LightNews LightNews
banner
db4dawn.bsky.social
@db4dawn.bsky.social
24 followers 51 following 3 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
db4dawn.bsky.social
April 26, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted
princetonupress.bsky.social
Booksellers have faced censorship and harassment defending the freedom to read. Celebrate your local bookstore and support their ongoing role in safeguarding intellectual freedom.

press.princeton.edu/ideas/bookst...

#BookstoreDay
This essay traces the long and turbulent history of American booksellers who have faced censorship, harassment, and even violence for defending the freedom to read. Through vivid anecdotes and historical cases-from undercover stings in the early 1900s and legal battles over “obscene” literature, to FBI surveillance of Black bookstores and bomb threats against feminist and LGBTQ+ shops-the author illustrates how bookstores have repeatedly become battlegrounds in the fight for civil liberties and free expression. Despite intimidation from both government and private groups, booksellers have pushed back, shaping legal precedents and rallying communities to defend First Amendment rights. The essay ultimately calls on readers to recognize bookstores as “arsenals of democracy” and to support their ongoing role in safeguarding intellectual freedom.
April 26, 2025 at 2:10 AM
db4dawn.bsky.social
February 16, 2025 at 3:43 PM
db4dawn.bsky.social
January 23, 2025 at 3:22 AM