Celebrate banned books.
Celebrate diverse voices.
Celebrate freedom.
Sun, Sept 28, 2025
10:30 AM-2:30 PM
Book bans are on the rise, silencing voices and stripping diverse stories from our shelves. At Cedar Lane, we know stories matter—they help us see through another’s eyes, care more deeply, and keep democracy strong.
Join us on Sunday, September 28, 2025 for the Banned Books Festival as we celebrate the authors, readers, and advocates who refuse to be silenced.
From family activities to a powerful worship service with Rep. Jamie Raskin and a dynamic author panel, this festival lifts up the freedom to read and the right to be heard.
Worship Service
Defending Democracy: Let Every Story Be Heard — with Rep. Jamie Raskin
We celebrate the freedom to read and the power of diverse voices, honoring authors, librarians, educators, and students on the front lines. Join us for music and reflection, and renew your commitment to a democracy where every voice counts and every story is heard.
Join us in-person or online.
About Rep. Jamie Raskin
Rep. Raskin represents Maryland’s 8th District in the U.S. House. A constitutional law professor for more than 25 years at American University’s Washington College of Law, he is a nationally recognized advocate for democracy, civil rights, and free expression. He served as lead House manager in the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump and is the author of the bestseller Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy.
Drag King Story Hour
Children and Youth Programming
Join us for a dynamic, age-appropriate program designed to spark imagination, celebrate creativity, and honor the power of stories!
Our morning begins together in the Sanctuary at 10:30 AM, where everyone will hear a story about resistance movements from around the world.
Then, children and youth will move into the Chapel for an unforgettable Drag King Storytime featuring award-winning Drag King Ricky Rosé.
After Storytime, kids and teens will dive into literacy and social justice activities tailored to their age group:
Pre-K & Kindergarten – Create book-inspired crafts and share your own story! Younger children will tell their tale to an older youth “scribe” and then bring it to life with illustrations.
1st–2nd Grade – Make your own social justice comic book, guided by materials from Matthew Cressler author of the webcomic Bad Catholics, Good Trouble.
3rd–5th Grade – Meet acclaimed children’s author Fred Bowen (Off the Bench, Gridiron) and join him in conversation about sports, storytelling, and what it means when books are banned.
6th–12th Grade – Take action with hands-on service projects, including creating zines and decorating umbrellas with messages of freedom and justice. (Service hours available.)
This program blends fun, creativity, and justice-centered learning—empowering young people to find their voices, share their stories, and stand up for the freedom to read.
Coffee Hour
Stay after the service for coffee, tea, and light refreshments.
Enjoy our bright social hall, and outdoor deck surrounded by trees and nature.
Author Panel
Unstoppable Voices
Celebrate the authors who bring us diverse, challenging, and necessary stories that censorship seeks to silence.
Panelists
Lakita Wilson – Author of What Is Black Lives Matter? and Be Real, Macy Weaver, and 2017 SCBWI Emerging Voices Award recipient.
Wendy Wan-Long Shang – Award-winning author of The Great Wall of Lucy Wu, The Secret Battle of Evan Pao, and 2022 American Girl books featuring Corinne.
JB Aris – Baltimore-based writer, actor, director, and performance artist, author of Spellwork for the Modern Pastel Witch.
Moderator
Madelyn Rosenberg – Author of more than a dozen books, including The Schmutzy Family and One Small Hop, and co-author of Not Your All-American Girl.
Learn More About the Panel
Panelist
Lakita Wilson
Lakita Wilson is the author of several novels and non-fiction projects for children and young adults, including What Is Black Lives Matter?, a part of the New York Times Bestselling HQ Now series; Be Real, Macy Weaver, a coming of age middle grade friendship story; and a few other secret projects she isn’t allowed to tell you about yet.
Lakita was born in Washington, DC, and grew up in Prince George’s County, Maryland. A 2017 recipient of SCBWI’s Emerging Voices Award, Lakita received her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is currently on faculty at Prince George’s Community College in the Education Department. Lakita lives in Prince George’s County, Maryland with her two children and Shih-Tzu.
Panelist
Wendy Shang
Wendy Wan-Long Shang is the author of numerous books featuring Chinese-American characters, including: THE GREAT WALL OF LUCY WU, winner of the Asian Pacific-American Librarian Association award; THE SECRET BATTLE OF EVAN PAO, an ALA Notable Book and 2025-26 Virginia Readers Choice selection; and most recently, THE BEST WORST SUMMER OF ESME SUN. Her work has led to collaborations with Netflix, Disney and American Girl; Wendy was the author of the 2022 American Girl books featuring the first Chinese-American Girl of the Year, Corinne. Wendy lives in Falls Church, Virginia with her family, and has over a two-year streak on Duolingo.
Panelist
JB Aris
JB Aris is a Baltimore-based writer, actor, director, musician, and performance artist with an MFA in Creative Writing from University of New Orleans and a BA in Writing Seminars and Spanish from Johns Hopkins University. As a resident actor with the Baltimore Annex Theater from 2012-2017, Aris was involved in several acclaimed productions, including as a writer and director of an original adaptation of The Master and Margarita which appeared on Baltimore City Paper’s Top Ten Staged Productions of 2016. Aris’ poetry chapbook, Pastel Witcheries, debuted in 2018 with Seven Kitchens Press, and an extended edition called Spellwork for the Modern Pastel Witch was one of the winners of the Hard to Swallow Chapbook Contest at Birds Piled Loosely Press.
Among other things, JB Aris’ work focuses heavily on dreams, storytelling, the occult, mysticism, queerness, the grotesque, and the unfamiliar. This work in all mediums seeks to empower audiences and move them to experience dramatic catharsis, while exploring the lives of society’s outliers. Aris has performed all over Baltimore, as well as New York, Pennsylvania, DC, New Orleans, and Spain. Aris’ writing has been published in traditional print presses such as Assaracus and Slipstream alongside of zeitgeisty online publications like Taco Bell Quarterly and Wussy Mag or anthologies by Mason Jar Press and Unbound Editions. Aris has also been commissioned or awarded by organizations such as The Writer’s Digest, The Baltimore Museum of Art, and Spark Creative Anthologies.
Moderator
Madelyn Rosenberg
Madelyn Rosenberg has written more than a dozen books for children of all ages. Her titles include THE SCHMUTZY FAMILY, a finalist in the illustrated books category for the National Jewish Book Award; ONE SMALL HOP, a finalist for the Green Earth Book Award, and NOT YOUR ALL-AMERICAN GIRL, co-authored with Wendy Wan-Long Shang. Madelyn lives with her family in Arlington, Va.