The banning of books in various schools is a major talking point across the country. Much like Student-led banned book clubs and anti-censorship groups have been popping up in states, MSNBC host Ali Velshi is doing the same.
Velshi has been working to raise awareness about the absurdity of book bans. One of the ways is through his podcast, Velshi Banned Book Club, which launched this summer and invites the author of a banned book.
“So, the impetus was all these books that were starting to get challenged or banned or removed from libraries; I wanted to highlight those for my audience in places where they weren’t being banned,” Velshi told The Advocate as part of an in-depth interview. “But just to let them know why. And I wanted to speak to the authors of those books themselves.”
Furthermore, Velshi revealed his reaction to offering some of these books a platform, whether it’s through MSNBC television or audio airwaves. He notes that these books do save kids’ lives.
“I have authors who have told me that they’ve received emails from kids who said they were thinking about taking their own lives,” Velshi added.
“They felt so outside, and then they read this book, and it sounded exactly like their experience, and they felt accepted. And they felt whole, and they felt heard. And they felt like there was a future.”
Eduardo Razo is the Assistant Content Editor for BNM, which includes writing daily news stories on the news media industry. He can be found on Twitter @eddierazo_ or you can reach him by email at eddie1991razo@gmail.com.
