(Un)Banning Toni Morrison Documentary and Panel Discussion

In celebration of National Library Week, please join Dr. Ileana Jiménez and her students in a screening of their documentary (Un)Banning Toni Morrison with a student-led panel discussion to follow. This talk, film screening, and discussion explores the implications of teaching Toni Morrison’s most banned novel, The Bluest Eye (1970), during the first six months of Project 2025. As part of an undergraduate course on Morrison held last spring 2025 at Stony Brook, students created this 38 minute documentary to address the politics of banned books during this current political climate.

Their film, (Un)Banning Toni Morrison, demonstrates how they imagine teaching The Bluest Eye to high school students during a time when Morrison’s novel is still being challenged (ALA, 2024). Collectively, their film makes the case to teachers and teacher educators that Morrison’s work should be an integral part of resisting authoritarian regimes of silencing and surveillance.