Daniela Ibarra, KTUL Staff
TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — A Black-owned bookstore in Tulsa is fighting against book bans.
Last week, Secretary of Education Ryan Walters called for a Norman teacher's certificate to be revoked after she shared a QR code with students that linked to banned books.
Instead of keeping them off shelves, Fulton Street Books is making sure those controversial books are on full display.
"We believe that the only way that we can progress as a community is to make sure that all voices are at the table," said Onikah Asamoa-Caesar, the founder & owner of Fulton Street Books & Coffee. "Over 80% of our books on our shelves are featuring written by black folks, brown folks, communities of color and marginalized communities."
In a new study, non-profit PEN America found from July 2021 to March 2022, more than 1,100 different titles were banned or restricted in schools across 26 states.
As a former educator, Asamoa-Caesar said that's unacceptable.
"What I know to be true based on what books are being banned, and what books are trying to be silenced, is that this is a cultural war," she said. "That this is an attempt to erase the people, their stories, their communities, their histories, and really, to gloss over and cover up the history of the United States."
Asamoa-Caesar said when books get banned, sales for those titles go up at her bookstore.
"Banning books will not erase the sins of this country," she said.