Events

Silencing: An Assembly on Censorship with Elizabeth Larison, Che Gossett, Gavilán Rayna Russom, Salil Tripathi, Saw Wai

On the occasion of Shilpa Gupta’s exhibition, I did not tell you what I saw, but only what I dreamt, Amant hosts an afternoon of poetry, lectures, and performances that brings friends, artists, and scholars together to delve into historical and contemporary understandings of silencing through censorship.

In keeping with the motivation of Shilpa Gupta’s sound installation For, In Your Tongue, I Cannot Fit (2017-18) currently on view at Amant, which comprises a set of one hundred names of poets who have been incarcerated from the past and present, this assembly presents a series of provocations on censorship in its many manifestations.

Silencing: An Assembly on Censorship features responses from Elizabeth Larison, the director of the Arts and Culture Advocacy Program at the National Coalition Against Censorship; Che Gossett, a trans femme writer, scholar, and archivist; Gavilán Rayna Russom, an artist, composer, and scholar; Salil Tripathi, an Indian author and editor and Chair of PEN International’s Writers in Prison Committee; and Saw Wai, a Burmese poet, performance artist, and political activist, whose poems and remarks criticizing Myanmar’s military have resulted in his imprisonment. This event is moderated by Patricia Margarita Hernández.

This is a free event, but registration is required.

SECOND ANNUAL “STAND-UP” FOR FREE SPEECH COMEDY BENEFIT

Join board member and host Judy Gold along with Marc Maron, Greg Fitzsimmons, Dulcé Sloan, Lisa Ann Walter, and more for STAND-UP FOR FREE SPEECH at the world-famous Comedy Store in Los Angeles, to raise funds for the National Coalition Against Censorship.

Empowering Young Filmmakers: 20 Years of the Youth Free Expression Film Contest

For the 20th Anniversary of the Youth Free Expression Film Contest, you are invited to join us for a celebration of student artistic freedom and creative expression in film.

The event will feature a film screening showcasing selected winners from the past 20 years, followed by a panel discussion featuring previous film contest judges and past winning filmmakers. Come see the importance of free expression in youth filmmaking!

Participation is free. Registration is required.

About the Speakers:

Connie Shi is an award-winning actor and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. She’s the producer of The Looming Cloud which premiered at Sundance 2024 and currently plays Detective Violet Yee on Law & Order.

Jonathan Whittaker is a seasoned New York-based production specialist, known for acclaimed projects like “Train Baby” and “America Here We Come,” with over 20 years of industry experience. As a Chair of Filmmaking at NYFA New York, he mentors aspiring filmmakers, sharing his expertise in the art of storytelling.

Gina Maria Leonetti is an NCAC Board member and a freelance documentary and film producer. She’s a graduate of the Directors Guild NYC Training Program and worked as an Assistant Director on films, television and commercials for 20 years.

Mark Leschinsky is an award-winning student filmmaker from Mahwah, NJ. In addition, he is the founder of the Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF), where he aims to empower the voices of fellow youth filmmakers.

Don’t Delete Art: Is Social Media Beyond Our Control?

Art censorship is alive and well on social media, where major tech companies serve as arbiters, dictating what content is seen and what is banned or pushed into the digital margins through algorithmic control. This can have dire consequences for emerging artists who use online platforms to build their careers, earn income, and display their art in otherwise repressive societies. Emma Shapiro (Don’t Delete Art), Elizabeth Larison (National Coalition Against Censorship), and Sibila Sotomayor Van Rysseghem (LASTESIS) will explore the reality of artistic suppression on social media and the tangible impacts censorship on digital platforms can have on artists’ livelihoods, emotional well-being, and free expression.

Presented by Artists at Risk Connection and Art at a Time Like This.

Defending Student Press Freedom

A Conversation with High School Students to celebrate Student Free Press Day 2024

This virtual event features student leaders from NCAC’s Student Advocates for Speech and Student Press Law Center’s New Voices programs! Join students for a conversation about the value of student journalists and their role in shaping civic culture in their schools and communities in an election year.

Participation is free for all high school students. Registration is required.

Expression and Power

“Expression and Power,” a panel presented by A.I.R. Gallery and the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) in conjunction with “CURRENTS: Free Expression and the Inexpressible”!

This panel brings together three artists from the 2024 CURRENTS exhibition, Avram Finkelstein, Viva Ruiz, and Asia Stewart, as well as NCAC’s Arts & Culture Advocacy Program Director Elizabeth Larison and exhibition curator Aliza Shvarts, to discuss censorship as well as the state-mandated silencing, medically enabled violence, cultural gatekeeping, and mediatized overexposure that circumscribes what we can and cannot express.

5th ANNUAL CURATORIAL WORKSHOP
On curating difficult content: Reconciling an ethics of care with artistic freedom  

In partnership with Creative Capital, NCAC’s Arts & Culture Advocacy Program presents its 5th Curatorial Workshop to address pressing issues facing curators today. Bringing together leaders in the field and early and mid-career curators, the workshop will address the increasing pressures upon curators and art institutions to balance an ethics of care while supporting the artists they work with.

LET ME SPEAK 
A Celebration and Benefit of Free Speech and its Defenders, presented by Macmillan Publishers

Each year NCAC recognizes the notable contributions of Free Speech Defenders whose activism has had a profound impact on the protection of First Amendment rights.

