{"id":11516421,"date":"2025-06-20T05:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T09:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/?p=11516421&preview=true&preview_id=11516421"},"modified":"2025-06-20T08:45:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T12:45:13","slug":"founder-of-organization-combatting-usna-book-removal-running-for-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baltimoresun.com\/2025\/06\/20\/founder-of-organization-combatting-usna-book-removal-running-for-congress\/","title":{"rendered":"Co-founder of organization fighting USNA book removal running for Congress"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Naval Academy grad and co-founder of Operation Caged Bird<\/a>, an organization that opposed the school’s book removal by providing midshipmen access to once-locked away literature, is running for Congress.<\/p>\n

William Marks, a 1996 Naval Academy graduate, said he\u2019s been in search of new ways to give back since retiring from the Navy in 2018. That search led him to the 25th Congressional District in Texas, where his wife is from.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Jan. 20 on, there has been a fire inside me,\u201d Marks, a Democrat, said, referring to President Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration. \u201cWhen I saw what they were doing to the Naval Academy and the military as a whole, I said \u2018I need to do something and I need to stand for something.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

After the Naval Academy released a list of 381 books that were removed<\/a> from its Nimitz Library\u00a0 \u2014 in compliance with a directive from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth\u2019s office to eliminate works focused on diversity, equity and inclusion \u2014 Marks, 51, enlisted the help of his favorite Annapolis book store, Old Fox Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That partnership produced Operation Caged Bird<\/a>, which raised money to purchase and make available to academy faculty and midshipmen many of the removed books. Since launching in April, Operation Caged Bird has raised about $70,000.<\/p>\n

The name is a reference to Maya Angelou\u2019s autobiography, \u201cI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.\u201d The book, one of the more high-profile titles on the removed-books list, details the racial abuse Angelou encounters\u00a0throughout her early life.<\/p>\n

Last month, the academy announced that most of the removed books were placed back on their shelves<\/a> after a second Pentagon-ordered review, but Operation Caged Bird is continuing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re a midshipman, if you\u2019re Naval Academy staff, and you need a book, we\u2019re going to get you a book,\u201d Marks said. \u201cThat\u2019s fully funded all the way up to the next [presidential] election.\u201d<\/p>\n