Fighting Censorship

Christina Ellis is an African-Caribbean American activist based in Pennsylvania. She served as the vice president of the Panther Anti-Racist Union during the 2021-2022 school year. Christina, fellow officers, and others worked together to reverse a book ban that her school district placed upon books and resources that promoted diversity and inclusion. Christina and others currently work to continue to educate others on the importance of diversity, education, and inclusion within her community. She hopes that by sharing her personal journey, she can help to spark hope in the lives of countless people around the nation and beyond.

Being an African-Caribbean American student activist, Renee Ellis was immersed into activism after her school district, Central York School District, enforced a racially motivated book ban. She became the director of communications and outreach for the Panther Anti-Racist Union, also known as PARU. Organizing and engaging in a series of peaceful protests at her high school and in the community, she helped reverse the ban. Renee currently works with PARU to continue to promote diversity, education, communication, and inclusion.

Edha Gupta is an activist who served as the president of the Panther Anti-Racist Union during the 2021-2022 school year. Edha and fellow officers successfully protested a school board decision to ban more than 300+ books on diversity education throughout the Central York School District. By sharing the power of her story as an Indian-American, Edha hopes to inspire young activists to make a difference through impactful change, resulting in memorable and long-lasting change in education and throughout the country. She is based in Pennsylvania.

Ben Hodge is the founder and faculty advisor of the Panther Anti-Racist Union. A twenty-year veteran of the classroom, he teaches acting classes at Central York High School and serves as the artistic director for the Central York Performing Arts program. A staunch advocate of the Diversity programming in the Central York School District since 2006, he has focused primarily on diversity education, mediation, and social-emotional awareness.

Patricia A. Jackson is a twenty-nine-year veteran in education. She spent the first half of her career as an administrator and teacher in the School District of the City of York. The latter half has been teaching world literature and creative writing at Central York High School. A fierce LGBTQIA+ advocate, Ms. Jackson facilitates The Beautiful People, a student-run club that creates safe spaces for teens within the school community. When the school board voted to ban hundreds of books based on race and sexual orientation, she joined the Panther Anti-Racist Union as coadvisor to assist the successful fight to overturn that ruling. Her fantasy novel Forging a Nightmare debuted in November 2021.

Olivia Pituch is a Pennsylvania-based activist and member of the LGBTQ+ community. She served as secretary and social media advisor on the executive board of the Panther Anti-Racist Union, a student-run club at Central York High School. Along with her fellow officers, Olivia organized multiple protests that led to the reversal of a book ban instituted by the district school board, which removed more than 300+ books on diversity. She plans to continue the fight for diversity and representation by majoring in the field of political science.

Angela Juarez has been narrating books since 2019. Her favorite books are the kind that make her kids laugh out loud! The best part of her day is getting to play with her two wonderful children. Her love language is food.

Curtis Michael Holland has craved performing and sharing what he knows ever since he first experienced the adrenaline rush of a connected audience. With a mixed background that is Canadian-Greek, African, and Indigenous (Blackfoot and Cherokee), you could say that he emerges from a rich mosaic of storytellers. Then, there's the fact that he has lived across three different continents-four, if you count the Middle East as its own. Nevertheless, the world is his home and he loves exploring new corners of it. Along this journey, he has developed basic proficiency yet refined pronunciation in: Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, French, and Italian. Curtis's worldly adventure began once he left his home in small-town Canada to teach students theater around the world as soon as he earned his honors degrees. This member of the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities is proud to share his spirited, textured, and entertaining voice. On one hand he loves bringing authenticity to queer romances and young adult fiction; on the other, he enjoys flirting with stories of horror, thrills, and high tension. Whatever the tale may be, it is his ultimate goal to educate and entertain.