George Takei speaks out against censorship at BPL Banned Books Week event | amNewYork

"As the First Amendment faces growing challenges, the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) welcomed American actor, author and activist George Takei for an unscripted conversation on censorship at the Central Library at Grand Army Plaza on Oct. 6, as part of Banned Books Week 2025. A few hundred book lovers filled the library's lobby, greeting Takei who served as honorary chair of Banned Books Week 2025 with thunderous applause."

"The book, which tells the story of his family's years in Japanese American internment camps, was banned in Tennessee in July 2024 and in Pennsylvania in 2023. Takei compared the people behind book bans to a toddler who has just discovered the power of the word no, rejecting everything including ice cream unaware they are missing out on something positive or the chance to gain new experiences and knowledge."

"He asked her why she wanted it banned, and she responded that it was Un-American. He recalled that she didn't know the 442nd Infantry Regiment a mostly Japanese American army combat unit was the most decorated in U.S. military history. Nor did she know about the grieving mother of a fallen Japanese American soldier being presented with the American flag while living behind barbed wire in an internment camp."

George Takei spoke at the Brooklyn Public Library's Central Library at Grand Army Plaza on Oct. 6 during Banned Books Week 2025 as honorary chair before a crowd of several hundred. The conversation with librarian and poet Adeeba Rana focused on ways to take action against book bans and included discussion of his graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy. That memoir, recounting his family's years in Japanese American internment camps, was banned in Tennessee in July 2024 and in Pennsylvania in 2023. Takei likened proponents of bans to toddlers who reject new experiences by saying no. He described an encounter with a woman who labeled the memoir "Un-American" and who did not know about the 442nd Infantry Regiment or wartime injustices. He also recently published It Rhymes with Takei about coming out at 68.

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