UCF English faculty member Cecilia Rodríguez Milanés, Ph.D. coordinated with Miami Dade College Kendall campus faculty member Elena Perez-Mirabal during Banned Books Week to celebrate Hispanic Heritage and raise awareness about the banned books in Tucson, Arizona–including mostly works by Latino/a authors. MDC Kendall campus hosted a 12 hour read-a-thon, “Librotraficantes: A Response to the Tucson Unified School District Banned Book Plan,” that was streamed live on October 4, 2012.
UCF participated in the read-a-thon by uploading videos with students and faculty reading from some of the banned books by authors Gloria Anzaldúa, Ana Castillo and Sandra Cisneros. Contributors to the read-a-thon included Rodríguez Milanes, Gabriela Rios, Ph.D. (Writing and Rhetoric), as well as students from English, International Relations, and Women’s Studies.