This video was super impromptu (note the shower hair!) but yesterday I watched a really awful video of this BookTuber who spoke out against diversity in literature and that is something I just can't sit by and stay silent about. (I won't link to the video, but as of writing this it is still live so you can easily look it up if you want to listen to 22 minutes of ignorance.) As someone who considers themselves to be an educator, it is wrong for me to stay silent when someone is being racist or sexist or homophobic or xenophobic or transphobic or spouting ANY KIND of prejudice rhetoric against groups that are oppressed in our society. These things directly impact the students I care so much about and so many of my colleagues and friends as well. I can't consider myself a educator or friend to these people in my life if I don't take a stand against what this BookTuber and so many like this person are still saying in the year 2016.
I wasn't aware of this video or this readathon before posting my Tackle Your TBR readathon TBR selection last week, but as soon as I was made aware I knew I wanted to stand with the rest of the BookTube and online reading community and say No. This person is not a representation of us. We VALUE diversity. It matters to us. It's important. So I am participating in the #DiverseAThon this week, which will be taking place from Monday, September 12th (today!) to Monday, September 19th - the same timeframe as the first week of the Tackle Your TBR readathon. There were only two books on my original TBR that had diverse themes/characters so I added a few more diverse options for myself to choose from this week.
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