Award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay has been named honorary chair for Banned Books Week 2024 that takes place September 22nd to 28th. DuVernay will be joined by youth honorary chair Julia Garnett a student activist who fought book bans in her home state of Tennessee.
DuVernay stated, "I believe that censorship is the enemy of freedom. By banning books, we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn from the past & to envision a braver future. Books have the power to open minds & build bridges. This is why certain forces do not want the masses to engage with books. They fear progress & growth in new, bold directions. For this reason, Banned Books Week is vitally important. It is a celebration of our right to access varied voices & to engage with ideas that challenge & champion us. I am honored to be selected as honorary chair of Banned Book Week for this election year & I stand with my fellow readers, fellow writers & fellow advocates around the world who refuse to let voices be silenced." DuVernay is the groundbreaking writer, director & producer behind acclaimed films & television projects such as Selma, 13th, Queen Sugar, When They See Us & One Perfect Shot. She is an Academy Award nominee & winner of Emmy, BAFTA, NAACP, GLAAD, Critics Choice & Peabody Awards.
Banned Books Week founded in 1082 has drawn attention to attempts to remove books & other materials from libraries, schools & bookstores. The theme for Banned Books Week 2024 is “Freed Between the Lines” an observance of the freedom we find in the pages of books & the need to defend that freedom from censorship.
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