LA Teacher Deserves Public Apology from State Department of Education
Deyshia Hargrave, who was removed from a school board meeting and unlawfully arrested in early January, has yet to receive an apology from local or state education officials.
Norfolk Business Shuts Down Exhibition and Halts All Future Art Displays
After an artist was censored in Norfolk, VA, the public agency who shut down her show cancels all future art exhibitions.
NCAC Files Amicus Brief Arguing Congressional Art Competition Violated First Amendment Rights of High School Student
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 16 other nonprofits have filed an amicus brief in support of Representative William Lacy Clay of Missouri and his constituent, student artist David Pulphus.
NCAC Condemns Effort to Halt Publication of Book Critical of Trump
NCAC condemned an effort by President Trump’s legal team to intimidate the author and publisher of a forthcoming book critical of the president.
Free Speech and Educational Advocacy Organizations Call on Baltimore City School Administrators to Restore BUCK in Classrooms
An Open Letter to the Baltimore City Public School District: The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and its partners in the Kids’ Right to Read Project urge administrators to return BUCK: A Memoir by Professor M.K. Asante to the high school curriculum so that students can see their lives reflected in the books they read. Its removal was arbitrary and damaging to students.
NCAC Condemns Trump Administration Censorship of CDC
NCAC condemns the recent move by the Trump administration to censor the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by forbidding the use of certain words in official communications.
NCAC Urges Texas School District to Reverse Ban on The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give has been removed from school libraries in Katy Independent School District in suburban Houston, Texas. After reviewing the district’s own book review policy, NCAC is formally urging the district’s superintendent to reinstate the book while it is under review.
NCAC Applauds The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Refusal to Remove Painting
More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition demanding the removal of a Balthus painting in response to “the current climate around sexual assault and allegations that become more public each day.” The Met has refused to remove the work.
Cody High School Urged to Keep Acclaimed Book in School Library
Cody District Public Schools will convene a committee in early December to determine whether Tanya Stone’s acclaimed novel, A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, will remain in the Cody High School library after a single parent complaint led to an appeal for its removal.
NCAC Condemns Government Policy Depriving Americans of Access to Art by Guantanamo Detainees
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) vehemently objects to the violation of the public’s right to access art by Guantanamo detainees and thus fully participate in the political conversation around Guantanamo. The new directive also violates the human rights of the detainees under international norms and further destruction of the work would impermissibly suppress documents of historical importance.
School Cancellation of Muslim Speaker Continues Disturbing National Trend of Suppressing Speech in Response to Threats
The cancellation of a scheduled appearance by a Muslim guest speaker at a Connecticut public school is the latest disturbing example of suppressions of free speech in museums, on college campuses and now at middle schools in response to threats of violence.
NCAC Protests Banning of To Kill A Mockingbird; UPDATE: Victory!
Although some may understandably dislike the book’s use of racial slurs, it is essential to any realistic and pedagogically sound understanding of our nation’s history.
NCAC Stands Up For Student Right to Protest in Oklahoma
NCAC has urged an Oklahoma board of education to rescind its policy of disciplining students who do not stand during the national anthem as students have the right to peaceful and non-disruptive political speech, which includes the right to protest.
NCAC to Honor David Levithan and Joan Bertin on November 6th in New York City
NCAC will honor pioneering author and editor David Levithan and Joan E. Bertin, long-time executive director of NCAC, at NCAC’s Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders in New York City on November 6.
NCAC Criticizes Illinois School’s Decision to Remove Book Prior to Review UPDATE: Book Restored to Curriculum!
The groups argue the decision to immediately cease teaching the book in response to a single complaint imposes a “heckler’s veto” on the curriculum and deprives all students of their First Amendment right to read a pedagogically valuable, National Book Award-winning novel. UPDATE: Book restored to curriculum!
NCAC Criticizes American Jewish Historical Society’s Decision to Cancel Events Following Pressure Campaign
The AJHS has sent a chilling and un-democratic message that art and voices that dissent from pro-Israel orthodoxy are not to be tolerated.
NCAC Protests Ban on “Inappropriate” Books by Florida School Official
The groups argue that the directive, which appears to contradict existing district policies, would lead to the exclusion of an extremely large number of books, including literary classics, from Shakespeare to Anne Frank’s A Diary of a Young Girl.
NCAC Statement Supports Right of Students to Protest During National Anthem
By banning or discouraging students from participating in protests against racial discrimination, police brutality and other important issues, schools not only violate their First Amendment rights but deny them the opportunity to join a national debate that can contribute to their civic education.
Where to Celebrate Banned Books Week 2017!
Happy Banned Books Week! The annual celebration of the freedom to read is running all this week, and the Banned Books Week Coalition invites you to participate by getting involved in the incredible activities brought to you by our sponsor organizations! From theatrical performances, bookstore parties, and online advocacy, there’s lots of ways you can help celebrate Our Right to [...]
NCAC Praises CA School for Rejecting Calls to Restrict Classroom Reading
The board met on Monday night to review their literature policy in light of the controversy but voted unanimously to keep it unchanged.
NCAC Demands Artspace Restore Artwork Featuring Native American Swastika Symbols
Artist Steven Leyba was ordered to remove his paintings despite the fact he was using the symbol to reclaim its original significance in Native American culture.
