Alex Winn

Clad in a bright pink bowtie atop a white polo, dark track pants and white sneakers, Billie Bob Sykes uses a walker to stroll across the gym floors of a large local health and fitness center.

Selected people read aloud excerpts and poems from books banned or challenged by the Florida state government, or works that have been challenged in the past. Topics included literature exploring African Americans, anti-war themes and the Holocaust. Attendees were also given the chance to take home a banned book.

Since the late 1990s, church membership among U.S. adults has dropped steadily. But several Gainesville churches and temples are defying these trends.

Charlotte Korchak, Senior Educator & Director of International Student Programs at Stand With Us Israel and a self-proclaimed Zionist on her Instagram, travels throughout the country giving presentations about history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.