educational realities in the South and the 1960s and when we look at the goals of book banners and legislation that targets difficult topics or important discussions in classrooms, those projects are connected. When you constrain dialogue and exploration of facts about our history, you constrain young people’s ability to imagine change. . . .
Youth in the 1960s acted in the face of what seemed to be insurmountable injustice, knowing they couldn’t immediately change school segregation or unequal funding. Pérez says:
But rather than being frozen in the face of that, they [asked], What can we do to transform that reality — creating experiences outside of public schools for kids to question and explore and create or experience intergenerational learning and a sense of leadership in their own communities.
Connecting Censorship and the 1960s Freedom Schools
School Library Journal features an article about how Ashley Hope Pérez, author of Out of Darkness, teaches about the 1960s Freedom Schools movement using resources from Putting the Movement Back Into Civil Rights Teaching. Pérez uses the lesson Exploring the History of Freedom Schools to help her Ohio State University students understand the impact of the current book bans and learn how to take action against censorship now. Says Pérez:
When we look at the educational realities in the South and the 1960s and when we look at the goals of book banners and legislation that targets difficult topics or important discussions in classrooms, those projects are connected. When you constrain dialogue and exploration of facts about our history, you constrain young people’s ability to imagine change. . . .
Youth in the 1960s acted in the face of what seemed to be insurmountable injustice, knowing they couldn’t immediately change school segregation or unequal funding. Pérez says:
But rather than being frozen in the face of that, they [asked], What can we do to transform that reality — creating experiences outside of public schools for kids to question and explore and create or experience intergenerational learning and a sense of leadership in their own communities.
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Posted: January 25, 2026