NCAC Warns CA School District Against Dropping Proposed Curriculum; Victory! Board Finally Votes to Implement Curriculum
By choosing to remove the book, a precedent is set for the success of future book challenges that place objectionable content over pedagogical merit.
NCAC Urges Wisconsin Superintendent to Retain Award-Winning Novel in Curriculum; UPDATE: Victory! Board Finally Votes to Retain Book
The groups emphasize that the mere presence of explicit language and violence in a book provides no justification for its removal.
NCAC Releases Statement in Support of Lincoln Center’s Decision to Host ‘To the End of the Land’ Despite Calls to Cancel the Play
Were institutions like Lincoln Center to yield to calls for cancellation coming from the BDS movement or elsewhere, any ensuing conversation would be much impoverished and further polarized.
NCAC, AAUP Urge NC Governor to Veto ‘Restore Campus Free Speech’ Bill; UPDATE: Bill Made Law
NCAC and AAUP argue that the bill will create more problems than it solves, burdening universities with provisions that existing free speech protections already account for.
Even Limited, Trump Administration’s Travel Ban Will Impact Creative Freedom
The organizations express grave concern that the Executive Order will have a broad and far-reaching impact on artists’ freedom of movement and, as a result, will seriously inhibit creative freedom, collaboration, and the free flow of ideas.
NCAC’s Executive Director Honored for Free Speech Advocacy by the Freedom to Read Foundation
The award will be presented at the 2017 American Library Association Annual Conference during its Opening General Session on Friday, June 24, in Chicago.
National Coalition Against Censorship Chooses New Leader
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) has hired Christopher M. Finan as its next executive director. Joan Bertin, the current executive director, is stepping down after leading the organization for 20 years.
NCAC Releases Statement Criticizing Walker Art Center’s Decision to Destroy Controversial Sculpture; UPDATE: Sculpture to be Ceremonially Buried
NCAC has issued a statement signed by several national and international organizations, opposing the Walker's decision to dismantle and destroy the controversial sculpture.
NCAC Criticizes Elementary School’s Ban on Personal Copies of 13 Reasons Why
The groups underline that the First Amendment protects a student’s right to receive and possess literature, as long as the books in question do not cause disruption to the educational process.
NCAC Criticizes NC High School’s Decision to Cancel Student Yearbook Featuring Donald Trump Quote
A public school, the letter argues, has a responsibility to prepare young adults “to exercise the responsibilities of citizenship by promoting democratic values such as free expression, tolerance, and diversity—including diversity of opinion.”
NCAC Demands Boston Theater Company Reinstate Artistic Director Suspended for Play Involving Nudity
NCAC argues that keeping children from viewing artistic representations of nudes does not ‘protect’ them; rather, it imposes the religion-based view that the nude human body is shameful.
NCAC Demands Ohio High School Restore Eleanor & Park to English Curriculum
The groups’ letter underlines that the hasty removal of the book, after a single complaint, sets a harmful precedent that could leave an entire curriculum in tatters.
NCAC & Dramatists Legal Defense Fund Demand Minnesota City Officials Apologize for Cancelling Play With Word ‘Mulatto’ in Title
The letter demands a public apology from the City of Burnsville and urges the City to develop a formal policy governing artistic programming at the Ames Center to ensure it is in compliance with First Amendment requirements.
NCAC Joins HarperCollins for #WhyIRead Campaign, Celebrating Company’s 200th Anniversary
As an organization committed to defending authors’ free expression and the right to read, NCAC was selected by HarperCollins employees to receive a donation as part of its #WhyIRead campaign, which pledges to donate $200,000 to charities supporting causes that are important to HarperCollins.
NCAC + Lambda Legal Request Tennessee School Apologize for Removing pro-LGBT Student Artwork
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and Lambda Legal are calling on a Tennessee high school to apologize for removing a displayed student artwork featuring the word “GAYDOM” and a rainbow motif. The groups demand the drawing be immediately restored, arguing that the school’s justification for the removal-- that some students were offended by the artwork-- violates the student artist’s First Amendment rights.
NCAC Demands Idaho Middle School Retain Popular Manga Novel in Library; UPDATE: Committee Votes to Keep Book
The notion that the mere presence of inappropriate language and allegedly suggestive images is justification for a book’s removal sets a harmful precedent that, for example, a classic work of literature that contains adult language, or an art history textbook that includes a nude, should also be kept away from teens.
NCAC Criticizes Minnesota School’s Decision to Cancel Play Featuring Ku Klux Klan Characters
The groups maintain that although the school should and must aim to create a positive learning environment free from racism and hostility, the decision to cancel the play fails to further this objective
PRESS RELEASE: Free Speech Groups Protest AZ School District’s Unjustifiable Removal of The Kite Runner from English Curriculum
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 7 other organizations committed to defending the freedom to read are urging a Arizona school district to reinstate Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner in its English curriculum after the book was removed without explanation or prior review. The groups argue the district’s decision is unwarranted and does an educational disservice to its students by depriving them of access to a novel that explores salient and timely themes.
Free Speech Groups Criticize Politically Motivated Removal of ‘Jacob’s New Dress’ From North Carolina Lesson Plan
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) and 6 other organizations committed to defending the right to read are urging a North Carolina school district to reinstate a children’s book in a 1st grade anti-bullying lesson plan after it was removed following pressure from local Republican lawmakers concerned about its gender-nonconforming themes. The groups express concern that political and ideological motivations were behind the district’s decision to remove the book.