Join us on November 13, 2023, at Tribeca Rooftop, 2 Desbrosses Street, New York, New York, from 6 – 9:30 p.m. ET, as NCAC honors this year’s Free Speech Defenders.  For information regarding tickets and sponsorship opportunities, please contact NCAC’s Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Josh Corday, at [email protected].

FIRST ANNUAL “STAND-UP” FOR FREE SPEECH COMEDY BENEFIT

Join Judy Gold, Dave Attell, Sam Morril, Mark Normand, Adrienne Iapalucci, Yamaneika Saunders, Matteo Lane, Rich Vos & more to for STAND UP FOR FREE SPEECH to raise funds for the National Coalition Against Censorship. NCAC’s Mission: We envision an American society that understands, values, defends, and vigorously exercises free expression in a just, egalitarian, diverse, and inclusive democracy.

DAY OF ACTION
In support of Don’t Delete Art’s Manifesto Campaign

Don’t Delete Art (DDA)—a collaborative initiative uniting advocacy groups and artists in the defense of artistic freedom online—will lead A Day of Action on June 15, 2023 in New York City and on social media. The actions are an extension of the DDA Manifesto campaign, which urges social media companies to update their content moderation policies to integrate artistic perspectives.

Activities will be documented on Instagram at @dontdelete.art and include:

• New York City: Beginning at 11 a.m., DDA members will pass out stickers and Manifesto flyers outside major museums and educational institutions, calling on artists, curators, members of the general public, and leading cultural institutions to join the movement. Supporters are welcome to stop by to pick up campaign materials and sign the Manifesto.

• Artists on social media platforms are invited to use the DDA Giphy digital sticker to “censor” posts of their artwork to heighten the visibility of self-censorship among artists, who often do this in order for their posts to be favored by platform algorithms. For more information about how to find and use the sticker, stay tuned to the Don’t Delete Art Instagram account @dontdeleteart, and visit their Day of Action page.

Follow Don’t Delete Art on Instagram @dontdelete.art to track event activities.

Fighting for Press Freedom: How to be an Advocate for Student Journalism

The National Coalition Against Censorship’s Student Advocates for Speech Project and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) invite you to a live online discussion: “Fighting for Press Freedom: How to be an Advocate for Student Journalism.”

Join teens that are active in fighting press censorship in their high schools and student activists working with SPLC to advocate for New Voices bills. The webinar will feature Rachel Oswald, a foreign policy reporter with CQ Roll Call , who will discuss the value of a free press and the need to advocate for press freedom.

Participation is free, but registration is required.

Are You Free to Read What You Want?

NCAC and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators hosted a live virtual discussion: Are You Free to Read What You Want? A conversation between students and Banned Authors. Click Here to watch the whole conversation!

A Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders: NCAC Annual Benefit

On November 15, 2022, NCAC will honor free speech defenders Colin Kaepernick, George M. Johnson, Michael Bamberger, Edha Gupta, Martha Hickson. Aryeh Neier will receive the Judy Blume Lifetime Achievement Award and Phil Harvey will receive the Leanne G Katz Founder’s Award (in memoriam). Event information here.

How to Fight Book Bans: Student Strategies

On February 28, 2022, NCAC and CBLDF hosted an interactive session to discuss the attacks on books in schools and share strategies for defending the right to read and fighting censorship in schools. Click here to watch the event.

Let Me Speak 2021 Annual Benefit

On November 10th, we hosted our annual Celebration of Free Speech & Its Defenders! Click here to watch the event. Thank you so much to all of our incredible honorees and participants!

Virtual Luncheon: Have We Gone Too Far In Protecting Free Speech?

NCAC presents leading voices in free speech discussing how free speech protections have shaped our lives and whether that protection strengthens or harms democracy–and society–in our current world. One of America’s preeminent free speech trial attorneys, Martin Garbus, joins Harvard Law School Professor Randall Kennedy in conversation, moderated by Professor Emily Knox. Click here to view the conversation.

Conversations on Censorship: Workshop on Race (for members of the National Council of Teachers of English)

On May 13th, NCAC facilitated a workshop for NCTE members on issues of censorship related to race. Participants exchanged expertise in a peer-to-peer format, and conversations will be entirely confidential. The workshop began with an introduction by Gordon Danning from the National Coalition against Censorship (NCAC), an overview of NCAC and NCTE resources, current cases, and important information for educators dealing with issues of censorship focused on race. Participants brought their own experiences, concerns, and/or case studies to discuss all aspects of censorship cases, from planning to challenge to resolution.

How to Tell A Story in a Minute: A Free Filmmaking & Free Expression Workshop

On February 27th, NYFA faculty taught a free workshop on How To Tell A Story In A Minute with tips for filmmaking at home and National Coalition Against Censorship discussed students’ free expression rights to launch the 2021 Youth Free Expression Film Contest.

Virtual Luncheon: Resolving Tensions over Race and Representation in Public Art

This discussion explores the various approaches to resolving tensions around challenged murals and public art, including shrouding or relocating artworks, commissioning new works, innovative course offerings, and public programs. Our participants examine the context and outcomes in a select number of cases. Click here to view the virtual luncheon.

Let Me Speak 2020 Annual Benefit