Oct 25 Why ‘The Art of War’ and Amy Schumer’s memoir are banned in U.S. prisons By Hillel Italie, Associated Press Tens of thousands of books are being banned or restricted by U.S. prisons, according to a new report from PEN America. Continue reading
Jun 30 Watch 6:56 GOP presidential candidates appear at far-right Moms for Liberty event By Laura Barrón-López, Matt Loffman In the past few years, many Republican-led states have enacted new laws rolling back the teaching of race and LGBTQ+ rights in classrooms and banning books on those subjects. And in many cases, the push for these new restrictions is… Continue watching
Jun 25 Hundreds of authors, including Salman Rushdie, Cheryl Strayed endorse anti-censorship initiative By Associated Press Salman Rushdie, Cheryl Strayed, Carl Hiassen and Ibram X. Kendi are among hundreds of authors who have endorsed the announcement by the American Library Association and the Association of American Publishers. Continue reading
Jun 17 Watch 5:28 New report looks at the changing face of extremist groups in America By John Yang, Kaisha Young As hate groups edge toward the political mainstream, experts say they’re employing new tactics and taking on new forms. In June, the Southern Poverty Law Center added 12 conservative “parents’ rights” groups to its list of extremist and anti-government organizations. Continue watching
May 26 Republican 2024 hopeful Ron DeSantis is ‘blazing a trail’ on school book bans By Andrew DeMillo, Anthony Izaguirre, Nicholas Riccardi, Associated Press Florida last year became the first in a wave of red states to enact laws making it easier for parents to challenge books in school libraries they deem to be pornographic, deal improperly with racial issues or in other ways… Continue reading
May 24 Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem banned by Florida school By Freida Frisaro, Associated Press “The Hill We Climb” was challenged by the parent of two students at Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes. It was not immediately clear why the parent objected to Gorman's poem. Continue reading
May 24 GOP lawmakers pass new standards to ban books from Texas schools By Associated Press Critics say the standards set in the Texas bill are too vague, will snag books that are not inappropriate, and that materials dealing with LGBTQ+ subject matter are more likely to be targeted for bans. Continue reading
May 18 Why youth activists in Louisiana say they’ll ‘no longer stay quiet’ By Roby Chavez As Republican state lawmakers in Louisiana have pushed a barrage of bills targeting LGBTQ+ rights, a new wave of youth activism has been awakened. Continue reading
Apr 28 Watch 7:51 Judy Blume describes latest wave of book bans and censorship as ‘disgusting’ and ‘fascist’ By Jeffrey Brown, Anne Azzi Davenport The new film “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret,” is shining a spotlight on Judy Blume, author of the original novel. Many of her books deal with issues of sexuality and adolescence rarely found elsewhere when Blume was writing. Continue watching
Apr 24 Watch 6:47 The top library books people tried to ban or censor last year By Jeffrey Brown, Kyle Midura Battles have erupted at schools, school boards and library meetings across the country as parents, lawmakers and advocacy groups are debating books. The American Library Association documented more than 1,200 demands to censor books and resources last year, the highest… Continue watching