I have a new T-shirt (and sticker and button) design to share! Actually two variations, and I’ll probably print both, mostly because I want to wear both.
That’s what I do – write what I want to read, design logos and messages I want to wear, create opportunities I want to experience (more on that one later, and yes, I’m being deliberately vague). It’s why I never feel slighted if someone doesn’t enjoy my books, and always feel like I made a new friend when someone does – because I didn’t write them for you, I wrote them for me, and if you happened to relate to them too, well, then clearly we must be friends.
I little background on my designs if you’re not familiar: I taught myself Adobe Illustrator and made the “I Read Banned Books” design after some vitriolic bigots in our school district went after a book featuring a transgender-questioning middle grade kid and the teacher who read it out loud to her class. FYI, the book is on the California Department of Education’s recommended reading list, and the teacher was breaking NO district policy by choosing the book to read to her class. And also, book bans? Seriously?
What’s fascinating is that after I rage-designed this logo, one of my European friends told me she loved it but would never be able to wear it in her country because there are only about five banned books there, and they’re banned for being hate-filled Nazi garbage. So yeah, the U.S. is doing so well with its bans on Colleen Hoover books (for the sex, obviously), Jodi Picoult books (apparently for the same?), Toni Morrison and John Green books (don’t get me started), and of course, The Catcher in the Rye, The Color Purple, The Kite Runner, and To Kill a Mockingbird (because classic literature has no place in our schools, presumably). Can you hear the disgust in my tone? Read it like I’ve just snarled and that’s about right.
So I put the “I Read Banned Books” design on shirts and canvas bags and took them to Book Bonanza to sell last year, and let me tell you how much I LOVED seeing those bags and shirts all around that Texas resort. I tried to get the organizers to let me do a banned books panel, but despite internal support, it was maybe still too political (it’s Texas – second-only to Florida in that brand of politics), so my subversion was limited to bold-as-brass shirts.
Anyone who reads this Substack knows where my activism has gone this year, and while I remain standing firmly in the freedom-to-read land, I’ve also turned my focus on inclusion and allyship, especially of teens who need allies. Because if the witch hunts against LGBTQ+ people around the country weren’t egregious enough, States and politicians and school boards are going after transgender and non-binary kids, threatening to out them, take away their healthcare, rescind their human rights. It’s appalling and it makes me so furious I want to scream.
And so, in my little creative, subversive way, I’m going to scream in Texas at Book Bonanza next month. This time I’m actually moderating a book bans panel (titled something much nicer, because this is the State that perfected “Bless your heart” as the ultimate indictment), and I’ll be wearing a shirt with “Ally” emblazoned on it.
One of these designs, though I think I’ll have both at my Book Bonanza table. I’ll post pictures of the shirts here as soon as I make them if anyone’s interested.
On a separate note, if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen my repost of a reel by @racialequityinsights, talking about a person who unfollowed him when he reposted something about the challenges of existing as a trans person. “Not the same as racial equity” that person wrote. @racialequityinsights blasted them with a long post about his 100% support of ALL marginalized people, saying that none of us are free until all of us are free. You may notice that the Pride flag I used for my Ally designs is the one that includes Black, brown, trans, and LGBTQ+ identities, because I believe in freedom. I believe in bodily autonomy. And I believe that none of us are free until all of us are free to pursue life, liberty, and happiness no matter where we land on the spectrum of humanity. (Yep, I designed this one too).
Thank you for using your voice when it comes to allyship and inclusion. My niece is gay and I have several non-binary family members. My niece is lucky that she has full acceptance from her family. The non-binary cousins are really struggling because they do NOT have full acceptance from their parents.
I proudly wear your "I read banned books" T-shirt and I would love to wear one of your new designs as well.
These are delightful! I’d love to have them on a shirt and/or a bag and would wear them proudly! You are such a lovely person inside and out!