Isabella Troy Brazoban

Isabella Troy Brazoban (born May 24, 2005^[1]) is a civil rights activist from Beaufort, SC and advocate for intellectual freedom. She is a co-founder of the youth-led movement against book censorship in Beaufort County, South Carolina, and is one of the primary subjects of the 2024 documentary film Banned Together^[2]. Her work focuses on the intersection of student rights, diverse representation in literature, and the protection of academic freedom in both K-12 and higher education.

Troy Brazoban attended Battery Creek High School in Beaufort, South Carolina. In 2022, she became a prominent voice in local governance after attending a school board meeting where community members were advocating for the removal of nearly 100 library titles^[3]. Her entry into activism was prompted by a desire to counter arguments that linked diverse literature to youth drug use—a topic she addressed personally by referencing her brother’s experience with a non-fatal overdose. She argued that banning books was an ineffective and tangential response to the actual crises facing youth.

She transitioned into higher education to study Physics, initially attending South Carolina State University (SCSU) for nuclear engineering^[4] before transferring to CUNY College of Staten Island for the Spring 2026 semester. At CUNY, she studies under the mentorship of astrophysicist and professor Dr. Charles Liu^[5].

In October 2022, the Beaufort County School District removed 97 books from library shelves following challenges from a small group of community members. Troy Brazoban, alongside fellow students Elizabeth Foster and Millie Bennett, utilized the Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization (DAYLO) to organize student testimony and community rallies^[6]. DAYLO, originally a school-based book club, evolved under their leadership into a regional advocacy network^[7].

The group’s efforts were credited with the eventual reinstatement of 91 of the 97 challenged titles^[8]. Troy Brazoban has since spoken at national forums, including the American Library Association’s (ALA) "Rally for the Right to Read" in 2023, where she highlighted the role of libraries as "bridges" to understanding marginalized experiences^[9].

The documentary Banned Together, directed by Kate Way and Tom Wiggin^[2], chronicles Troy Brazoban’s three-year journey from local student leader to national advocate. The film documents her meetings with authors such as Jodi Picoult and Ibram X. Kendi, and her consultation with U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin regarding the constitutional implications of curriculum censorship^[10]. The film received several awards on the festival circuit before its 2025 wide release on major streaming platforms^[11].

Troy Brazoban’s work has involved extensive collaboration with national civil rights and professional organizations, including:

• American Library Association (ALA): In 2023, she was a featured speaker at the ALA’s "Rally for the Right to Read," where she advocated for the role of libraries in fostering empathy.
• PEN America: She has participated in multiple nationally livestreamed panels hosted by PEN America, focusing on the impact of "educational gag orders" and the censorship of marginalized voices.
• Legal and Constitutional Advocacy: Her work involved direct consultation with U.S. Representative Jamie Raskin^[12] regarding the constitutional implications of school board censorship and collaboration with the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University^[13].
• Organizational Support: Her advocacy has been supported and amplified by The Gates Foundation^[14], ACLU^[15], PFLAG^[16], the National Education Association (NEA)^[17], and the Interfaith Alliance^[18], which collectively sponsored over 75 screenings of the Banned Together documentary across 27 states.

Alongside her activism, Troy Brazoban is active in the aerospace engineering and physics sectors. She has served as a General Scientist and Chief Scientist for NASA LSPACE (Lucy Student Pipeline Accelerator and Competency Enabler).

In November 2025, Troy Brazoban co-authored a policy-focused article for eCampus News titled "Protect knowledge: Standing against book bans in higher education". The piece argues that the "metastasizing" of censorship from K-12 into universities threatens the core tenets of academic inquiry and professional preparation in specialized fields like science and engineering^[19].