Today's program focused on the conflict over what books should be in the school curriculum. Following the monthly report from Leanne Harter, Special Projects Manager for Story County, we took a deep dive into the conflict over assigned reading in a class in Johnsonston, which was the major focus of a recent Johnston school board meeting. We first heard from Dana James, former Des Moines Register reporter, about her online publication Black Iowa News and its coverage of the Johnston School Board meeting. She also introduced us to the organization Johnston Parents For Equity andAnti-Racism, first through Lya Williams, who described the School Board Meeting, then Luana Nelson-Brown, who elaborated on the threat she sees from ignoring what happened. Both introduced us to the concept of "otherness," which is simply being different from white, Christian, "normal" people of the community, especially students.
