Local educators bring Teach Truth movement to Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach residents have always found fresh produce at a farmers market each Saturday right outside City Hall, but they were also recently offered some food for thought.

As the public passed a misfit booth at the market a week ago, many stopped and talked with those who had set up a table seeking to start conversations about defending the freedom to learn.

Local educators had decided to put out the pop-up exhibit, joining the fifth annual Zinn Education Project Teach Truth day of action.

Laguna Beach High student Zoey Bond, right, looks on as people check out educational materials at the Teach Truth table.

(Andrew Turner)

The discussions centered around book bans across the country, as well as teaching an accurate history of the nation. The Teach Truth movement aims to shed light on laws and policies that place restrictions on education.

“We want to make sure that all students feel safe and welcome and their humanity is affirmed in the classroom, no matter their gender [or] immigration status,” said Heather Hanson, a European history teacher at Laguna Beach High.

“The Teach Truth event is about raising awareness about legislation that has been introduced federally, most currently the executive actions which would seek to ban teaching the truth about the role of racism, sexism [and] heterosexism oppression throughout history, and various book bans throughout the country.”

Caitlin Brady, a U.S. history teacher at Laguna Beach High, interacts with visitors at a pop-up event raising awareness about book bans.

(Andrew Turner)

Among the books displayed at the table, some found titles they had read in their school days were now subjected to bans. Those included George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five.”

“I think every single person that stopped was surprised to see what kinds of books were being banned and what kinds of topics were under fire,” Hanson added.

The installation featured interactive elements such as selfie props and a board where people could write down the ways they can commit to supporting librarians, teachers and schools.

Visitors to the Teach Truth movement pop-up in Laguna Beach make written commitments to support teachers and librarians.

(Andrew Turner)

There were more than 200 actions planned nationwide for the Teach Truth movement on June 7, Hanson said.

Zoe Tran, a junior at Laguna Beach High, was among the students who volunteered at the event. It represented a lesson in civics, as Tran and her peers learned the power of advocacy.

“I think it was definitely a great opportunity for us to be taking action and sort of advocating for the pressing issue that I feel like is affecting primarily students my age across the country,” Tran said. “At least in our district, we’re really fortunate that there haven’t really been book bans, and a lot of these books that we see being banned across the country are actually part of our curriculum.

“It’s really important that we get the opportunity to kind of speak up and advocate against book banning and bring awareness to this.”

Stacks of books that have been subjected to book bans on display at a pop-up event in Laguna Beach.

(Andrew Turner)

David Milton, an exhibitor at the Sawdust Art Festival and a proponent of the cause, paid a visit to the Teach Truth stand. He noted the importance of making varying perspectives available for public consumption.

“If we’re to have liberty in the world, and especially in America, we need to make free speech actually available to everyone from every perspective,” he said. “It’s got to be open 100%.”

Milton has created artwork concerning the matter, including a painting that has been reproduced on clothing, posters and other products. The proceeds from those sales, he said, go to the American Library Assn.

“About a year and a half ago, I came up with the idea of doing a painting that would feature the most banned books in the world,” Milton said. “‘1984,’ as it turns out, is actually the world’s most-banned book, and someone would say, ‘Well, how Orwellian is that?’”

Hayley Steel, an English teacher at Laguna Beach High, wears a shirt with artist David Milton’s design featuring banned books.

(Andrew Turner)

One of the attendees wore a shirt showcasing the design, which includes a dozen books.

“What I wanted to do was portray the idea that the very books that most people read in an English course in high school, or grammar school, are now actually banned books,” Milton added. “How outrageous is that, that classics of American and European literature would be actually considered off limits and not a good thing for young people, or anybody for that matter, to know about?

“I put the [books] together, and I found a piece of rusty barbed wire to circle the books. If you look at the shirt, there’s a wire around it to give a symbolism of off limits.”

Educational materials provided at a Teach Truth pop-up at the farmers market in Laguna Beach on Saturday, June 7.

(Andrew Turner)