NEW YORK – As proven by the recent uptick in book banning, people often want to silence ideas that they feel are harmful or offensive. Daily, youth are confronted with views they disagree with, from school censorship to online hate speech. How are youth and young adults coping with conflicting viewpoints? The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) wants [...]
Svetlana Mintcheva, NCAC's Director of Programs, presented a talk at the Harvard Law School Library on the effects contemporary moral outrage has on the arts and culture.
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.
In this exclusive video, award-winning writer and 2014 Free Speech Defender Neil Gaiman talks about his encounters with censorship and the need to fight those “who are trying to protect us from ourselves by shutting us up and stopping us from being exposed to ideas.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6y2MiwvTxY NCAC honored Neil Gaiman, Robie Harris, and the Trumbull High Thespian Society on Monday, [...]
Student thespians of Trumbull High School mobilized their Connecticut community against the censorship of their production of Rent and claimed a victory for freedom in the performing arts and for student speech when the show bowed in March 2014. After they performed a medley of "Rent" and "Take Me or Leave Me" at NCAC's 40th Anniversary Celebration, the Thespians accepted [...]
The TADA! Youth Theatre Ensemble brought down the house with two exclusive performances of The Banned Broadway Project during the closing weekend of Banned Books Week. In collaboration with NCAC, the TADA! teens explored controversial themes found in censored plays and musicals and selected scenes from their favorites to prepare for the big night, including Pippin, Rent, andThe Laramie Project. A panel [...]
In this exclusive video, award-winning writer and 2014 Free Speech Defender Neil Gaiman talks about his encounters with censorship and the need to fight those “who are trying to protect us from ourselves by shutting us up and stopping us from being exposed to ideas.” NCAC honored Neil Gaiman, Robie Harris, and the Trumbull High Thespian Society on Monday, November [...]
Discussing art in the street as being distinct from art in a museum, regulations of public space and the relationship between an artist's mission and the constraints of the law.
Our second place winner is “A Virtual Reality,” by Peter Ackerman of Augusta, Maine. Ackerman interviews friends, video game enthusiasts and a psychologist, in a lively documentary exploring gaming and its effect on gamers. A paintball excursion provides a unique backdrop to investigate how gamers separate virtual reality from violence in the real world. “It’s appealing to people it’s just [...]
Austin Guerrero of Gresham, OR placed third with his dramatic action thriller “Initial Testing," in which a night playing video games veers into the unknown, in the tradition of The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. After complaining that he’s bored with “easy” shooter games, a friend gives Grant a challenge like he’s never imagined. What will Grant do when the [...]
The winner of this year’s Youth Free Expression Project Film Contest, addressing the theme Video Games in the Crosshairs, is “Future Warfare III” by Ani Akpan of the Bronx, NY. Using dazzling visual effects, Akpan thrusts the viewer into a near-future society where gaming approaches virtual reality and Big Brother takes a hard line stance, spurring gamers to speak back. [...]
Author and children's book historian Leonard Marcus shares insight into the history of censorship of information for young people, beginning with the New England Primer and other books intended to lead kids up to reading the bible.
Charlotte Jones Voiklis, the grandaughter of Madeleine L'Engle, talks about A Wrinkle in Time and shares her grandmother's feelings and perception of attempted book censorship.
Sherman Alexie at NCAC's FREE SPEECH MATTERS Celebration, talking about what book-banners are really trying to censor when they go after stories like his.
Sherman Alexie talks about how important books were to his childhood, and how people are actually trying to ban *thinking* when they try to ban books.
Renowned artist Kara Walker goes "off-script" for a moment at NCAC's Free Speech Matters Celebration to raise the possibility of "the censor as an opportunity" in the context of art, before presenting a Free Speech Defender award to Newark Public Library Executive Director Wilma Grey. In 2013, Grey courageously restored a display of a controversial work by Walker. Grey's willingness [...]
Jon Anderson, President and Publisher of Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing Division, talks about the importance of the National Coalition Against Censorship
Hundreds of students have been suspended from school for making Harlem Shake videos. Well, you know what this reminds us of? Footloose.
Interviews from the National Coalition Against Censorship's 2012 Free Speech Matters Annual Celebration of Free Speech and Its Defenders.
Books get pulled from library shelves and school curricula all the time because someone complains about the language they contain or the topics they address. Tell us about a time when parents, a teacher or some other adult was distressed at what you or someone you know were reading -- and wanted to take it away. You can also submit [...]
Erin reads from Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by legendary YA pioneer and Free Speech Defender Judy Blume.
Heather reads from Speak, by NCAC 2011 Free Speech Matters awardee Laurie Halse Anderson, at the Brooklyn Book Festival
Susanne, a volunteer with the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, reads from Slaughterhouse Five to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more videos about free expression.
Walt Whitman reads from Leaves of Grass at the 2012 Brooklyn Book Festival to help celebrate Banned Books Week. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more videos about free speech.
A reading from The Giver to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival.
Liz reads from Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume to help celebrate Banned Books Week with the National Coalition Against Censorship
Marjorie Heines reads from Molly Bloom's Soliloquy in Ulysses by James Joyce to help celebrate Banned Books Week.
https://ncac.org Francisco reads from Lady Chatterly's Lover to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout Banned Books Week!
https://ncac.org Gehad reads from Looking For Alaska to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout Banned Books Week!
https://ncac.org Michael reads from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout Banned Books Week!
https://ncac.org Claudia reads from The Family Book to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout Banned Books Week!
https://ncac.org Sophie reads from Lolita to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout Banned Books Week!
https://ncac.org Arlene reads from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout Banned Books Week!
https://ncac.org Clara reads from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout Banned Books Week!
https://ncac.org Matthew reads from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout Banned Books Week!
https://ncac.org Rachel reads from James Joyce's Ulysses to help celebrate Banned Books at the Brooklyn Book Festival. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout Banned Books Week!
https://ncac.org Zara reads from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian at the Brooklyn Book Festival to help celebrate Banned Books Week. Subscribe to our channel or visit NCAC online for more readings throughout the week!
