“Fear of serious injury alone cannot justify oppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears.” —U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941) The American Association of School Administrators and… Read More
People For the American Way Foundation is a sponsor of Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read and an opportunity for readers, authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians and First Amendment advocates to call for continued vigilance against efforts to censor our words, thoughts, and opinions. The theme… Read More
People For the American Way Foundation is a sponsor of Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read and an opportunity for readers, authors, publishers, booksellers, and First Amendment advocates to call for continued vigilance against efforts to censor our words, thoughts, and opinions, in other… Read More
“If one book is banned from being taught in a classroom setting, then it opens the door for all books – and ideas – to be banned as well.” These are the closing words to a petition launched by high school student Bailey Cross in response to an attempt… Read More
Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read, takes place this year from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3. People For the American Way Foundation is a member of the Banned Books Week coalition, which coordinates and publicizes Banned Books Week events around the United States. This year’s theme is “Censorship… Read More
Activists Concerned House Leaders Will Deny the Popular Measure a Floor Vote Read More
People For the American Way is a member of the Banned Books Week coalition, a network of authors, librarians, publishers, booksellers, and anti-censorship activists that sponsors an annual celebration of the freedom to read. This year’s Banned Books Week, which runs from September 18-24,… Read More
Truth is a threat to authoritarianism. Reading is a path to truth. That’s why the freedom to read is essential to the freedom to learn. And that’s why the freedom to learn is often attacked by those who abuse power and those who cling to it. Every year, the American… Read More
This op-ed was distributed by Trice Edney Newswire. Just when you thought far-right attacks on public education couldn’t get any more absurd, we hear about something new. For the first time in almost 15 years, Sarasota schools this fall are turning down hundreds of free dictionaries from the local Rotary… Read More
This op-ed was distributed by Trice Edney Newswire. Black history is American history. That shouldn’t be a controversial statement. But thanks to politicians like Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, teaching honestly about history is getting downright dangerous. Youngkin got elected in part by embracing a dishonest campaign launched by far-right activists… Read More
Banned Books Week, an annual celebration of the freedom to read, is being commemorated this week at local bookstores and libraries and at online and in-person events organized by members of the Banned Books Week coalition. This year’s theme is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” People For the American Way… Read More
Advocates for Freedom of Expression, including People For the American Way, are urging people to sign a petition calling on Congress to take action against what they are calling “the largest book ban in America”—the “arcane and arbitrary systems of book restrictions” for the more than 2.2 million Americans who are… Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the nation observes Banned Books Week this week (Sept. 22-28), PFAW President Michael Keegan released the following statement: “People For the American Way Foundation is proud once again to sponsor Banned Books Week, an annual event dedicated to the freedom to read and freedom of speech. Read More
This piece originally appeared on Take Care. When Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy announced his opposition to Robert Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court 32 years ago this month, he spoke chillingly on the Senate floor about what “Bork’s America” would be like for women, people of color, and all… Read More
The Supreme Court term that ended in June 2019 demonstrated the profound influence of replacing Anthony Kennedy with Brett Kavanaugh. With the Court’s fair-minded constitutionalists—Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan—in the minority, the ultra-conservatives are taking steps to cement their movement’s political power and reverse many of the… Read More
For decades, the Religious Right has used public school students as pawns in the "culture wars," fighting to impose a political agenda on textbooks and curricula in school districts across the country. This has included battles over sex education, school-led prayer, publicly funded vouchers for religious institutions, and shaping what… Read More
Of all the important issues at stake in the 2016 presidential election, one stands out for right-wing conservatives, as it should for all Americans: the future of the Supreme Court. Particularly in recent years, the Court has issued closely divided 5-4 rulings that have had enormous effects on our daily… Read More
When the teaching of Isabel Allende’s internationally renowned novel The House of the Spirits was challenged in a North Carolina school district last month, advocates from all corners spoke out in its defense, including PFAW Foundation president Michael Keegan and North Carolina Poet Laureate Joseph… Read More
Last month, PFAW Foundation sent a letter to a school district review committee in Alamogordo, New Mexico urging them to reject attempts to remove Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere from the English curriculum. Yesterday a local television station, KRQE News 13, reported that the book will indeed be put… Read More
The North Carolina school board that voted to ban Ralph Ellison’s landmark novel Invisible Man from school libraries last week has now voted to reinstate the book, reports Asheboro’s Courier-Tribune. Last week after hearing about the ban, PFAW Foundation president Michael Keegan sent a… Read More