UPDATE: 10/24/19: On October 22, the DC Council voted unanimously to override Mayor Muriel Bowser's veto of an emergency bill that would have clarified the DCCAH’s independence. “The underlying legislation cemented DCCAH's separation from the executive's office after a tumultuous summer during which the mayor tried and failed to grab control of the District's public arts.” (see original post below) [...]
Contestants must be either living in the U.S. or its territories (but need not be citizens), and must be age 19 or younger on the day the film is submitted. Films will be judged on content, artistic and technical merit, and creativity. Judges will be drawn from a panel of renowned writers, actors, and filmmakers. Films must be [...]
About the Contest Each year NCAC challenges young people all across the nation to think about their First Amendment rights and the issue of Free Speech. According to the Knight Foundation, “Nearly three-fourths of high school students either do not know how they feel about the First Amendment or admit they take it for granted and more than a third [...]
The museum alleges Polish artist Olek broke her contract when she implemented the mask, intended to provoke thought about environmental damage.
The Chesterfield County Public School summer reading list contained books that were "pornographic" and contained "vile, vile, nasty language," one mother complained.
NCAC has sent a letter to Elgin Mayor David Kaptain supporting the mural's return in advance of the City Council's vote on its fate on July 13th.
Good news! The Couer d'Alene school board defended the freedom to read after a committee voted to reject Jhumpa Lahiri's novel for inclusion in a 12th grade English class.
A reconsideration review committee that met on December 3 decided in a 7-4 vote to retain copies of Gayle Foreman’s award-winning young adult novel Just One Day in Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan Public School libraries.
Two books targeted for removal from instruction at Rumson-Fair Haven High School have been retained.
Banning a John Green novel didn't work out. But the superintendent's new idea to rate library books would create enormous problems.
Congratulations to the students, parents, and teachers in Lumberton, New Jersey, who have proven that grassroots action makes a difference.
Four months after a parent launched a challenge against The Kite Runner in Asheville, NC, the saga seems to finally have come to an end.
A benefit event for the NCAC is abruptly called off after the theater hosting the show deemed some of the content offensive-- especially Neil LaBute's "Mohammed Gets A Boner."
After one parent complained that an acclaimed graphic novel was child pornography. After a letter from NCAC, the district's review committee voted to keep the book in the school library.
Controversy has intensified over the removal of the book The Perks of Being A Wallflower from a Connecticut school district's curriculum. Does the superintendent's response make any sense?
NCAC is joined by several international organizations in protesting the New York Youth Symphony's decision to cancel a controversial work.
Last year's battle over books in a Texas school district isn't over. Now a parent is challenging a book about the lives of poor people.
Two weeks ago, NCAC's Kids' Right to Read Project and other organizations sent a letter to the Cape Henlopen school district in Delaware expressing serious concerns over the removal of Emily M. Danforth's award-winning novel The Miseducation of Cameron Post, from a summer reading list for the high school's college prep and honors classes. This week, we enlisted the aid of [...]
District 196, serving the Rosemount – Apple Valley – Eagan regions near the Twin Cities, has announced that the committee convened to decide whether the book Sixth Grade Can Really Kill You should be retained in the district's libraries has voted 10-0 to keep the work. A parent challenged the book for the use of the word "retarded" in the story. The review process [...]
View NCAC's Annual Report online here.
According to Fauquier.com, a Fauquier County Public Schools review committee has unanimously rejected a book challenge that would have removed David Levithan's Two Boys Kissing from the high school library. NCAC's Kids' Right To Read Project sent a letter to the school board prior to the meeting, warning that removing the book based on objections to the content was a disservice [...]
Instead of giving books a scarlet letter, school boards should encourage teachers to explain to parents how and why they select certain materials and what educational purposes these materials serve for their children. F
The bill, promoted by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), seeks to legalize and extend NSA mass surveillance programs, including the classified phone records surveillance program confirmed by documents released by Edward Snowden this summer.
Give to NCAC on a monthly basis and support the ongoing work of our advocacy and educational programs. A monthly contribution is an easy way to show continual support for NCAC’s work. Your monthly contributions add up to a significant annual gift. Click on the red check to set up a monthly donation through Paypal. You can unsubscribe at any [...]
NCAC Censorship News NCAC's newsletter, published quarterly, contains information and discussion about freedom of expression issues, including current school censorship controversies, threats to the free flow of information, and obscenity laws. A full archive is available online. Censoring Science: A Stem Cell Story This article from NCAC's The Knowledge Project analyzes the First Amendment implications of federal [...]
In the now-infamous "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case – Morse v. Frederick – the Supreme Court ruled this week that school principal Deborah Morse did not violate Joseph Frederick's First Amendment rights. Below, we've collected commentary on how this landmark case (the first time the Court has weighed students' free speech rights in over 20 years) could effect free speech [...]
The Adams 12 School Board voted to settle a challenge to Toni Morrison's 'The Bluest Eye' in Advanced Placement literature classes. The board voted in support of the superintendent's decision, not outright banning the book but approving such great restrictions as to make the book impossible to teach.
Sign the petition asking the White House to allow companies to report when and how often government agencies are requesting user data! #WeNeedToKnow
Following a second letter from the Kids' Right to Read Project and a little help from Judy Blume, the school board of Glen Ellyn School District 41 in Illinios voted to restore access to The Perks of Being a Wallflower in middle school classroom libraries.
The May 20 reading at the Players Club will celebrate the controversial play about sex, money and gender roles, which was shut down during its 1905 debut.
The Chicago Public Schools may be hoping their sudden removal of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis (Pantheon) last month will be soon forgotten, but the Kids’ Right to Read Project, an initiative of the National Coalition Against Censorship, continues to seek answers.
The first page of CN issue 116.
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Come one, come all! We're inviting everyone--students, teachers, librarians, authors, anyone with a love for free speech and good books-- to participate in our Youth Free Expression Project film contest in a new way: by casting a vote for the People’s Choice Award.
From left to right: YFEP Film Contest Winners Patrick Rooks, Caitlin Wolper, Jake Gogats, Summer Lee, and Urban Word NYC Youth Performer Amani Breanna We appreciate everyone who came out for a fun day of youth-made films at our 2011 Youth Voices Uncensored screening at the New York Film Academy. In addition to the films that won our Free Expression [...]
The National Coalition Against Censhorship was thrilled to hear that officials in Brevard County decided to reverse their ban on the erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey and return the book to circulation. NCAC urged county officials to reconsider the ban in three letters this month, including a joint letter with the ACLU.
From left to right: YFEP Film Contest Winners Patrick Rooks, Caitlin Wolper, Jake Gogats, Summer Lee, and Urban Word NYC Youth Performer Amani Breanna We appreciate everyone who came out for a fun day of youth-made films at our annual Youth Voices Uncensored screening at the New York Film Academy. In addition to the films that won our contest, we [...]
PayPal, which plays a dominant role in processing online sales, has taken full advantage of the vast and open nature of the Internet for commercial purposes, but is now holding free speech hostage by clamping down on sales of certain types of erotica.
For our annual benefit, Penguin Young Readers Group produced a fabulous video of authors speaking out on censorship and the fight for free expression. Laurie Halse Anderson! Lev Grossman! John Green! Maureen Johnson and more!
See videos from our Banned Books Readout tent at the 2011 Brooklyn Book Festival
