Let’s keep intolerance and ignorance off of our school boards (NJ.com)

Martha Hickson, a school librarian, urges us to keep intolerance and ignorance off our school boards: “As taxpayers in our communities, we all have a stake in the success of our schools. Like any public service, the quality of schools affects the quality of community life and the value of your real estate. You wouldn’t want your streets littered with garbage because trash isn’t collected regularly. You wouldn’t want your neighbor’s home burned to rubble because the fire department fails to respond on time. So, too, you shouldn’t want students’ educational opportunities limited because the school board is entrenched in partisan conflict.” Read more.

Moms Against Libraries: How a Discredited Psychological Theory Sparked a Book-Banning Movement (Mother Jones) 

Kiera Butler covers Moms for Liberty, a group advocating for book-banning: “Over the past year, Moms for Liberty chapters have called for schools to ban or limit access to dozens of books for any mention of transgender or queer themes, including Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and George M. Johnson’s award-winning memoir All Boys Aren’t Blue. In August, a Virginia chapter helped push through a new rule that requires school libraries to email parents every time a child checks out a book, as well as sign a permission slip indicating that they approve of the class curriculum, according to the Washington Post.”
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How Prison Visit Restrictions Force Parents to Make Tough Decisions (The Appeal) 

Patrick Stephens explains how prison visit restrictions tear apart the families of the incarcerated: “It had been a little while since I had last seen my son. It seemed unfair that with all he had to deal with during my decades-long absence, even a hug was beyond his reach. But now, listening to my friend express his pain, I felt lucky that I had at least seen my own son be born. I felt fortunate that I held him just moments after he was delivered and that throughout my incarcerated years, I was able to hold him, talk to him, and even cook for him. We take these things for granted, these normal familial interactions, but inside incarcerated spaces—especially during a deadly pandemic, when prison visitation and social-distancing rules had become stricter, more arbitrary, and confusingly enforced—every human contact is precious.” Read more.

Abortion Bans Are Creating Free Speech Battle in Schools (Rewire News Group) 

Lisa Needham highlights how abortion bans are creating free speech battles in schools: “Just as ever-shifting abortion bans leave people unsure as to the laws that govern them, there’s now a distinct lack of clarity as to what can and can’t be said—and what can and can’t be taught in schools. Witness the dual speech and behavior controversy that has roiled the University of Idaho. In 2021, the state passed the “No Public Funds for Abortion” law, prohibiting public university employees from “counseling in favor of abortion.” That’s painfully vague, but definitely inhibits speech. For instance, can you talk about ectopic pregnancies in a biology class without implying abortion?” Read more.

Building “Feminist Jails” Ignores a Larger Problem (Truthout) 

Incarceration is a sexual freedom issue. Tamanika Ferguson argues against the construction of so-called “feminist jails”: “Recently, mainstream white feminists have called on politicians to fund construction of the Women’s Center for Justice, a ‘feminist jail’ in Harlem, New York. The goal is to build a new, progressive alternative that would provide ‘better’ treatment for women and nonbinary people. But across the U.S., anti-carceral activists and communities in favor of total liberation and abolition are expressing outrage — and rightfully so. Proponents of this ‘feminist jail’ are allying themselves with the existing prison and law-and-order system, which continues to inflict extraordinary harm on criminalized Black, poor, migrant, queer, gender-oppressed and disabled communities.”
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Tess’ Take: Abortion and Family Separation (Woodhull’s Sex & Politics Blog) 

Tess Joseph writes about abortion and family separation: “On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court released its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning Roe v. Wade and eliminating the constitutional right to abortion. The Dobbs decision has facilitated devastating harm, and it will continue to do so. Thalia Charles, in an interview with social worker Jasmine Wali, turns our attention to an infrequently discussed harm: banning and restricting abortion will enable and expand the punitive reach of the child welfare system, otherwise known as the family policing system.” Read more.