A group of Ujima Freedom School scholars gathered for a Juneteenth celebration at Champaign’s Douglass Park. Photo by Krissy Simmons.

Education at Illinois is proud to support culturally relevant academic achievement through the transformational Freedom School summer program. Since 2021, over 250 elementary students have participated in Champaign.

“All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold, “Love to Langston” by Tony Medina, “Monster” by Walter Dean Myers and “Piecing Me Together” by Renee Watson.

These are just some of the books — banned in other schools and libraries — that young scholars enrolled in the local Ujima Freedom School read this summer as part of the literacy program’s emphasis on culturally relevant texts, project director Cessily Thomas said.

On Wednesday, more than 20 participating students will gather from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Dr. Howard Elementary School in Champaign to present on the importance of those publications as part of a free and public National Day of Social Action Banned Book Fair and Drive.

“In Illinois, we don’t have to worry about banned books,” Thomas said. “But just because it’s not a problem with us, that doesn’t mean it’s not a problem in our world, so that’s also something that we are trying to instill in our scholars,” she said.

The Freedom School, which is supported by the University of Illinois, DREAAM and the Children’s Defense Fund, aims to promote civic-engagement in students ages 6 to 13 through literacy, because “readers are leaders,” Thomas said.

The six-week course focuses on encouraging youth to believe they can foster beneficial change in their own life, family, community and the world at large. Though the school facilitates an annual National Day of Social Action every year, this year’s theme was “protect the freedom to read.”

Students were expected to read from a syllabus of titles every day and discuss the works with instructors.

Wednesday’s event will offer a space for the youth to talk about what they’ve learned with members of the community — state senator Paul Faraci is expected to be in attendance among other invited officials — and raise awareness about why the stories were banned but beneficial. Attendees will also have the opportunity to purchase books to be sent to other U.S. communities where they have been banned from easy access.

The event will further encourage people to notice the similarities in banned books and check them out from local libraries, Thomas said.

Omari Thomas, Thomas’s son and a fifth-grader in the program, recalled his favorite book was “I am Every Good Thing,” by Derrick Barnes. After reading it, he said it was “crazy” to learn that it was banned in a Pennsylvania school district.

“I was like, why are they banning these books that actually motivate us,” Thomas said. “That book inspires you to be more than you already am and ‘I Am Every Good Thing,’ like, it helps you have pride in what you do.”

Adria Warren, a seventh-grader in the program, said she feels more confident about reading after returning to the Freedom School three summers in a row. She said the event Wednesday will highlight 10 banned-books with student-made posters showing facts about each one.

“I didn’t really like reading before, but like when I joined, now, I’ve started to really like reading a lot more,” Warren said. “I’ve learned about my culture more and how it affected other people.”

Daniel Lacy, a 19-year-old teacher in the program, became involved in the school first as an intern three years ago. Introducing the banned-books to the students has been impactful for him, he said, as he’s recognized titles that he grew up with in elementary school that were then not banned. As he’s helped facilitate discussions among the students, he’s encouraged them to think about how book-banning won’t stop if people don’t stand up for those titles.

The Wednesday presentations will also be beneficial for helping those students struggling with their public-speaking skills, he said.

Though certain publications, like Sharon Draper’s “Forged by Fire,” include serious topics like drugs and abuse, Lacy noted that some students may relate to those real-challenges in their own home-life, and it’s important to have access to stories that show people overcoming those challenging situations.

“They can read this and be like, ‘Hey, even though I’m not telling my teacher this, I’m not telling my friend this, something similar that this kid is going through, I’m going through at home,” Lacy said.

“Even if it just connects to one kid, that’s all it really needs to do because that could end up saving their life, making them get through a hard time,” he continued. “Books, especially at this age of development, make a huge influence on these kids.”

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