PBS needs to get back with LeVar Burton to put Reading Rainbow 🌈 back in production and put back on air the old shows . Support your local book stores also on-line support and buy banned books .

I'm 42 and that voice still makes me feel like an excited kid. Thank you LeVar

National Treasure LeVar Burton. Thank you for this clip!

I adore LaVar Burton. He's a childhood hero of mine from Reading Rainbow, and then went on to Star Trek??? Even now, he rocks the grey like he invented it. Rock star.

They mention how LeVar Burton started in the show Reading Rainbow, but Mr. Burton currently has a podcast where, well, just reads short stories to you. It's called LeVar Burton Reads, if you're interested.

I still think Levar would have made a great Jeopardy host.

I generally buy a book as soon as I learn that it has been banned. I also encourage my grandchildren to read age-appropriate books that have been banned. This country has gone crazy in many ways lately, but banning books is one of the things that makes me angriest about all of this. Just tell me that there is something inside of a book that you do not want me to know, then my nose will be in that book just as soon as humanly possible. I can’t believe that we are having this discussion this far into the 21st-century!

LeVar has aged very well! Glad to see him fighting the good fight.

Its doubtful that any of those trying to ban various books have read any of the books they ban!

My mother engaged in book burning. My mother the TEACHER did that! She tried to burn my dad’s Science Fiction collection. Fortunately, he wouldn’t let her, so I was free to read books like 1984, and Animal Farm, and Fahrenheit 451. The irony of people banning books like Fahrenheit 451 is stark, and completely lost on those doing the banning. LeVar is absolutely right: it’s about fear. Thank you, LeVar, for everything you did for so many people in opening their eyes to reading.

"Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings" - Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), one of the most significant German poets.

Thank you LeVar! Thank you for helping to enrich my daughter's life with Reading Rainbow and for continuing the good fight! I have already purchased a few banned books including The Hill We Climb. As a person in my 60's I am so shocked that books that were required/suggested reading for me in school are now being ban.

I read Fahrenheit 451 in junior high and it has stuck with me my whole life. I recently reread it -- my local library has 2 copies-- and I realized I hadn't forgotten any of it.

V: “You may develop empathy. … The people who want to prevent you from developing that empathy are people who do not want their world shaken. They don’t want people…with an understanding of all these other people because that affects their worldview. …It’s gonna rock your world to read a book…” LB: “This is all being motivated by a sense of fear.”

It's great to see you LaVar Burton, you were championing childhood literacy when I was a child; and now you're aiding the adult understanding of the importance of diverse childhood literacy! I thought that yours was a good synopsis of the current situation, more power to you and your work Sir.💚

Farinheit 451 was the very 1st thing i thought of when the book banning started!!!

It just occurred to me how horrifying the title, “Reading Rainbow” must be to Republicans!!!!! Two words, each of which terrifies them! Love you, LeVar Burton!❤ Keep up the battle!!!!! (We’ll do our part, too.)

According to the internet, Henry David Thoreau said "The only sin is ignorance ". Thank you, LeVar, for helping us to be less sinful.

My kids grew up watching Reading Rainbow, my 4th son donated to the first Fund Drive about four-ish years ago. My son loves his shirt, “But you don’t have to take my word for it”. Actually, that is on his shirt🤔.

It begins with a fear of ideas and ends with violence against those they believe to hold the ideas. We must not fear ideas or our neighbours.

I love Velshi's banned book club. Though i am sad that it exists

After the Jan 6 putsch failed, the extremists moved into the school boards. School boards are the frontline in the battle against extremists.

Fear plays a part in this, as LeVar Burton says -- a fear that Chris Mooney touches on in his books The Republican Brain (2012) and The Republican War on Science (2005). But book-banning is also a handy wedge issue that is being exploited.

Fahrenheit 451 is a good movie but I didn't think it would come true in my lifetime. The kids hear the fire brigade truck coming & they start yelling excitedly "A fire, there's going to be a fire". A book burning fire.

Man, I'm 46, and I would still watch Reading Rainbow if it was on. I still remember the intro song, almost in its entirety.

There are food deserts & now there are book deserts. If we know any businessowners who may have the space, ppl could join forces and build bookshelves for them. This act of kindness works in the long-term as it gets current customers to visit more & recommend their friends/family Rule of room " take a book, leave a book"

I remember watching Roots, and crying because I didn't understand why human beings would harm each other as a child. And to demonstrate the ignorance of past generations, my mom was upset when I named my son Tobias, smh!! She said it's a black person's name🤯

Living in one of the stops on the Underground Railroad, Harriett Beacher Stowe heard many first had accounts of fleeing slaves. Her recounting of these stories, formed into the novel UNCLE TOM'S CABIN, changed the world. Pearl Buck, who lived in China with her missionary family, was able to do much the same thing with THE GOOD EARTH and many other novels. From hearing other people's struggles, these women showed those struggles to the world. Now days people are able to write and publish their own stories.

I love LaVars voice.

