A pastor in Midland, Texas, was escorted out of a School Board meeting by police for reading from a book depicting pedophilia, racism, and sexual abuse to parents. On Tuesday, Pastor John K. Amanchukwu read an excerpt from the book titled Push, which tells the story of an illiterate 16-year-old girl overcoming the trauma of being sexually and physically abused by her parents.
After introducing himself, Pastor Amanchukwu explains to parents and educators that the book, which was adapted for screen in 2009 as the movie Precious, “depicts racism, it depicts incest, molestation, a father rapes his daughter and impregnates her twice. The mother fondles the daughter as well and causes her to climax and have an orgasm.”
While Pastor Amanchukwu is speaking, a woman in the auditorium began demanding to know if the book is in Midland Independent School District (MISD) libraries. The school board meeting chair then struck a gavel calling for order before the pastor’s mic was muted.
Despite being silenced, Amanchukwi, the founder of I Know God, a grassroots organization committed to “exposing the racist ideologies of abortion and critical race theory,” continued to list off more depraved contents of the novel.
Nearly 60 seconds into his speech, with his mic still muted, the video shows a male adult approaching the pastor. Amanchukwu passionately exchanges words with the man before the sound is restored to his mic.
“Is this book that you’re referencing in one of our libraries?” interjects a female voice from the audience.
“It is, it’s in Legacy High School,” responds Amanchukwu.
The woman then asks the pastor and children’s rights activist to clarify the name and author of the book, which is written by American novelist Sapphire, before he continues to read a disturbing excerpt recounting the physical and sexual abuse the child character endures at the hands of her father.
“This is a father talking about his daughter,” exclaims Amanchukwu passionately. “Here it is, page 25,” he adds, before proceeding to read from the book: “I been knowing a man put his dick in you, gush white stuff in your booty you could get pregnant. I’m twelve now, I been knowing about that since I was five or six.”
He then reads another paragraph from page 32: “Daddy put his pee-pee smelling thing in my mouth, my pussy, but never hold me. I see me, first grade, pink dress dirty sperm stuffs on it. No one comb my hair.”
“But he puts his sperm in his daughter,” comments Amanchukwu angrily before reading from another page describing an instance where the girl’s mother touches her inappropriately:
“I feel Mama’s hand between my legs, moving up my thigh. Her hand stop, she getting ready to pinch me if I move. I just lay still, keep my eyes close. I can tell Mama’s other hand between her legs now ’cause the smell fill room. Mama can’t fit into the bathtub no more. Go sleep, go sleep, go to sleep. I tell myself. Maman’s hand creepy spider, up my legs, in my pussy… I’m twelve, no I was twelve, when that shit happened… Mama jus’ hit me wif fryin’ pan?”
Interpreting that the text implies the mother has a yeast infection, the preacher asks if the MISD board members can smell the pungent aroma in the room before highlighting more examples proving the book’s vulgarity and demanding that the book immediately be removed from MISD libraries.
“We have six men on this board,” he continues as the room erupts in applause. “And I wanna say to these men that are on this board, if you don’t remove this book, you’re either a punk or a pervert.”
As applause continues and the audio cuts out on the video again, a man approaches Amanchukwu once more. Although Amanchukwu ignores the man’s attempts to get him to stop speaking, several police officers are then seen filing into the room.
Before the preacher is escorted out of the meeting by five male police officers, the video audio returns and a man is heard off-camera promising that the book will be removed from school libraries.
In addition to the book and the film adaptation being marketed for adults, The Publica journalist Sarah Fields, who shared the video on X, formerly Twitter, pointed out that the book violates HB900, which restricts explicit and adult-designated educational resources from schools.
The video sparked outrage online from many who are tired of learning about the sexually explicit materials kids are being exposed to in schools.
“I’m growing extremely tired with how disgusting these [S]elected officials treat our constituents that are only trying to protect children’s minds and their communities,” commented commentator Merissa Hansen.
Others praised Pastor Amanchukwu for using his voice to advocate for the well-being of children.
This is not the first time Push has sparked controversy for its pervasive subject matter.
In 2022, it was banned from Alpine School District in Utah for violating H.B. 374, which “prohibits certain sensitive instructional materials in public schools.”
