One World is producing a major event entitled “Free Your Mind: A Night to Celebrate Our Stories and the Freedom to Tell Them” on September 26, 2024, at the Martin Luther King Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA as part of Banned Books week.
Free Your Mind is an all-ages evening event of conversation and music centered on storytelling and free speech, and will feature renowned, bestselling One World authors Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Message, Between the World and Me, The Water Dancer, We Were Eight Years in Power), Nikole Hannah-Jones (The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story), Dr. Ibram X. Kendi (How to be An Antiracist, Stamped from the Beginning, How to Raise an Antiracist), and Bryan Stevenson (Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption), as well as Jason Hernandez (author of a forthcoming memoir). These writers will be joined by Skip Dye, Chair of the Intellectual Freedom Taskforce at Penguin Random House; the event will be hosted by LaTosha Brown of Black Voters Matter, and will feature members of the Atlanta community who have been impacted by book bans.
Tickets can be purchased here. Books from participating authors will be available for sale at the event by 44th and 3rd Bookseller.
“Over the last several years, writers—journalists, historians, memoirists, novelists and poets— have powerfully reoriented our country with brave, insightful, joyful, and transformative work,” says Chris Jackson, Publisher of One World. “This evening is a chance to celebrate that ongoing achievement, even in the face of threats and backlash, a night to gather together to laugh, cry, learn, and be galvanized by some of our greatest storytellers.”
Book banning and other restrictions on access to books have exploded around the country, with challenges surging 65 percent between 2022 and 2023, according to the American Library Association. One World over-indexes in publishing books that are challenged and banned on the library, school board, state and national level. The 1619 Project was attacked by name by a sitting U.S. president. Mary Wood, a high school teacher in South Carolina, had to testify before her school board to defend her decision to teach her students Between the World and Me. Ibram X. Kendi’s How to be an Antiracist is one of the most frequently banned books in the country. In a pivotal election year, there is an urgent need to gather our communities and celebrate the power and impact of literature–how it uplifts, illuminates, and liberates. We are contending with legislation that restricts the freedom of expression and the freedom to read, which creates a larger chilling effect for libraries, schools, and other public institutions who then face public shaming or a loss of funding. These consequences encourage organizations to preemptively shun certain kinds of books out of fear. The Free Your Mind gathering will infuse new life and urgency into this important issue, and offer resources and support to help attendees get involved with local and national organizations who are fighting for the freedom to read.
This event is produced in partnership with Firelight Media and with funding from the Open Society Foundations. Firelight Media is a nonprofit organization that supports, resources, and advocates on behalf of documentary filmmakers of color. Co-founded by acclaimed filmmakers Stanley Nelson and Marcia Smith, and based in Harlem, a longtime hub of Black culture, Firelight Media’s fellowships and grant programs support filmmakers of color across the U.S. and Latin America. Firelight maintains deep, intentional roots in the communities it serves, employing a diverse staff and partnering with community and justice organizations on screenings and other events. Firelight Media has worked to transform the documentary industry and to support films and impact campaigns that influence national discourse on justice, striving to shed light on pressing social, political, and human rights issues by funding and promoting compelling documentaries that raise awareness, foster empathy, and drive positive change.
The Open Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, are the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. OSF champions the search for bold, democratic solutions to our urgent, common challenges that advance justice, equity, and human dignity. Their approach seeks to counter the narrow pursuit of political self-interest and short-term opportunism—in pursuit of a sustainable future for people and planet that leaves no one behind.
“In this pivotal moment in political history, we must actively claim and fight for our stories,” said LaTosha Brown, Co-founder of Black Voters Matter. “Books not only bear witness to our humanity but are also portals to possible futures. That’s why we’re joining One World for this Banned Books event – to amplify our voices, shape our narrative, and build the future we envision.”
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