John K. Amanchukwu Sr. stood at the podium set up between dozens of people protesting books at an October Pine-Richland School Board meeting. He read a portion of the book “All Boys Aren’t Blue” from his phone. One woman covered her mouth with her hand while others shook their heads at the passages being read.
The North Carolina pastor called the book — which chronicles author George M. Johnson’s journey growing up as a queer Black man — “pornographic” and suggested Mr. Johnson “has an agenda.” Other speakers said they were “shocked” to learn about the content in some of the district’s library books, adding that the excerpts from “All Boys Aren’t Blue” made them feel “uncomfortable.”
Speakers said books they deemed to be sexually explicit and obscene should be pulled from the library.
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