WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on Capitol Hill can use their floor time to talk about pretty much any issue they want.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, takes to the floor for his “Alaskan of the Week” speeches, which have a cult following around Capitol Hill. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has delivered hundreds of his “Time to Wake Up” speeches on climate change. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., chugged a glass of milk in December to show his support for whole milk.
But the Senate’s newest member, Sen. Laphonza Butler, D-Calif., is using it to read.
“What I've been seeing and hearing from young people in California and around the country, leaders in the space of education, like our teachers and our classroom attendance, as well as Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw [a leading scholar on critical race theory] really talking about… you know, what does it mean to return to a time when we actually are limiting what children can learn? What are the impacts?” questioned Butler.
“What does it mean for a teacher who, two years ago, had a full curriculum and her his or her disposal to talk with young people about helping to understand things that are happening in and around their communities — and to essentially be stripped of those tools to not be able to speak truth and honesty in our classrooms?”
So Butler decided to make shining a light on book bans a core issue of her time in the U.S. Senate. It was a choice inspired by both her constituents and her own life.
“I have a 9-year-old daughter, I don't want her to learn some bit of history. What I want her to understand is the totality of where she sits and where our country has evolved from, so that she can have some real vision about what she wants to use, how she wants to utilize her leadership, to continue to carry us forward.”
Many of the books banned in both school and public libraries focus on themes of race and gender identity. As just the 12th Black senator to serve in the chamber and the first openly LGBTQ Black senator to serve, Butler says, “I will not stand by silently as our stories get erased.”
And Butler’s reading of Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and Audre Lorde’s “Sister Outsider” on the House floor does more than just bring attention to the novels, poems, essays and other writings on the receiving end of book bans. It also preserves the portions of which she read aloud into the Senate record for posterity.
According to the American Library Association, 4,240 unique titles were targeted for censorship in 2023, up 65% from 2022. ALA also reported the number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92% over the previous year, while school libraries saw an 11% increase.
“Can you imagine your kid never learning about Maya Angelou? Can you imagine our young leaders never learning about Cesar Chavez, never learning about Che Guevara?” questioned Butler. “Can you imagine them never understanding how enslaved people came to this country and persisted and resisted and found faith and strength to continue to fight non-violent, non-violently to be free? I couldn't imagine growing up without that knowledge. And I don't want any of our young leaders that are growing up today to have to imagine it, either.”
In addition to Butler’s readings, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., has joined in, reading “And Tango Makes Three," which tells the story of two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo who raised a chick together. Butler also teased future banned book series readings appearances by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. and Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.
In Butler’s home state of California, attempts to ban books have found little success. Last fall, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif. signed a bill into law that allows the state to fine schools if they withhold instructional books and materials about race or sexual orientation.
Butler says regardless, she is taking them seriously, especially as her youth advisory council continues to sound the alarm on the issue. One member of her council, a 16-year-old named Sam, has “spent a lot of his activism and energy organizing students and young leaders around the notion of book bans.”
“Are they angry? Yeah, they are. And they’re choosing to show up, to organize, to do something about it. They are not letting school board elections go by anymore without having a voice and figuring out ways that they can weigh in,” she explained.
Butler was appointed by Newsom in 2023 to succeed the late-Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who died in the middle of her term. Butler decided against running for a full 6-year term, but says the fact she’s limited on time in the chamber has had little impact on her advocacy for issues she says her constituents care about.
“I was not appointed to be a placeholder. I was appointed to do a job,” said Butler. “The 40 million Californians need two senators, not one and one that's just going to show up. And so with every issue that I take on behalf of those 40 million Californians, I do it with the same vigor and passion as if I was going to be here for the next 20 years. Because they deserve it, they deserve to be represented.”