Silencing Wingless Truth: Confronting the Suppression of Academic Freedom and Black Liberation in America

Abstract:

In an era of heightened threats to academic freedom and representation, this article critically examines the intersections of race, censorship, and educational equity in education. By analyzing literature on censorship as it pertains to legislative book bans, the authors highlight the historical struggle for academic freedom from the perspective of the Black experience. They use Gholdy Muhammad’s equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy to analyze the current bans on certain books in K–20 academic settings, centering their argument on combating propaganda and literary censorship. Rooted in the principles of democracy, social justice, and truth-telling, this article calls for a renewed commitment to defending academic freedom through literacy to maintain an inclusive and equitable space for Black scholars.

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