Let The People Read, Let The Teachers Teach!

A child reading is a wonderful thing. I love how books have a way of opening up a person's world. Now that summer is here, many libraries and school districts are promoting their Summer Reading Programs. It's great to see the growing popularity of neighborhood book exchanges and Little Free Libraries, especially in areas around the country where book banning has become a hot topic issue. Teachers and librarians are professional and very skilled at what they do. When I was coming up, and way before all of this widespread book banning began to make the headlines, teachers and librarians simply would not allow certain books on the shelf if they thought that it wasn't appropriate. Some of these current book banning laws are an insult to our professional, dedicated teachers and librarians. Regardless of whatever, we should all be promoting and encouraging everyone to read, especially our children. Personally, I think that some politicians and lawmakers are taking the lazy approach when they approve an all-out book ban policy on certain books. Instead, the more wiser and more professional approach should be supporting policies that creates options and allow people to make choices. It's great when our elected officials and school districts create space and sections of the public library or the school library to have and proudly display a 'banned books' area. No matter what, we shouldn't be in the business of taking away books, but instead, we should be more involved in providing a greater number of books that promotes different viewpoints and cultures. This is the greatness of our devoted teachers and librarians. For years, these dedicated teachers and librarians have been allowing their students to make their own choices by having engaged discussions about what options are available. Let the teachers teach! Let the people read! One of the goals of the school system is to prepare our kids for the real world. If we take certain books away from our kids are we really preparing them for the real world? - Randolph Randy Camp (Photo: Grandson Noah and me) Side Note: Sadly but true, some of these current book banning laws in America are historically rooted in racism and bigotry. Once there was a time in America whereby there were laws on the books that made it illegal to teach slaves how to read or write. Also, Native American Boarding Schools tried to strip American Indian Tribes of their native language by way of assimilation. Racism and bigotry shows itself in the most unsuspecting places sometimes. It comes in all shapes and sizes. I'm a proud military veteran, but even I have seen and have personally experienced racism and bigotry while serving in the US Air Force. It's 2024 now, and the more I keep hearing about these current book banning laws here in America, the more I keep encouraging everyone, especially young kids, to read, read, read! - Randolph R. Camp

All Teachers Need Our Appreciation and Our Support

Teachers Need Our Appreciation and Support…I owe a lot to all the teachers in Spotsylvania County, Virginia who all had a hand in shaping me. Miss Kelly, Miss Pritchett, Mr. Harrison. We all remember the teachers who made the classroom and our assignments interesting. Great teachers have the unique ability to make their students want to learn. Great teachers bring their unique personalities and life experiences to the classroom. They are human beings, not robots. It bothers me how more restrictions are being placed on our teachers nowadays, whereby some of these restrictions give the teachers less freedom to inject their own uniqueness into the classroom, which ends up hurting the students. Instead of placing hard guidelines upon our teachers, we need to pay them more, and we need to show them more of our appreciation for all of their hard work and dedication they bring into the classroom. In ‘Coreville Park a reggae novel’, the teacher did nothing wrong, but yet, she was unjustly suspended. We need to stand up for our teachers, as they did in Coreville Park. The paperback edition of Coreville Park is now available on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphcamp) – Randolph Randy Camp

Reggae Lovers Supporting School Teachers

The paperback edition of ‘Coreville Park, a reggae novel’ is projected to be released on September 15, 2023.…Rastafarians, reggae music lovers and teachers from around the world converge on a small community in Florida called Coreville to rally around and show their support for an elementary school teacher who was suspended for allowing one of her students to do his oral book report on a book about the Rastafarian culture, which wasn’t approved by the local school district.

Coreville Park, The Back Story

It was the early 1970’s when I first heard reggae music. The Wailers’ songs ‘Put It On’, ‘Small Axe’ and ‘Concrete Jungle’ instantly moved me. Just as I had enjoyed listening to songs by Curtis Mayfield and Bob Dylan during this time period, I equally became a fan of reggae, especially the roots-style reggae, and I’ve been a devoted fan ever since. Over the years, I’ve gotten to know and developed a great deal of respect for the Rastafarian culture. When I was in the Air Force I had the privilege of visiting Jamaica while on leave. Being a writer of mostly contemporary issues and subject matter, I think that it was just a matter of time before I found a creative way to insert the Rastafarian culture into one of my stories. I’ve been a book nerd all of my life, and it pains me to see the widespread book banning going on across America right now. Writing ‘Coreville Park’ is my response to all the unjustified and sometimes discriminatory book banning currently taking place across the nation. As mentioned before, I’ve been loving books ever since I was a little boy. It’s a shame and a disgrace that some politicians and school districts want to ban certain books nowadays. Placing strong restrictions on teachers and controlling how they conduct their classroom hurts the students. The classroom should be a place that nurtures open mindedness, not a place that erases history or attempts to brainwash young minds. I love it when some public libraries and book stores, large chains and small independent ones, proudly display and offer the ‘banned books’ to the general public. The paperback edition of ‘Coreville Park a reggae novel’ is projected to be released in mid-September 2023. – Randolph Randy Camp