“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
First published by United Against Book Bans. People For the American Way—a proud partner to Unite Against Book Bans— has been fighting authoritarian attacks on the freedom to learn for more than 40 years. Now, with book-banning and censorship on the rise, and attacks on… 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
If you’re a parent or student in America this fall, watch out: “edutainment” could be coming to your school. What’s “edutainment”? It’s what PragerU, a business that is not a university at all but a media shop run by right-wing talk-show host Dennis Prager, calls its videos and curriculum… 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
Washington DC–Following news that schools in Charlotte County, Florida, have banned all classroom use of books that include any LGBTQ character or reference for grades K-12, while prohibiting libraries serving all grades except 9-12 from stocking books with any LGBTQ character or reference, People For the American Way released… Read More
As schools around the country prepare to return to session this late summer and fall, People For the American Way and Grandparents for Truth (G4T) have remained busy, fighting authoritarian attacks on the freedom to learn. Here’s a brief rundown on some of the latest this summer, since the launch… Read More
Washington DC – Following news that the Hanover, Virginia school board is instructing schools to use guidelines published by the far-right group Moms for Liberty, which is not a professional educational body, to make decisions about removing books from shelves, People For the American Way released the following statement:… Read More
Politically extreme school board members are waging an anti-education campaign against civil rights and equality in education in Temecula, California, and People For the American Way’s Grandparents For Truth campaign is on the ground helping One Temecula… Read More
For more than 40 years, People For has been fighting for future generations’ freedom to learn and resisting authoritarian attacks on the freedom to teach the truth about our history and our culture. Now, we’re mobilizing our 1.5 million members who are grandparents, have grandparents, or know grandparents… Read More
Washington D.C. – Following action by the state of Illinois to prohibit book bans in libraries and public schools, People For the American Way President Svante Myrick released the following statement: “We applaud Illinois and Gov. Pritzker for taking the lead in defending the freedom to learn. Book banning… Read More
It’s Pride Month, and while we’ve made incredible progress over the years, we’re still, unfortunately, fighting some of the same old battles. Far Right authoritarians are still out there acting like any information about queer people is “indoctrination” or, now, “grooming.” So, they’re attempting to… Read More
This article was originally printed in the Los Angeles Times on December 10, 1993. ATGLEN, Pa. — First-grade teacher Diane Palmer walked hesitantly to the microphone at the front of the packed school auditorium. Five members of the school board, whose back-to-basics philosophy had already cut guidance and anti-drug… 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