Everyone is looking at @Scholastic right now & rightly so. Know they are not the only ones; this isn't an isolated situation.

Earlier, @RenLearnUS commissioned an essay about my favorite banned book. I wrote about the importance of fighting book banning 1/

They agreed to the topic, formatted my essay for publication. They pulled the essay at the 11th hour saying they needed space to "focus on the data in the report."

Censorship can be soft. It can be hidden. It can be explained away by many excuses. It's still censorship

Then, i was given the opportunity to write a blog on any topic, this time by @MackinLibrary and timed with the release of an upcoming PB. I told them I had an essay about book banning.

Their response was:

"Mackin believes that customers should be allowed to make their own decisions. An article on book banning could prove to incite customers. Is there any other way for Joanna to frame this or would she be willing to write about a favorite book without...

"...alluding to outright book banning? We fully understand if this doesn’t work for her but we hope she will still participate in the blog. We need to be sensitive to customers whose opinions may be at the other end of the spectrum."

Read: "sensitive to customers whose opinions may be at the other end of the spectrum" = carrying water for fascism as @Sayantani16 so eloquently states

Refusing to come out in opposition of the banning, silencing violence being enacted across the country is to support it

And still, like @emteehall eloquently stated, I find myself in the position of wondering if I should try to write something in a way that can send a similar message without stating it upright. The opportunity to have reach and eyes on a new book isn't one to let go lightly

And the burden of being asked over and over again to choose between morals or career is exhausting. We shouldn't have to bear this burden.