the bee hive chronicles

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Month: September 2017

#12 – Books. Banned. Every. Day.

September 26, 2017 /

Such great foresight and open-mindedness was put into making one of the founding principles of our country 230 years ago, the First Amendment, or the home of our freedom of speech and the protection of our freedom of the press. And yet…today, books are challenged or attempted to be pulled from shelves of libraries, schools, book stores, every single day. Hundreds of books a year.

Books are challenged mostly out of the desire to protect – usually kids – from content that is believed to be potentially harmful. Bad language, or “questionable” ideas, or sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Regardless, banning books or censorship is really scary business. It is the thing that creepy dystopic young adult novels are made of. And what our bad-ass founding fathers were striving to protect us from. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, in Texas v. Johnson, said, “If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”

“And yet…today, books are challenged or attempted to be pulled from shelves of libraries, schools, book stores, every single day. Hundreds of books a year.”

Every September libraries, schools, book-sellers – the whole book community – come together to celebrate our right to read – whatever we want – by acknowledging Banned Book Week.  It is never a problem getting enough books together from the shelves of Bee Hive to create a display. It seems that three-quarters of the inventory has been challenged one time or another. The display always draws attention and inevitably generates great conversations. People are shocked by the books and why they’ve been challenged. Many people don’t realize that books being challenged or banned is even an issue. Much less that it occurs in this country every day.

Clearly, there is much to protect our kids from. Big things. And maybe – all things considered – censorship could be considered as low on that list. But imagine if Roald Dahl, a favorite among book-challengers, stories were made unavailable? Or Dr. Seuss? Hop on Pop considered parent abuse; The Lorax portrays the foresting industry in an arguable negative way.  Classics like The Outsiders – family dysfunction; Catcher In The Rye – profanity; and To Kill A  Mockingbird – racial slurs? John Green and Rainbow Rowell – modern-day literary heroes who address significant issues in real ways that 12-year-olds and up, turn to again and again are constantly on the chopping block. Our kids would be lost without these young adult gurus. Who would they turn to for validation, familiarity, relief, etc, etc. ?

There is so much to lose if art of any kind is censored in any way. Free thought. Creativity. Ideas. Change. Expansion. Conversation. All things that we value as a culture. And are necessary in order to cultivate our kids into the grown-ups they’ll need to be in order to face all that is ahead.

We gotta keep our books on the shelves and protect our kids from censorship. To celebrate our right to read, definately. But also to celebrate what being human is all about.

#11 – Life In Reverse

September 14, 2017 /

For me, learning to read and write was a traumatic experience that I will probably never be able to un-sear from my memory. Endless evenings of sitting at the kitchen bar doing my homework would often melt down into miserable tears of torturous frustration. My letters and numbers were completely backwards. Math was a foreign language and reading was totally out of reach. The only real learning assistance for kids with dyslexia when I was growing up was to “flunk” them so they had to do a grade twice. Repeating second grade only added to my shame and misery. And determination.

I spent countless after-school hours on my bedroom floor in front of my plastic record player with my best friend, Hooked-On-Phonics. It became the key I needed to open up a door I so desperately wanted to get on the other side of. And once I was able to reverse all that backwards stuff – a world unfurled before me. Because it was a hard-won entrance, it was a world I wanted to spend every possible moment in I could. Books were my escape. They made me laugh. They kept me company. They validated me. They dulled my pain. And introduced me to beautiful magic and other fantastical things. They always made me feel welcome – I never didn’t belong.

It became the key I needed to open up a door I so desperately wanted to get on the other side of. And once I was able to reverse all that backwards stuff – a world unfurled before me.

The dyslexia never went away. I didn’t  do great in math in school, unless it was in my head. I’ll never be able to learn a foreign language to save my life. Except for essays, test-taking has never been easy. My sense of direction is the worse. But once I could, I’ve always been able to read. And write. So, I read and wrote my way through college. And, really, have been reading and writing my way through life, in one way or another, ever since.

Things are leaps and bounds more advanced now in terms of the knowledge and help available to kids and grown-ups with learning disabilities. And, even though I knew they’d be in good hands if needed, I was relieved that I did not pass on my dyslexia to either Olive or Cash. I just couldn’t bear it if they experienced endless nights of suffering over homework because of me. And yet, that experience of being so determined at such a young age really informed who I am. And set me up for a life-long true love for books and the written word and the wonder of it all.

I have young customers who shop at Bee Hive who are dyslexic and over the years, I’ve watched them grow from unsure, struggling readers to the most beautiful, capable, avid readers of them all. And, inevitably, they seem to grow into being the coolest kids with a sort of weightyness about them. I don’t believe the ability to read or write is something to be taken for granted.  But those who faced the fear of never being able to tackle them at all – ever – have been to a place and back that those who came into reading without a learning disability, may not understand. It’s a place of pure gratitude. Of being on the other side of something you had to work very hard for. Of hoping you never have to work that hard for anything again, but knowing, if you have to, you totally can. And you will.

I wonder, if maybe, its what being a superhero feels like.

 

September 7, 2017 /

This was left on the front porch of the Bee Hive.

Sign of long life? Good health? Many, many book sales to come?

Hoping for all three.

Save

#9 – What Do You Tell Them?

September 1, 2017 /

What do you tell your kids when the permafrost in the Arctic is melting at such a rate, that ground that is supposed to stay ice-hard is now more like ice cream and that they will some day be dealing with the ramifications of the gases that will be released into the atmosphere because of it?

What do you tell your kids when a hurricane has ravaged a city, not too far from them, so ruthlessly that tens of thousands of people have been affected by flooding that have destroyed homes, killed many, and displaced countless?

How do you tell your kids that the world is not a peaceful place? That bombs go off at random times in random places hurting lots and lots of innocent people?

How do you tell your kids who are so proud that their great-grandfather immigrated to this country from Italy through Ellis Island and went on to a build a prosperous life for his family in the land of promise and freedom – that immigrants today are no longer being offered that opportunity? Rather, this country  – their country by way of other countries – now has a huge closed sign on it?

How do you tell your kids who’s hero is Martin Luther King Jr. and who have recently learned, with much disbelief,  about the part of American history that has to do with slavery and race discrimination and the horrible mistreatment of people of color – that its beginning to feel a lot like we’ve gone back in time 60 years? And that maybe society hasn’t evolved as much as we really hoped it had?

I have no idea.

And so. My kids read as much Big Nate and Diary Of A Wimpy Kid as they want. We sing and dance to as much good music as we can. We sometimes watch The British Baking Show and ohh and aww at the talent of the awesome contestants. And we live vicariously through Harry Potter. The coolest, fiercest wizard around who fought the good fight against the darkest of evils with grace, intellect, and big, bold courage.

Maybe, for right now, that’s good enough.

 

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