Mapping Book Banning Resistance: Visualizing Teacher and Youth-Led Acts of Advocacy in an Era of Censorship

• In Event: Advocacy, Community, and Transformative Practice in Education

Abstract

This qualitative study maps teacher- and youth-led resistance to the surge of U.S. book bans targeting LGBTQIA+ themes, race, and marginalized voices. Analyzing 68 digital journalism articles detailing 115 acts of advocacy, we employed abductive methods and visual mapping to identify patterns across actors, actions, and coalitions. Guided by critical pedagogy and viral justice, our findings highlight nine core resistance practices, including coalition building, testimonializing, and providing access to banned texts, and we center teacher agency as principled, collective action. The resulting visual maps function as both research and pedagogy, offering tools to foster critical consciousness and culturally responsive advocacy. This work illuminates resistance networks, amplifies youth voices, and affirms students’ right to read as a liberatory and humanizing educational imperative.

Authors

• Jason Griffith, Pennsylvania State University

• Stephanie F. Reid, University of Cincinnati