Outside, a panorama view of the New Jersey skyline, reflected light twinkling on the east river; inside, talk of books, art, community, and censorship. This past Tuesday, NCAC celebrated its 39th year at our annual “Celebration of Free Speech and … Continue reading →
Author and activist Ben White will speak at Brooklyn College today at an event entitled “Israel: Aparteid not Democracy,” organized by Students for Justice in Palestine. Nearly two dozen other campus and other groups are supporting the lecture, including — notably — the English, Political Science … Continue reading →
Neil Gaiman’s bestselling novel Neverwhere has been returned to classrooms in Alamogordo, New Mexico, after the approval of a review committee and worldwide protest that included a letter signed by CBLDF! District spokesperson Doyle Styling talked to Karyn M. Peterson with the School Library Journal: “[Neverwhere] did go through a review process and it was found to be educationally suitable, balanced, and age-appropriate for high school students.” The book has been on district required reading lists since 2004, but it had not been challenged until parent Nancy Wilmott recently complained over content she deemed inappropriate for her 15-year-old daughter. Wilmott took exception to language and what she called “sexual innuendo” in the book, claiming that “This is rated R material, and she cannot get into a rated R movie.” The book was removed from classrooms during the review period, but it remained available in the library, a move that was openly supported by AHS principal Darian Jaramillo. Wilmott cited one passage in her complaint, which appears on p. 86 of the paperback edition of the book and reads as follows: A late-night couple, who had been slowly walking along the Embankment toward them, holding hands, sat down in the middle of [...]
Last week, NCAC staff members spoke about on-going censorship issues in front of audiences in New York and beyond. NCAC Programs Director Svetlana Mintcheva participated in a panel on photography and censorship at the Photoplus Expo, held in New York … Continue reading →
Right now the NSA is spying on everyone’s personal communications, and it’s operating without any meaningful oversight. Since the Snowden leaks started, more than 569,000 people from all walks of life have signed the StopWatching.us petition telling the U.S. Congress … Continue reading →
If you’re like us, the recent removal of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere from Alamogordo Public School classrooms has caused you to feel anything from confusion to just-plain-no-way-you-can’t-be-serious anger. Now you can take action: A parent in Alamogordo has started a petition on Change.org … Continue reading →
In the middle of a unit on Harper Lee’s classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird, students at Belle Chasse High School in Lousiana were informed they wouldn’t be finishing the book. Apparently, their teachers told them, the book is banned. … Continue reading →
The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom has sent a letter to the superintendent of the Alamogordo, N. M., Public Schools, asking that the district rescind its removal of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere from Alamogordo High School classrooms and the library. The ban, which was reported last week, came after a parent complained about content on one page […]
How freedom of speech is under assault on many American college and university campuses.
It's not just athletes and celebrities that damage their careers with indiscreet tweets.
Jennifer Lu is a sophomore at NYU studying Media, Culture, and Communication, and she is a programs intern at NCAC. She hopes to learn more about the relationship between censorship, media, and freedom of expression, and ultimately to pursue her … Continue reading →
It’s not just Catcher in the Rye anymore. The Randolph County school board in North Carolina voted yesterday to restore access to Invisible Man. Public statements of support from readers, students and citizen moved them to have a change of … Continue reading →
Today, in a 6-1 vote, the Randolph County, NC Board of Education voted to rescind its recently enacted ban on Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. The original vote to remove it was 5-2. University of Illinois professor Emily Knox attended the hearing and live tweeted the proceeding. Here’s more on the story from Kathi Keys, the local […]
Celebrated YA author Lauren Myracle joined Acacia O’Connor of the Kids’ Right to Read Project and ABFFE’s Chris Finan on a panel at the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance conference in New Orleans on September 20, 2013. In addition to talking … Continue reading →
G. Wayne Clough is familiar to followers of NCAC as the Smithsonian Institution Secretary who unilaterally pulled a video from a National Portrait Gallery exhibition at the behest of Congressional Tea Party pressure. Clough has just announced he will resign … Continue reading →
Read Svetlana Mintcheva's op-ed in the Guardian on how a successful component of a college credit art history class at McCracken County High School in Paducah, Kentucky has been cancelled because of a controversy provoked by an art installation involving the United States flag.
For whatever reason, it sometimes seems that censorship battles crop up in pairs or groups of three. In May 2012, for example, the Kids' Right to Read Project began battling the removal of Todd Parr's The Family Book and other GLSEN materials in Erie, PA because they "advocated" for "non-traditional" families and lifestyles. Just days later, we learned that Davis County [...]
The First Amendment is the means, mechanism and method by which we use freedom to participate in self-governance and work to achieve Martin Luther King’s vision of equality.
Bulletin-board posting was part of what public schools are supposed to be doing in teaching about Islam, Christianity and other faiths in ways that are constitutionally and academically sound.
Russell Rieger, one of five plaintiffs in Pico v. Board of Ed. Russell Rieger was one of five teens who sued their Long Island school district in 1976 for banning 11 books from their classrooms and school libraries. They ended up making history. The Supreme Court concluded in Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School District v. [...]
Essam Political street artist Essam Attia, 30, was arrested last November for planting dozens of fake public service ads around Manhattan claiming that the New York Police Department (NYPD) used drones to spy on citizens. The pubic was quick to react, launching an online Free Essam campaign and a petition asking that all charges be dropped. We caught [...]
