On June 25, the Library of Congress will open its summer exhibit "Books That Shaped America." The exhibit will be on display through the end of September in the Southwest Gallery, located on the second floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, DC. Many books on the list of notable tomes won't surprise you. And it certainly didn't surprise [...]
In July, 2009, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the FCC's "Indecency" Policy, which prohibited "single uses of vulgar words," was unconstitutional, violating the First Amendment rights of broadcasters. In April, the Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court over the ongoing confusion on the FCC's enforcement of moral standards in broadcasting, stating that the Appeals Court [...]
Through records requests, the Kids' Right to Read Project was able to get access to the official complaints filed by parents and citizens who objected to the content of The Family Book and In Our Mothers' House. The excerpted passages below make clear some of the discomforts these individuals felt and what viewpoints they use to justify their desire to remove [...]
How Does The First Amendment Impact Your Life? A recent survey concluded that young people feel the First Amendment is not vital to their lives. We at Feminists for Free Expression believe that conclusion is wrong. We want to challenge it - not wi...
(applause for alliteration, please) This month we've been working on restoring two children's picture books teaching tolerance for different types of families. Though they are quite different in content, tone, reading level and appropriateness, their challenges parallel one another immensely. Book one is The Family Book by Todd Parr, a peppy, colorful and simple picture book teaching that families might be [...]
In fact, many of them contain the sorts of things you might not want a young child to see. Like video games, the market for comic books and graphic novels has a broader demographic appeal than 50 or 60 years ago. If your child does read, say, the dark and graphic work Neonomicon by Alan Moore, however, the answer may be [...]
After Brevard County reversed its decision to remove Fifty Shades of Grey from its libraries, we noticed that several other library systems who had initially said they wouldn't buy the book relented in the face of public demand. Holds on these books are bananas: they have ranged from the hundreds to over two-thousand in various library systems. We issued a joint [...]
You remember The Dirty Cowboy, our favorite book ban in May? School board members may be standing their ground, but they haven't heard the last of residents perturbed by the ban. The Patriot-News and The Lebanon Daily News both featured an Op-Ed piece by Annville-Cleona parent Tim White this weekend. White writes: "Although ACSD board President Tom Tschudy stated that [...]
Turn Me On, Dammit!, an indie Norwegian film about a 15-year-old girl’s struggling with her burgeoning sexuality and dealing with high school tensions, has been widely acclaimed by critics on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet, controversy led to the cancellation of a screening in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the film was scheduled to be shown as part of the Arts [...]
Watch children's book author Todd Parr explain the story behind his award-winning book The Family Book. The book was recently banned, along with all materials supported by GLSEN, in Erie, Illinois. Parents objected to the book because of a page which states that "some families have two moms and two dads," saying that it "pushes a homosexual agenda." NCAC and partner [...]
Discussing the "dark" qualities of YA books and their strong language is much in vogue of late. Yes, books can"scar" you--in that they effect you, they leave their mark, they cause an emotional reaction that sticks with you after you've read them. There seems to be an impulse to keep teens "unscarred" in the well-meaning, but perhaps naive hope that [...]
Three weeks ago, the National Coalition Against Censorship heard that the bestselling erotic novel had been unceremoniously pulled from library shelves in Brevard County, FL, supposedly at the prerogative of one individual. There had been no complaints by patrons--on the contrary, many were waiting to get their hands on a copy of the book that has been a crazy hit, largely with [...]
The meteoric sales of Fifty Shades of Grey and its subsequent banning from public libraries around the country--in particular in Brevard County, FL, has been all over the news this week. One of the most notable of the media pick-ups was a story in The New York Times on Monday about the debate over stocking the book in public libraries. The [...]
A painting, included in a juried exhibition show at the Mansfield Art Center in Ohio, was partially covered with black paper. The painting had been selected for inclusion in the show, but the management of the Art Center decided that the outside edges of the work, which were covered with clippings from pornographic magazines, should not be seen by anyone. Sans [...]
It's been a rough week for the world of arts and letters--Maurice Sendak, Carlos Fuentes, now Donna Summer. And the great and prolific author Jean Craighead George, who died yesterday at the age of 92. I doubt Craighead George's name is as immediately recognizable to the general public, but as one of the many people who grew up on her [...]
After a busy week working to fight back against book bans and challenges, we were thrilled to see some good news. A Tulsa school district recently heard a parent's challenge to the book Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford. The parent who challenged the book called the book "vulgar, vulgar, vulgar," objecting to its references to masturbation, pornography and an [...]
We were able to chat yesterday with Amy Timberlake, the author of The Dirty Cowboy, (illustrated by Adam Rex). The book that has been at the center of a censorship debate outside of Hershey, P.A.. Two parents of a child at an elementary school objected to the nudity of the cowboy, calling it pornographic. Most likely hoping not to rock [...]
Joint letter includes American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression, Association for American Publishers, and PEN American Center. The letter was quoted by a New York Times article about the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.
When Linda Tyndall heard that copies of the best-selling novel Fifty Shades of Grey had been removed from the Brevard County Public Libraries, she was concerned and decided to take action. Her petition on Change.org has over 1,600 signatures. Tomorrow, Tyndall and other petitioners will make their voice heard at a meeting of the County Library Board.
We spoke to fans of Fifty Shades of Grey about libraries that have banned their beloved trilogy, and erotica in general. This video was shot at an appearance by Grey author E.L. James at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in NYC. What do you think about libraries that have chosen to exclude all erotica, even while they carry works [...]
