TruthDig Radio, which broadcasts on radio stations across the country and is available as a podcast, had a great discussion with Svetlana about our "Top 40 Threats to Free Speech Right Now!" post. It's a wide-ranging dialog, from the government's war on whistleblowers to Facebook's war on nipples. The interview starts at about 17 minutes in.
NCAC screened our 2013 Youth Free Expression Film Contest Winners at the New York Film Academy on March 29. Top prize went to Ani Akpan of the Bronx for his visually dazzling Future Warfare III, followed by Peter Ackerman of Augusta, Maine and Austin Guerrero of Gresham, Oregon; Daniella Sanchez won the People’s Choice Award with the greatest number of [...]
“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach.” — Aldous Huxley Huxley would not be surprised then, that as we go to print, his 1932 novel, Brave New World, has been challenged in Delaware by a school board member who declared, “because my [...]
This year NCAC celebrates 40 years on the frontlines of the censorship wars. As we revisit our 40 year history —and the recent history of censorship in the US —we will be looking at how information access, creative freedom and control over what we see and know have changed - or not. The approach of Memorial Day reminds us how [...]
To celebrate NCAC's 40th Anniversary, we take a look at 40 threats to free speech.
1975: “Burning Books in North Dakota” Bruce Severy was fired after having assigned James Dickey’s Deliverance and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five to his high school English students. When the school’s burning of the books created nationwide publicity, residents of Drake, N.D. were “dumbfounded and vaguely upset by the notoriety.” 1979: “Classified at Birth: The Progressive Case” The controversy around the Progressive’s intended article on the [...]
NCAC's Youth Free Expression Project sent a letter to the Newfound Area School District warning of the "constitutionally suspect" dissolution of a high school student film club. The official reason for disbanding the club was its supposed failure to advance "student performance in core academic subjects like reading and mathematics” or “complement their regular academic program.” But in conversation with [...]
District 196, serving the Rosemount – Apple Valley – Eagan regions near the Twin Cities, has announced that the committee convened to decide whether the book Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You should be retained in the district's libraries has voted 10-0 to keep the work. A parent challenged the book for the use of the word "retarded" in the story. The review process [...]
View NCAC's Annual Report online here.
Update: The book as been retained. Click here for details on the decision. Barthe DeClements' award-winning Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You has been challenged for a school library removal in Rosemount - Apple Valley - Eagan Public Schools (District 196) near the Twin Cities in Minnesota. A parent filed a complaint over the use of the word "retarded" in the [...]
by CarolineS on Flickr We've launched a new website with an updated design on a completely new platform. It has already made a big difference in how we promote free speech! Here are 10 reasons why we think you'll like it, too: 1. Welcome Home, Blogging Censorship! Our free expression commentary and news blog, Blogging Censorship, is now [...]
NCAC cordially invites you to a special screening of a new documentary about the Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei on Monday, May 19th at the IFC Center.
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee approved a bill to limit NSA’s mass surveillance. The USA Freedom Act has the support of some groups pressing for reform which characterize it as an important first step in curbing the government’s bulk collection of private records, while noting that more still needs to be done. See http://newamerica.net/node/109858. Other organizations express concerns that [...]
Damien Hirst's The Virgin Mother is a large piece about even larger subjects: life, death, birth, and humanity. But is it too large for Old Westbury, L.I.? The Virgin Mother was previously displayed (there are several casts) at Lever House in Manhattan, outside London's Royal Academy, and on Fontvieille Harbour, Monaco. But now that it landed in posh Old Westbury, [...]
As free speech organizations continue to push the government for changes in surveillance policies, there are technical changes we can implement to thwart online mass surveillance that require no government permission at all. Reset The Net is calling on everyone who hosts a website or publishes an app to take action.
NCAC has received Charity Navigator’s highest rating for a non-profit organization! Charity Navigator is recognized as the country’s premier evaluator of charities, taking into account an organization’s financial health, accountability and transparency, and results reporting to provide donors with data that helps them make informed and confident decisions with their contributions. The high rating indicates that "NCAC outperforms most other charities [...]
