Oprah Winfrey has blasted banning books at the National Book Awards, saying Maya Angelou’s ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ helped her grapple with being raped as a child.
The TV mogul first revealed she was abused as a child during her talk show in 1986, saying Angelou’s book – which she read aged 15 – gave a ‘voice’ to her pain.
The 74th annual National Book Awards was peppered with political commentary with a focus on banning books. Among them was host LeVar Burton, an actor, took a swipe at Moms for Liberty.
Winfrey has openly shared details of her traumatic history of đâŻđual assault before, revealing she was abused by several relatives, including an uncle, up until she was 14 – which is when she got pregnant and was sent to live with her father
The đđđđą died two weeks after she gave birth. She was earlier raped by her 19-year-old cousin, who abused her for several years. She has never revealed his name.
‘I was 15-years-old when I read my first diverse book Maya Angelou’s ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ and the whole world fell away from me,’ Winfrey, a special guest at the NBA, said as she addressed the crowd.
‘It was the first book at 15 I ever read with a black protagonist, that book gave a voice to my silences, my secrets, It gave words to my pain and my confusion of being raped at nine-years-old.
‘Until ‘Cage Bird’ I didn’t know there was a language, there were words, for what had happened to me or that any other human being on Earth had experienced it. That is the power of books.’
Winfrey went on to say that banning books is to ‘snuff out the flame of truth of what it means to be alive.’
‘What it means to be aware, what it means to be engaged in the world, to ban books is to cut us off from one another,’ she said.
‘To shroud us in a solitary Darkness, a soulless echo chamber, to ban books is to strangle off what sustains us and makes us better people.
‘Connection, compassion, empathy understanding and my hope is that kids come to reading for the same reason all of us in this room have come to reading to see themselves in the characters they meet, to feel recognized, to feel understood.’
Between 2021 and 2022 the American Library Association saw a 70 percent increase in requests to ban books from public schools and libraries.
Winfrey gesticulated that this year we could expect that number to rise.
‘It’s looking like this year is going to be even worse early numbers show us that number is already risen,’ she said.
‘Over 75 percent of those books banned were specifically written for younger readers, 41 percent had LGBTQ themes or characters, 40 percent had a main or secondary character of color so who exactly is trying to keep these books off the shelves it’s not the majority of parents.’
Burton echoed Winfrey’s condemnation for banning books and started the evening by taking a swipe at Moms for Liberty.
The parental advocacy group has grown in notoriety with Liberal critics accusing them of driving the book-banning efforts in school districts across the nation.
Moms for Liberty have previously denied the allegation that it’s trying to ban books but instead frequently challenges đâŻđually explicit books in school libraries.
‘Before we get going are there any moms for liberty in the house? Moms for liberty? No? Good,’ Burton said grimacing at the crowd as he nodded.
‘Then hands will not need to be thrown tonight,’ he added as the crowd roared with laughter and cheers.
Burton went on to add that it was his mother who taught him that if you can read in at least one language then by her definition you’re free.
‘That idea of freedom feels especially fraught in this global political moment,’ he said.
‘There are wars and rumors of wars and the machineries of war at work. On the home front we are fighting for control of truth and how we interpret truth in this country.
‘Books are being banned, words are being silenced and writers and others who champion books are under attack.
‘There is a reason I believe why books are under attack its because they are so powerful.’
Speaking to Fox News Digital Moms for Liberty co-founder, Tiffany Justice, said: ‘It is truly disheartening that somebody who has been so influential in the lives of children can stoop so low as to threaten their mothers.’
‘What are people like LeVar Burton trying to hide from us that it must come to physical violence to protect their agenda? We will not be deterred, we will continue to fight for our children at every step.’
In a statement ahead of the event, the National Book Awards told the outlet that they expected to hear ‘political’ or even ‘controversial’ speeches from honorees.
‘Political statements, if made, are by no means unprecedented in the history of the National Book Awards, or indeed any awards ceremony,’ the statement read.
‘We are working with the venue to ensure a safe environment for all our guests.
‘We of course hope that everyone attending the National Book Awards, in person or tuning in online, comes in a spirit of understanding, compassion, and humanity – the very things that the books we love inspire.’
In addition to Burton’s remarks, a number of NBA finalists opened the awards ceremony addressing the Israel-Hamas war.
As author Aaliyah Bilal read a prepared statement she was joined by 20 of the 25 finalists who opposed ‘the ongoing bombardment of Gaza and call for an humanitarian ceasefire.’
There have been 3,362 instances of book bans in public school classrooms and libraries in the U.S. between July 2022 and June 2023, affecting 1,557 different titles.
