Research Guides: Banned Books: Multicultural Books Under Fire

Morris Library's Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) celebrated the addition of more than 500 books about diverse communities, donated by SIU Carbondale’s Student Multicultural Resource Center in 2024.

"We are very excited to see this collection of books have its home at the Special Collections Research Center, where it will be open to researchers of all backgrounds and experiences," said Juniper Oxford, program coordinator with the LGBTQ Resource Center. "Many of the most commonly banned books across the nation are LGBTQ-related — which stifles our collective understanding of the most basic components of our beings. With such an effort to obliterate the diversity of history, we must make an effort to remember those voices. It is vital that we preserve and uphold a broader and more detailed vision of our collective history, told through a diverse multitude of perspectives."

"The donation has become part of our McCoy First Amendment (Freedom of Speech, Religion, and the Press) collection, which began in the 1960s to support the right to read by preserving books that had been challenged or spoke to issues of disadvantaged groups," said Anne Marie Hamilton-Brehm, associate dean and director of SCRC. "Along with challenged books ranging from adult to children’s literature, the collection preserves many volumes on health care. The donated books speak largely to the lived experience and issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community, women, African Americans, immigrants and Native Americans.

Learn more about the donation at SIU News.

Selected Titles from the Donation

Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives by Adair, Nancy and Casey Adair
Nonfiction. "This book prints edited versions of the full interviews of 26 lesbians and gay men filmed in the 1978 documentary *Word Is Out*, and adds a final chapter about the making of the movie, written by Nancy Adair, one of the filmmakers."
Before Night Falls by Arenas, Reinaldo; Dolores M. Koch (Translator); Jaime Manrique (Foreword by)
"A memoir about being free—sexually, politically and artistically—chronicles the tumultuous yet luminary life of the author, from his poverty-stricken childhood in rural Cuba to his imprisonment as a homosexual to the events leading to his death in New York."
Shorn: Toys to Men by Bensie, Dennis Milam
Nonfiction. "In lively, poignant prose, Shorn details the movement from fragmented conflict to balanced maturity. Bensie's unique memoir will appeal to anyone who has ever felt the heady, dangerous pull of obsession."
Farm Boys: Lives of Gay Men from the Rural Midwest by Fellows, Will (Editor)
Nonfiction. "Whether painful, funny, or matter-of-fact, their plain-spoken accounts will move and educate any reader, gay or not, from farm or city. Looking back on boyhood, these men recall how they experienced and responded to a variety of limiting conditions common to rural life: rigid gender roles, social isolation, ethnic homogeneity and racism, suspicion of the unfamiliar, sexual prudishness, religious conservatism, and scant access to information. At the same time, many speak with pleasure of their accomplishments in farm and home activities, their love for the rural landscape and its elbowroom, and their appreciation of strong ties to family, church, and community."
Crazy Brave by Harjo, Joy
Nonfiction. "Born in Oklahoma, the end place of the Trail of Tears, Harjo grew up learning to dodge an abusive stepfather by finding shelter in her imagination, a deep spiritual life, and connection with the natural world. Narrating the complexities of betrayal and love, grounded in tribal myth and ancestry, music and poetry, this is a haunting memoir about family and the breaking apart necessary in finding a voice."
Breaking the Surface by Louganis, Greg and Eric Marcus
Nonfiction. "Breaking the Surface is the unflinchingly honest story of a man breaking free of a lifetime of silence and isolation. Born to a young Samoan father and Northern European mother, adopted at nine months by Pete and Frances Louganis, Greg began performing at age three in local dance and acrobatic competitions. He started diving lessons at age nine, and at sixteen he won a silver medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. But despite his astonishing athletic skill and artistry on the diving board. Greg struggled with late-detected dyslexia, prejudice toward his dark skin coloring, and anguish over his sexual orientation, which he felt compelled to hide."
Last Watch of the Night: Essays Too Personal and Otherwise by Monette, Paul
Nonfiction. "Freewheeling and yet focused, brimming with outrage and yet tender, Last Watch of the Night represents a profound personal reconciliation but also a testament to the struggle for freedom of all gay and lesbian people."
A Choice of Weapons by Parks, Gordon and Wing Young Huie (Foreword by)
Nonfiction. "This compelling autobiography, first published in 1966, tells how Parks managed to escape the poverty and bigotry around him, and launch his distinguished career, by choosing the weapons given him by "a mother who placed love, dignity, and hard work over hatred.""
Friends and Lovers: Gay Men Write about the Families They Create by Preston, John (Editor) and Michael Lowenthal (Editor)
Nonfiction. "Family, this new anthology expands the literature that defines contemporary gay life. Its compelling essays serve as testaments to an evolving gay culture, based on enduring relationships filled with eros, compassion, and love. Gay men have always created their own families. While some replace the "blood" kin who have denied their sexual orientation or expelled them, others have intentionally chosen to build new kinds of families, often ingeniously rewriting the rules society has prescribed."
Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez by Rodriguez, Richard
Nonfiction. "The son of Mexican immigrants explores the educational process and rejects affirmative action and bilingualism as benign errors."
The Turkish Lover by Santiago, Esmeralda
Nonfiction. "At the heart of the story is Esmeralda's relationship with "the Turk," a passion that gradually becomes a prison out of which she must emerge to become herself. The expansive humanity, earthy humor, and psychological courage that made Esmeralda's first two books so successful are on full display again in The Turkish Lover."
The Best Little Boy in the World Grows Up by Tobias, Andrew
Nonfiction. " In this follow-up to his classic coming-out/coming-of-age memoir which he wrote under the pseudonym John Reid, Tobias "tells the next part of his personal story, and the story of a civil rights movement.""
The Gay Olympian: The Life and Death of Dr. Tom Waddell by Waddell, Tom and Dick Schaap
Nonfiction. "He was a true Renaissance man - an outstanding college athlete, a first-rate military and civilian doctor, a member of the 1968 U.S. Olympic team, a leader in the American gay community, and the father of a young girl."