Fahrenheit 451 is brilliant. I read it in my teens. I'm not a Bradbury fan but I love this book. It has stayed with me. I've asked many people, if they had to memorize a book to save it, which one would you become?

LeVar Burton has done more for people reading than the entire government. People who were kids like me in the 80’s know him over who was running which culture slide. On a side note, I really have been waiting to see Kamala shine, she became VP during a very hectic time when the spotlights are all on the president and the neverwas. I’d like to see what else she does, because she’s an important voice as much as the men in power have tried to downplay her.

Since my child learnt to read at 4 because it was obligatory by 5. I started her own library and love of second hand book stores where we spent hours at 14 she still loves her school library where all the librarians know her and recommend books. If this was happening in my child's school I would not hesitate to be on the board and get every parent with me to fight this. I'm a Proud Woke Mother that would Never let this happen without a fight 💙💙

Hurray for Velshi and LeVar!

I love Ray Bradbury's short stories and books - Farenheit 451 was a classic. Why are they banning books? So kids grow up without knowledge? Knowledge is power.

Thank you for this conversation. Unfortunately,ignorance is rampant here in the US. Knowledge is the key to evolving into more understanding and communication. Isolationist isn’t the answer. The fear of acknowledging others value is a sign of this inability to accept all individuals for their own value.

God bless LeVar Burton. He is a national treasure.

Thank You LeVar✨🇺🇸✨💙

If someone calls me "Woke", I wear it like a badge of honour.

First it will be books Next it will be all the corporate news outlets Then lastly it will be democracy itself

Thank you Mr. Burton for teaching me the love of reading from a very young age.

Thank you Ali and LeVar!

Thank you, Mr Burton!❤

LeVar Burton is a living legend to me. I'm a molecular biologist. I taught myself to read at a very young age because he made reading look amazing on Reading Rainbow. Geordi LaForge was one of several characters who made me want to be a scientist. LeVar Burton played a blind man who used science to see.

I use to ban playboy from the children but I don't want to be a book banner so now I let them read it for the articles.

The irony of those burning the books having been the very ones who should have read them - if they could read.

Indeed, _all_ prejudice is fear.

Fahrenheit 451 is an eye-opening good movie. I haven't read the book yet. I love Levar Burton. He played such an incredible role in Roots.

Banning books makes many people read the books that are banned. Books they have never heard of becoming interesting. If you don't want your own child reading a book, don't allow them. When does one person's interest supercede the interest of the majority.

I'm a 47 year old soldier retired from the U.S. Army and LeVar Burton is still my hero. Always challenge your own preconceived notions.

Levar hi love your works especially gordi lol. I'm totally onboard with what you stand for , I happen to be living in desantis land unfortunately . There is no room for this ignorance in society in all aspects of life. Imagine if Trump and desantis are to be in office together - I think I'd become Canadian

Props to LeVar Burton.

Gotta love me some sweet Levar eloquence.

I have to say this - banning books - is uniquely an American thing. I'm Australian. We don't do this. Like at all.. The political middle has been MIA. For YEARS NOW. The rot HAS TO STOP. The silent majority MUST become the vocal majority. Be challenged. Push your boundaries. For the future of this world - WE MUST CHANGE.

Thank you, Mr. Burton. I was an avid fan of Reading Rainbow as a child. I remember your posters being plastered all over my school - and my school library - in elementary school. Now, I'm a librarian. Thank you for being such a wonderful advocate for intellectual freedom.

Are there books that I might not enjoy reading? Possibly. So if I start reading a book and find it objectionable y’know what I do? I stop reading it…. I don’t insist that no one else can read it. 🤷🏼‍♀️ People who ban books have never been the “good guys”. 🙄🤦‍♀️

Banning books. The very idea sickens me. I understand that a person should be of an acceptable age or grade in school to read some books, but that's so the person understands what is being said & the references that are made in whatever book it is, NOT to keep the reader SAFE!! Farinheit 451 was one of my favorites in grade 10. Amimal farm is another Fantastic book!! What are we trying to do? I imagine that without the experience of reading such books does leave one with a narrow view of the world. Learning to understand what the book was about leads to better understanding of what the entire WORLD is about - or WAS about when it was written. Are we so scared & ashamed of ourselves & our past, that LESS knowledge is better than MORE knowledge? Terrible things happened in the past. To pretend it never happened because it may make someone feel sad/upset, well that is just a part of EVERYONES life. It's like trying to FORCE us to use "preferred pronouns". If someone asked me to refer to them in a certain way, I guess I would try, but if I were to forget, I don't see that as being something to lose your job over. The more restrictions we force unto others, the dumber we become as a society. I am polite, & if I say "Hello Sir" to someone that dosen't see themselves as a male, but I cannot tell by looking at them, they should be happy that I am trying to be respectful - even if I CAN'T read their minds. Free speech & thought - including all I learned from those books (& many others) is something that should not be banned just because someone may feel upset. It's Become TRULY ridiculous. Only people with tunnel vision can feel this way. Those of us who had the chance to read things that MADE us THINK are not going to break down because of a book. Meanwhile - Movies & TV shows often say things that may upset someone, but it's often just a part of the story, & the show, & if it's a good one, has many fans BECAUSE they learn new things - or old things that they did not know B4, even if it is/was terrible. In high school I was ENCOURAGED to read books - any & all books. Now that whole idea is something to be WORRIED about!? Once again - less available knowledge will only serve to make our society less knowledgeable - & THAT'S a scarier thought than anything in any book I'VE ever read.

