Day 2 Banned Books - Week Free Speech in the Cancel Culture

Participants share their thoughts on communication in society these days and share a passage from their favorite banned book. Look forward to hearing from poet Manon Voice, Professor James H. Madison, Mayor Joe Hogsett, and others, moderated by Professor Una Osili. This is a virtual event and you will receive access information shortly before the event. For the complete schedule of Banned Books Week Events, please visit vonnegutlibrary.org.

Manon Voice is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana and is a poet and writer, spoken word artist, hip-hop emcee, educator, social justice advocate and practicing contemplative. She has performed on diverse stages across the country in the power of word and song and has taught and facilitated art and poetry workshops widely, working with organizations such as Women Writing for (a) Change, Arts for Learning Indiana, Notre Dame Americorps, Regeneration Indy, Indiana’s WomIN’s Festival, Indiana Writers Center and Purdue University. She has been a featured poet and performer in noteworthy Indianapolis productions such as “The Wake”, “Village Voices Notes from a Griot” and “Nina High Priestess of Soul” with the Phoenix Rising Dance Company. Manon Voice has performed alongside Broadway singer and actress, Jennifer Holliday for Brothers United World AIDS Day, Indiana Poet Laureate Adrian Matejka, Artist and Songstress, Opal Staples, International Poet, and Philosopher, David Whyte, and has opened for acts such as WNBA Championship basketball player Tamika Catchings and Judge Joe Mathis.

Dr. James H. Madison is the Thomas and Kathryn Miller Professor Emeritus of History, Indiana University, Bloomington. Jim has received several teaching awards, including the James P. Holland Award for Exemplary Teaching and the IU Student Alumni Association “Student Choice” Award. He has also taught, as a Fulbright Professor, at Hiroshima University, Japan, and at the University of Kent, Canterbury, England. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Indiana Humanities, a trustee of the Indiana Historical Society, and a member of the Indiana Bicentennial Commission. Jim is the author of several books, including Eli Lilly: A Life; A Lynching in the Heartland; Slinging Doughnuts for the Boys: An American Woman in World War II; World War II: A History in Documents, and The Indiana Way: A State History.

Mayor Joe Hogsett is an attorney, prosecutor, and politician who is the 49th mayor of Indianapolis. Hogsett served as the Secretary of State of Indiana from 1989 to 1994 and as the Chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party from 2003 to 2004. He was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1992, for Indiana's 2nd congressional district in 1994 and for Attorney General of Indiana in 2004. He most recently served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana from 2010 to 2014. On November 3, 2015, he won the race for Mayor of Indianapolis in the 2015 election. He won reelection to a second term in 2019.

Una O. Osili, Ph.D. is an economist with significant experience in research and policy in the fields of household behavior and economic policy.   She is also Associate Dean for Research and International Programs at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the world’s first school dedicated to increasing the understanding of philanthropy and improving its practice worldwide.