How do students fight the growing epidemic of book bans spreading across the country? In this talk, student activists Christina Ellis and Edha Gupta narrate their journeys in successfully reversing a book ban held on diversity education books throughout the schools at Central York School District in York, PA. Through talking about their personal experience with a lack of diversity education in their schooling, they explain the value books hold in transforming education. Christina and Edha promote future generations to take control over their education and their futures, as making this change is monumental. This talk emphasizes the importance of diversity education in schools. Christina Ellis is a 17-year-old African-Caribbean American high schooler and activist. She is the Vice-President of a club called the Panther Anti-Racist Union, better known as PARU. Herself, Edha Gupta, and others worked together to reverse a book ban that the Central York School District in York, Pennsylvania placed upon books/resources that promoted diversity and inclusion. At Christina's high school, Central York High School, she helped to organize a peaceful protest that advocated to reverse the ban. Christina and others now work to continue to educate others on the importance of diversity education and inclusion within her community. Upon graduating high school, Christina plans to attend college to receive a degree in science, to then go onto medical school. She hopes to dual specialize and become an Emergency Medicine Physician and OB/GYN. When she is a doctor she hopes to also advocate for human rights within the medical field.

Edha Gupta is a 17-year-old student at Central York High School in York PA. In September 2021, she and her peers became aware of a school board-instated ban on a Diversity Resource List created by teachers for the classroom. Edha and her peers, including Christina Ellis, immediately decided to advocate for voices of color in the classroom. Over the span of a few months, Edha and her peers organized protests before school and in the community and consistently spoke at biweekly board meetings to protest this decision. From then, their movement skyrocketed. At just the start of book banning across the country, Edha and her peers in protest were interviewed by countless news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, and The Washington Post. She has spoken at the PA State Capitol regarding this issue and talked with notable legislators like Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. Most notably, Edha and her peers have been able to make a change in their community. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx