I read Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury in high school and never thought it would become a reality. Never even though that book, which was considered a classic, would be banned during my lifetime.
Many think that I’m an extremist for saying that the book-burning practices of the Nazi party are the same as the book-banning here in the United States. However, it is being done with the same purpose of keeping people away from a certain type of material that is not allied with the message of the oppressor. The only books that are being banned are books that provide knowledge to those who need it the most, and validation to those who can’t find it in a world that would rather see them dead. Here in the US, it’s being done on a relatively small scale however it is just a matter of time before it begins to happen on a larger one.
A couple of years ago my father told me that he would love to move to Florida, but now I doubt that a man who was an atheist, a fantasy reader, with a bisexual daughter, and two transgender sons would be welcomed in Florida.
How long will it take before the US starts burning books and persecuting people for reading books they are not supposed to? In any case, the state should not have the power to decide what books should be allowed in the classrooms. It is frightening to think that All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson is now one of the most banned books in the US. It feels like yesterday that my friends and I had picked it for our book of the month; we were just excited to read it and talk about it with each other. How many other books I have read or plan to read will be banned or have been banned in the US and I am just not aware of it? The thought of not being able to escape into a new world and leave this one behind scares me. Even more so when life right now feels like a never-ending collection of dystopian novels that keep on repeating themselves. Not one of those books ends before a new one starts.
My friends keep on telling me that I’ll be fine if they banned all the books in the world just because I have maladaptive daydreaming and that I should be grateful for it. But I don’t want to just daydream, I want to be able to see what other people dream about. I want to be able to be in a fictional world of my choosing, I want to be able to live a million different realities.

I remember that I used to feel a little crazy; wanting to be perceived as pretty (by other women ♡)  but really hating male attention.  I would cover every patch of skin on my body—coat on top of hoodies on top of long sleeve shirts in late May— but there was still that nagging expectation to try and be pretty enough, so when I felt brave I’d shed my layers only to recoil because teenage boys can’t get past the fact that secondary sexual traits exist for reasons beyond their own existence.  I’d go out and post pictures on instagram because you just have to, and my comments would flood with unwanted comments from men older than my father and delete it, just to reupload and cross my fingers it didn’t happen again because you just have to.

 It’s crazy, the more you think about it.  Feel pushed to be pretty (because how dare you look ugly) so you shave, straighten your hair, paint your nails, wax your face if you have to—just look beautiful. There was always something to nitpick, still. Now, it was the fact that you had to do all those things to look pretty, you were unnatural. Then it was the looks given boys whose attention would go ignored because we weren’t aware that when they told us to be pretty, it was to please everyone but our own target audience. I would have someone make a comment or get waaaaaay to close for comfort and decide that I should just start hiding again (not that it actually stopped some people).  It was like a whirlpool in my mind, and I hated it!  I blamed no one, though. I used to be an apologist (GROSS), and some of us still are,  because families teach us that it was cute when guys were persistent since they only wanted attention, and with egos so fragile they can’t comprehend rejection; so, speak softly and let them down gently— but not really! Instead just laugh off their words because they get angry (?) and that would somehow be my fault. 

One day, I came across a poem, “Song of the Prettybird” by Shay Alexi Stewart somewhere on instagram, and I was just blown away! Every-little-thing that made me feel utterly insane was amalgamated into this poem about prettybird—who actually can’t just be a pretty bird because that is absurd! Prettybird has to be pretty when they decide it matters and “pretty” when they say it doesn’t. But reading that for the first time felt like the pressure of a headache just fading away; I wasn’t crazy and it certainly wasn’t my fault the world was spinning. I’ve been as active as I could be in the conversation since; speaking up more often and becoming comfortable in my skin as the years have gone by.

                                                                        “Wide Awake From a girl that doesn’t read”

                                                                                                                    By: Chidera Reece 

               Many people believe that mental health is for crazy people with psychological problems that need to be put away in a jail and not let out. For a fresh breath, this isn’t enough. I thought the same thing as well, but then reality hit me, especially with COVID. Mental health was always a problem but it was always overlooked even on social media someone could look happy and still be depressed for example me before covid i was type depressed so i took a year break from college because i wanted to get my life together and the pandemic isn’t helping my dad was sick and also my mom was sick. At that time I really took my time reading articles about depression. Helping myself and other family members struggling with the same thing was my goal. 

Looking back at my research on depression I stumbled upon an article “Covid Depression and Anxiety” By John Hopkins – Published on February 14, 2021. It really explained a lot to me for example who is at risk of mental health problems. People with preexisting vulnerabilities to mental or physical health problems are especially at risk. The website confirmed my claim since I had experienced vulnerabilities in the past. When we feel in charge of our condition and that there is something we can do to change it, we gain. People may feel less helpless now than they did at the beginning of the epidemic when more information and prevention techniques, including vaccines, are developed.

In closing I wasn’t much of a reader when I graduated from high school, but as the covid started to happen, I started to read more to figure out why I was acting out in a way I couldn’t comprehend and feeling certain ways.