Levar deserves a Star Trek series centered around him. He's put the work in. Star Trek Le'Forge. With Geordi as a Captain who chooses none else than Data as his Number One.

i don't have kids and have been less engaged in this but jordy le forge's words will always command my attention.

"Abysmally ignorant" - so well said.

LeVar Burton is a national treasure. Reading Rainbow was more beneficial for this country than the GOP has been over the last 3 decades.

You would think that someone who reads would know that age-restricting adult content is ABSOLUTELY NOT the same as "banning" books! If you can still buy those books (which you can), they have NOT been banned. Please stop promulgating these absurd lies!

With all the wonders of the internet at everyones disposal, ...banning paper books? Really?😂😂😂

Please give us an Encore performance Ms Karmela Harris on the "Passage Of Time!" 👏Bravo!👏🤣

America is so backwater, that it has to have *Literacy* advocates! Cool.

Imagine the GOP banning various genres of books including the bible? Extremely concerning.

OK, so we have this thing called the internet, where we could create a library containing all the books that have been and will be banned. A place where they could be found by anyone who wanted to read them.

Make it so, Commander La Forge!

LeVar Burton is THE MAN

If only he had the same ability like Jordi Laforge from Star Trek, next generation, able to send all those people who are trying to ban books to the Klingon home world

I wish they were honest in thier reporting.

VERY IMPORTANT and excellent segment!! Everyone should listen to this conversation.

Twenty-five years ago I was attending a fundy xtian high school. This banned books thing was a well-known and long-standing goal. Too much leeway is given to those places.

Can anyone link me to one of these banned books? Just curious. :)

Levar Burton black don't crack❤❤😘 You are a beautiful soul! I watched Reading Rainbow in the 70s❤

Good felicitious work Levar

Carl Sagan, Rod Serling and Frank Zappa were prescient and right

Hey, Jordy has lovely eyes!😅

Read On Levar, Read On! 📙 👍❤

Tell ‘em Levar

If you don't want to read a book, don't read it. If you think something is wrong, don't do it. But if you value individual rights and freedom, you have to foster them,... for others first. "The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?"

Doesn't banning books seem....Cowardly to you? Even when a book has an idea that you or I disagree with isn't that an oppertunity to discuss WHY we disagree? To refuse to even have the conversation, then, is to say "i have no arguement - I just don't like it." well, in that case- tough. As for me,- Please, read the banned books! Challenge my ideas! Give yourself and me the chance to grow, learn argue,- and ultimately decide who we are.

What books? It's probably inappropriate books

Such a pleasure to listen to him Reason. That is the fight here, the forces of Rationality, against the mobs' mindless "beliefs". Another famous and important Rationalist phrased it exactly. Religion poisons everything. C. Hitchens.

Ray Bradbury is one of my idols. It makes me sick that his future dystopic warning has almost become a reality, with Fahrenheit 451 even banned in some southern states.

I am a voracious reader, and just the act of reading has improved the quality of my life much more than anything I learned in college. This year, I have exclusively read books that have been banned and critically reviewed by lunatics. Reading is the window to the world, but it is also relative to the student. Everyone has the propensity to digest information through the lens we view the world. In other words, everyone is biased and will remain who we are, regardless of academic credentials, race, age, gender or financial status.

Levar! 💗

Doesn't he owe some reparations to somebody or something?

I was thinking, there should be a sign showing a pile of books being burnt (Germany, late 1930s?) with the caption; "a first step to Fahrenheit 451, the fiction becoming reality".

read a rainbow

You cannot wake a person who is pretending to sleep.

Captain Planet, you're my hero

Butterfly in the sky, I can go where it's high, take a look it's in a book, a reading rainbow 🌈 😂😊 i grew up on the show, thought me how to read

Way to go Jordi.

For those who prefer a film of Fahrenheit 451, there's the excellent original 1966 version directed by Francois Truffaut and a newer 2018 remake with Michael B. Jordan.

Let us not feed those trolling and patting each other on the back that no books have been banned. They can go to the library for themselves, they need it.

When i was 10 my church led a secular cd burning. They wanted me to bring my NSYNC and rugrats movie soundtrack...

With all due respect to Mr. Burton - I admire him and I agree with 99% of what he is saying - I feel there's a big difference between a person who's truly awake and a person who's woke.

Mr Burton is an American hero.

Butterfly in the sky.....

Is this the video where an otherwise beloved actor threatens white ladies?