Betsy Schneider Are photos of a naked child offensive? Some folks in Sheboygan, WI, thought Betsy Schneider’s images of her growing daughter were offensive and recently pressured the Michael Kohler Arts Center to remove them from a group show. NCAC spoke to Schneider, an award-winning photographer, about her reaction to the ban, her now-teenage daughter’s response to all [...]
Stephen Chbosky Stephen Chbosky has lost track of the number of times The Perks of Being a Wallflower has been banned in schools across the country. He’s just thrilled that the latest attempt to censor his young adult novel has failed—and middle school kids in Glen Ellyn, IL, now have access to the title in their classrooms once again. [...]
Walter Dean MyersNational Ambassador for Young People's Literature Award-winning and often banned author, Walter Dean Myers, talks to the Write Stuff about why he writes for “troublemakers,” his biggest challenges about being the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and his latest work: a self-help book for inner-city kids. What challenges have you had as National Ambassador for [...]
For those of you who haven't yet heard, the Associated Press recently revealed that Mitch Daniels, now President of Purdue University, attempted to ban the works of acclaimed historian Howard Zinn from classrooms in Indiana during his tenure as that state's governor. In 2010, after Howard Zinn's passing, Daniels (seen here in an artist's rendering) wrote an e-mail to the [...]
The following may inspire tears of pride and/or rage, depending on your disposition. They are Change.org quotes from two petitions: one on each side of a debate over the use of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and other texts in Adams County, Colorado. Bailey Cross, a student at Legacy High School, is combatting censorship in her district in Colorado [...]
Since our op-ed on New Jersey Senate Bill 2715 landed in the Times of Trenton, and our subsequent letter to Gov. Chris Christie was picked up by video game journalists, we've seen a couple questions pop up in comments and emails. To recap, Senate Bill 2715 would require the New Jersey Department of Education to publish pamphlets, websites and other [...]
Justin Carter, 19, was jailed for a Facebook comment Have you ever lost your temper and said something in the heat of the moment you later came to regret? Did you end up waiting 5 months in jail for a trial because your family couldn’t make your half million dollar bail? That’s exactly what Justin Carter’s family and [...]
Steven Pico in 1981 Steven Pico may not be a household name. But for those who champion the freedom to read, he’s a big deal. Back in 1976, Pico and four other teens sued their school district in Long Island, NY, for banning 11 books from their classrooms and school libraries. The six-year battle to defend the constitutional rights [...]
Last week brought us one of those rare occasions where Perez Hilton reported on the invocation of First Amendment rights, as Chris Brown declared he would fight a Los Angeles citation. Brown was fined $376 for "unpermitted and excessive signage" for graffiti he had painted on the outside of his Hollywood Hills home, after neighbors complained that the pictures terrified [...]
Check out today's Times of Trenton op-ed page for a piece by NCAC Executive Director Joan Bertin calling out the dubious logic and "research" behind a bill the New Jersey legislature just passed that would put the state Department of Education in charge of a disinformation campaign to scare parents about the effects of "violent media." This kind of initiative [...]
Thirty-one years ago today, the Supreme Court upheld students rights to read in the Island Trees School district in Long Island. The 5-4 decision of Board of Education vs. Pico found that the school board violated the First Amendment when they removed certain books from junior high and high school libraries after parents complained they were “objectionable.” Check out some [...]
If you love libraries, you might know that today marks the anniversary of an important decision upholding the First Amendment in schools. In Board of Ed. v. Pico (1982), the plurality opinion stated that school libraries have “special characteristics” as providers of free access to information, and should be especially vigilant of upholding students’ First Amendment rights. Pico began when [...]
This post brought to you by summer programs intern, Justin Haddock. Justin is a student at Reed College where he studies political science and biology. He is interested in public policy, behavioral economics, and willful hypocrisy. Smoke all you want in Colorado, but don't read about it. Such stated a provision in a bill that would have required vendors to [...]
The following post was written by NCAC's summer legal intern, Ryan Gander. Ryan is a current student at Columbia Law School. His interests include philosophy, civil liberties, science fiction, and video games. The Supreme Court has a troubled relationship with the First Amendment and that’s not even talking about what goes on in the courtroom. Since 1949, federal law has [...]
Books like "When the Leopard Lost His Spots" can be useful tools to help kids understand gender and identity Every parent wishes their child could be spared the worst of life. War, lingering sickness, hurt and hate: all of these are things most would rather keep far distant from the lives of their children. Yet, we are all called to [...]
The nation is abuzz this week following Edward Snowden’s leaks about the NSA’s comprehensive (and fully unconstitutional) surveillance program (Click here for the Guardian’s live feed of Snowden-related news). Those of us who spend our time protecting civil liberties are appalled at the behavior of this administration and its intelligence and security agencies, and perhaps even more disturbed by the rhetoric [...]
--UPDATE-- Last night the board voted 6-1 to keep the book. They will be instating new policies that will hopefully balance parental concerns with students rights and the professional judgments of teachers. --------------------------------------------- The students, teachers, parents and citizens on the ground in Glen Ellyn have been working hard to spread the word about tonight's board vote there to (hopefully) [...]
In the coming weeks we will be featuring posts from our smart and savvy summer interns. This post is by programs intern Eli Siems. Eli is a recent graduate of SUNY New Paltz with a degree in English. He is passionate about literature in all forms, particularly poetry, and his love of letters has led him to join the fight to protect [...]
Over a month ago now, the Glen Ellyn school board voted 4-2 to ban the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower from middle schools in District 41. The district's ad hoc committee of teachers, parents and administrators read and assessed the book, after the parents of a student filed a formal complaint about the its content. They advised the [...]
