Hey y’all. We are as sick of writing about Cindy as many of you are of hearing about her. However, we would be remiss if we didn’t pay a little more attention to her pornography charges regarding the books she’s demanding be removed from FCPS libraries.

First of all, it’s important to point out that none of these books are part of the curriculum. They are in the library for students who are interested in expanding their knowledge or vocabulary. Two things that this Education Not Indoctrination slate finds very offensive.

Let’s begin by defining pornography by way of the good old Webster’s dictionary:

Definition of pornography

1: the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement

2: material (such as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement

ICYMI, click here to read and watch the “performance art” Cindy put on at last week’s meeting. What we are going to do next is delve a little deeper into the two books she claims are pornographic and sexualizing our children. Please keep the above definition in mind.

1st book: Push by Sapphire. (Which was made into the movie Precious). Here’s a review by the Literary Phoenix:

Precious Jones, an illiterate sixteen-year-old, has up until now been invisible: invisible to the father who rapes her and the mother who batters her and to the authorities who dismiss her as just one more of Harlem’s casualties. But when Precious, pregnant with a second child by her father, meets a determined and highly radical teacher, we follow her on a journey of education and enlightenment as Precious learns not only how to write about her life, but how to make it her own for the first time.

What Cindy misconstrues (misconstruing things is her favorite) as pornography is a tragic rape, meant to show the reader real trauma the author endured. It is a terrible experience that she is eventually able to overcome through the help of a teacher. (Maybe this is the part that bothers Cindy? Never mind, she didn’t read it…). It is not, as the definition of pornography above shows, meant to sexually excite, nor is the intent to sexualize children.

2nd Book- Sold by Patricia McCormick. Here’s a summary from the website SparksNotes:

Sold is a contemporary YA novel by American writer Patricia McCormick, published in 2006. Written in short vignettes, Sold tells the story of thirteen-year-old Lakshmi, a poor but happy girl living with her family in a mountain hut in Nepal. When a Himalayan monsoon washes away her family’s crops, Lakshmi must find a job to support her family. On the advice of a stranger, she goes to India to stay at a ‘Happiness House’, but once there finds she has been tricked, and sold into prostitution. Mumtaz, the cruel woman who runs the brothel, tells Lakshmi she is now trapped until she can pay off her family’s debts. Mumtaz finds a way to cheat Lakshmi of even her small earnings, ensuring Lakshmi will be in her service for a long time. Despite the horrors of her life, Lakshmi finds a way to survive through friendships with other girls in the house and the hope that one day she will be able to escape. Sold was a National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature in 2006.

This book is a fictionalized account, based on real stories, of what happens to many girls who are sold into sex slavery in Asia. It also tells the story of a young woman who is able to overcome absolute terror and reclaim her life. Again, this is not the definition of pornography.

So, those of you so shocked by her reading out of context vignettes of these books in an incredibly poor attempt to prove that the school system is offering pornography to kids need to wake up. These books, while graphic, are not pornographic. They are dealing with the very real issues of incest and human trafficking. (Side note: the only time Cindy was inspired to speak out against human trafficking is when it was a part of the Q conspiracies). These are stories of redemption and hope. If you don’t want your high schooler exposed to these books, then pay attention to what they are reading and what they bring home from school. We definitely do not need someone who hasn’t read any of these books AND previously demanded Click Clack Moo not be used in elementary school anywhere near our children.

Book banners suck…always.