Celebration of Reading
We believe in the freedom to read
Every child and every family deserves to be seen, heard, and included in our schools. They deserve to see themselves in the books they read, to learn with and from people who are different from them, and to grow and thrive in our multiracial democracy. Join us at the MLK Library in Washington, DC and here online on August 31st from 10am-2pm ET to celebrate the joy of reading and push back on forces that want to ban books and censor our communities!
Invite your friends and spread the word!
Our kids deserve to see themselves in the books they read. I won't stand for book bans - that's why I'm going to the Celebration of Reading on August 31st! Come join me at bit.ly/celebrationofreading!
The freedom to read is the freedom to learn! Join me in DC on Saturday, August 31st to stand up to censorship groups like Moms For Liberty and say no to book bans! Let me know you're coming at bit.ly/celebrationofreading!
Come celebrate the freedom to read and learn and stand up to book bans with us! Join us for a Celebration of Reading on August 31st from 10am-2pm ET in Washington, DC! RSVP at bit.ly/celebrationofreading!
What to expect at the event
This event will be joyful and highly visual with live performances, art, and entertainment.
VISUALS & HIGHLIGHTS: Free books and food, live music and performers, arts and crafts stations for kids, DC-based children’s authors.
PERFORMANCES BY: Children’s go-go performer Uncle Devin, award-winning teacher and performer Culture Queen; drag artists Charlemagne Chateau and Tara Hoot.
Performers
Uncle Devin
Devin Walker, a.k.a., “Uncle Devin, the Children’s Drum cussionist,” is a national leader in the children’s music industry and an award-winning drummer and percussionist specializing in Family Funk.
He owns The Uncle Devin Show®, an interactive musical experience for children that uses percussion instruments to cultivate their minds- a dynamic cross between DC’s Trouble Funk and Schoolhouse Rock.
Culture Queen
Culture Queen is an award-winning teaching artist, children’s musician, author and arts manager, who creates empowering entertainment for children! She is the founder of Culture Kingdom Kids, LLC, where since 2010, Culture Queen has produced innovative Black History-themed children’s performances, festivals, and professional development programs at schools, libraries, restaurants, malls, theaters and museums across the country including the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture and the Reginald Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture.
Regie Cabico
Regie Cabico is the first openly queer and Asian American poet to win The Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam, later taking top prizes in three National Poetry Slams. Television credits include 2 seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam, NPR's Snap Judgement & MTV's Free Your Mind, and TEDx. He teaches poetry for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and received the Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers for his work teaching at-risk youth at Bellevue Hospital. His work has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, and TEDx Talk and he is the lead poet for the new television series, The Poet Speaks premiering November 2024 for the Archeology Channel, and is the executive director for A Gathering of the Tribes.
Tara Hoot
Tara Hoot was born in the 'High Land' of Indiana, Terre Haute, and spent my formative years in the 'Jewel of East Central Indiana', New Castle! The Hoosier State couldn't contain her glamour, so off to the East Coast she went, landing with a thud in Washington, DC! She's a kind and campy drag queen entertainer and can't wait to see you soon!
Charlemagne Chateau
DC's self-described "averages drag queen." A frequent performer at Loyalty Books' Drag Story Hour, Charlemagne uses drag to capture the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models.
We're partnering with some amazing organizations
Event co-sponsors include:
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Defense of Democracy, Red Wine & Blue
Moms Rising
Unite Against Book Bans
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
National Parents Union
PFLAG
African American Policy Forum
The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC).