Conservatives have been strategic in their push to ban books. The need to hide information and knowledge from students is critical in their quest for power. And with these non-stop attacks on education, it often feels like the right wing has out-strategized us. As harmful as they can be in terms of human rights, they are smart in terms of messaging and playing the long game. But from the left’s perspective, one group is fighting back and choosing to build their own strategy. Red Wine & Blue is a left-of-center advocacy group that was founded in 2019. RWB began in Ohio and now has multiple local chapters across the country. I know in my area of Charlotte, NC, they have a very active group. RWB focuses on activating suburban women, a subgroup that is critical in elections and helped Joe Biden win in 2020.
RWB focuses on different key issues, including reproductive justice, fighting book bans, and addressing the culture wars currently dominating school board meetings across the country. They helped get a referendum on the ballot in Michigan to give state-level access to abortion, collecting well over the 425,000 signatures required. Here in North Carolina, they have worked with groups like Indivisible, as well as local campaigns with their get-out-the-vote efforts. While they do have in-person meetings over (of course) a glass of wine, they have also built a sizable online presence. For a group that isn’t composed of mostly Gen-Z or even millennials, they have smartly utilized the digital sphere to get their message out. They have expanded on Facebook and Twitter/X and even have a podcast. They have a whole section on their website dedicated to fighting book bans which is actually very well done.
Their official page labels them “Book Ban Busters” which I think is kind of neat! It makes them sound like superheroes. And let’s be honest, they have to be to do this kind of work. They talk about how extremists are trying to attack education, in some instances even banning books about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. They state what I think could be a good tagline, saying “Suburban women aren’t having it.” A unique thing they are doing is sending ‘Banned Bookmobile’ kits out! This is a part of their new initiative called “Freedom to Parent 21st Century Kids”.
Read more about Red, Wine and Blue and the full article at themarysue.com