E.L. James’ erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey first made headlines as a phenomenal best-seller, topping the Amazon.com, New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists at 3 million copies sold. Now, not surprisingly, the book is getting attention for a different and disturbing reason: censorship. The book has been removed from public libraries in Brevard County, Florida, reportedly because [...]
We were saddened to hear today about the passing of beloved children’s book author Maurice Sendak at the age of 83. His books, the most well-known being Where the Wild Things Are, captivated the imaginations of readers both young and old with their sometimes dark, fantastical stories. Because of the nature of his tales, many critics and censors marked his [...]
Our joint letter opposing the massive censorship of Mexican American Studies in the Tucson Unified School District has a new signer: the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. The letter was launched in late Janurary and has now attracted well over 30 national and regional organizations dedicated to education and free speech.
Sweden’s minister of culture has been in the global news spotlight recently, and not for her nation's propensity for neo-noir literature. Minister Lena Adelson Liljeroth was invited to attend and speak at World Art Day at Stockholm’s Museum of Modern Art. The engagement took a turn for the bizarre when Liljeroth was invited by artist Makode Linde to cut into [...]
Until a few weeks ago, the Arts Building at the Aurari Higher Education Center in Denver featured several walls emblazoned with the kindly decree to “Post Artwork Here.” However, in light of recent controversy over the graphic work that student Estee Fox hung on one of these walls, the “authorities” (that blissfully meaningless blanket term) have rechristened these areas as [...]
With regularity, editors at some papers choose not to run an episode of Garry Trudeau’s “Doonesbury” strip. The latest incident involved satirical commentary on state lawmakers requiring women to undergo invasive and medically unnecessary ultrasounds before abortions. A large number of papers did not run the episode, some ran a substitute “rerun” episode offered by Trudeau, and others shifted it [...]
Last week we sent a complaint to PayPal about its policy to shut down accounts of online merchants who sell erotica containing descriptions of rape, incest, and bestiality. Many other organizations have since registered their concerns over the policy. Today, PayPal posted a response on its blog. Unfortunately, it doesn't say much. It refers to "brand, regulatory and compliance risk [...]
Update: Lawrence, KS officials have banned the project, saying the proposed art installation would amount to animal cruelty. The Kansas code allows “with respect to farm animals” for “normal or accepted practices of animal husbandry, including the normal and accepted practices for the slaughter of such animals for food or by-products and the careful or thrifty management of one's herd [...]
This week, Villanova University's administration cancelled a weeklong, artist-in-residency program led by performance artist Tim Miller. NCAC and FIRE are calling on Villanova to reverse this decision. The joint letter (below) points out that the decision to cancel Miller's residency violates the principle of academic freedom. Miller is known as one of the "NEA Four" – four artists whose grants [...]
by Michael O'Neil The book is a romantic thing. From spotting potential sweeties by the books they're reading, to the countless authors who have feverishly committed tales of love to paper for the form, books engage the mind and elicit passion, intrigue and a cozy kind of intimacy perhaps unmatched by any other medium. So to celebrate Valentine's Day, let's [...]
We're happy to welcome two new national organizations to our joint statement against the censorship of Mexican-American Studies in the Tucson Unified School District: the National Association for Ethnic Studies and the National Association for Bilingual Education!
2012 has already brought a few cases of censored art to our attention: Microsoft Skydrive froze UK blogger Michael Ohajuru's storage account because Modigliani’s painting “Reclining Nude” violated Microsoft's Code of Conduct which prohibits images that “depict nudity of any sort”; and ?zmir Metropolitan Municipality removed three photographs (below) from the exhibition “Aykiri” (Contrary) at the Izmir Art Center in Turkey as they reportedly [...]
Ostensibly an attempt to safeguard the rights of creators, SOPA and PIPA in fact threaten protected speech on the Internet.
Last night we celebrated a bunch of amazing defenders of Free Speech at Tribeca 360 in Manhattan. We have pictures! Here's a taste: Judy Blume presents Laurie Halse Anderson with her Free Speech Defender award! We all honored Laurie for continuing to write awesome, challenging books for kids of all ages. Publisher Jane Friedman and Kaylie Jones! This year, Kaylie [...]
This morning, we took a moment to capture a bit of the action at Zuccotti Park in the wake of the late night, NYPD eviction of the encampment that had lasted almost two months. Here, a participant in the Occupy Wall Street movement talks about the judge's restraining order stating protestors must be allowed entrance to Zuccotti Park (pending a [...]
Watch video from this morning's standoff at Zuccotti Park in Downtown Manhattan. **Update** the court ultimately ruled in the City's favor, barring tents and camping gear from the park.
It has been a formidable year for Sherman Alexie, whose Young Adult novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has been challenged several times, due to would-be censors' unease about sexual and violent content. Alexie’s book was challenged in Helena, Montana, swapped out of the curriculum at Hastings Middle School in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, banned from classrooms in Prineville, [...]
The Richland, PA School District canceled a high school student production of Kismet, a 1953 musical made along the lines of stories from the Arabian Nights. The musical was planned to open in February. The reason: the proximity of the town to the 9/11 attacks: "Flight 93 flew right over our heads." A fact which apparently has made local citizens [...]
As #OccupyWallSt continues just blocks from NCAC's offices, Twitter user @FreeSpkr sent us a link to a screenshot being passed around in the wake of Sunday's mass arrest of 700+ protestors on the Brooklyn Bridge:
