Poem on Incest Mistakenly Included
in NYC Classroom Libraries
Among the titles that were delivered to New York City K–3 classroom libraries as school began in early September was a poetry collection by Maya Angelou containing a poem about childhood incest.
Columbia University Professor Lucy Calkins, director of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, said in the September 11 New York Times that an error had been made by a secretary who typed the name of the collection, I Shall Not Be Moved, onto the book list rather than the intended work, We Shall Not Be Moved, an account by Joan Dash of a 1909 women’s factory strike.
“I’m not a poetry critic, so I’m not complaining about the poetry itself,” a parent at P.S. 321 told the Times. “But this is not even a close call in my judgment. This is just sick for 3rd graders.”
Calkins took the blame for the error, adding that it was especially embarrassing because she had tried to make the book list extremely conservative in light of the crusade against indecent art waged by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the originator of the classroom libraries plan.
Posted September 17, 2001.
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