Stories that feature characters with diverse ethnicities and sexualities remain at the top of challenged books lists in our schools and libraries. Each removal tells a kid that theirs isn't a story worth telling.
Often, the most frequently challenged books tell the stories that most need to be heard. The 10 most challenged books of 2017, according to the American Library Association, were no different.
Student protesters reached a settlement with the Howard University Board of Trustees... The sit-ins broke the record for the longest Howard University student protest and harked back to historic campus takeovers by black student activists in the 1960s.
Maggie Budzyna's debut film, CENSORED, tackles the slippery slope of banning words from public dialogue. We spoke with the 17-year-old filmmaker about censorship, youth activism and the importance of using her artistic freedom to resist injustice. Watch her film and read the interview.
When her school district banned her favorite book, The Hate U Give, from libraries, 15-year old Ny'Shira Lundy was inspired to take action.
With a Texas school board set to meet on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to determine the fate of an acclaimed young adult novel in district libraries, a local teenager has emerged as a vital voice for freedom of inquiry and expression.
In teaching the history of race in America, educators who contextualize racist language in the appropriate historical and social context can deliver a valuable lesson to students in understanding social injustice.
The book, which tells Jazz’s story of struggle with having “a girl brain but a boy body,” was brought to school in June by a transitioning kindergartner at Rocklin Academy Gateway School.
NCAC is praising the grassroots efforts of Chicagoans who have set an example for the rest of the country.
The trial will decide whether the cancellation of the Mexican-American studies curriculum in 2010 in Tucson Arizona was done with discriminatory intent.
Book challenge season has begun in Indianapolis!
In the face of discord and subjective morality-based arguments, the board stood up for the rights of all of its students to learn in a safe and respectful environment.
Yesterday, NCAC sent a letter to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper urging him to veto a bill dubbed as a measure to “restore” and “preserve” free speech on state college campuses. But why would an organization devoted to free expression like NCAC object to an effort to safeguard free speech at universities?
A junior at New Albany High near Columbus organized an Amnesty International affiliate group at her school to discuss human rights and came under fire for promoting what some people thought to be an "anti-Israel" message. The school's principal ultimately reversed his decision to "protect" the student "from getting caught up in political lightning rod topics" and will allow the club to form next fall.
Scholastic's decision to cease distribution of a controversial children's book raises some fundamental questions about free speech and self-censorship.
The removal of artworks by incarcerated Native American activist Leonard Peltier from a Washington state government building raises serious First Amendment concerns.
Responding to a complaint about a book assignment, a Tennessee charter school CEO explained that they had given students a heavily redacted version.
To celebrate NCAC's 40th Anniversary, we take a look at 40 threats to free speech.
In the last two decades direct censorship of theater has waned. Arrests of actors and theater employees involved in allegedly “obscene” productions such as May West’s plays in the 1920s and Richard Schechner’s Dionysus in 69 or Kenneth Tynan’s Oh! Calcutta! in the 1960s and 70s are, for the most part, a distant memory. Yet, on the high school stage [...]
