The National Coalition Against Censorship

We are excited to reflect on our remarkable 50th anniversary Gala, in preparation for our Gala on November 18th, presented by Sourcebooks. Floyd Abrams delivered a powerful and inspiring acceptance speech about the importance of standing up for the First Amendment.

By restricting press access to the Pentagon, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is preventing the free flow of information that allows for a free press, which has served the American people faithfully since its founding. NCAC supports those who stand against this overreach!

7th Annual NCAC Curatorial Workshop Application (2025) Curating in Challenging Times presented by NCAC's Arts & Culture Advocacy Program and Creative Time Workshop date: Thursday, December 4, 2025 (approx. 10am-5:00pm) Location: Lower Manhattan, in person. Address to be shared upon acceptance into the workshop This event is in-person in New York City. Application process: The workshop is open to practicing curators and artistic directors, whether they work independently or within institutions. The workshop is limited to 20 participants. Application Deadline: Sunday, November 2, 2025, 11:59pm EDT Acceptance into the workshop will be...

Join NCAC’s 7th Curatorial Workshop for curators & cultural leaders!

Apply here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1b3JEHohNVsAZzF9urlqUcmCNUPvN8wovf2BQ9-58z0M/viewform?edit_requested=true

Chains Book — Historical fiction. By Laurie Halse Anderson. 2010. 336 pages. Historical fiction based on the life of an enslaved teenager during the Revolutionary War.

Join #BannedBooksWeek and prepare for the #AmericanRevolution250 by participating in the @ncacensorship.bsky.social read-ins of historical fiction "Chains" by @halseanderson.bsky.social

Host an event or find one near you. Read: www.righttoreadnight.com

www.zinnedproject.org/materials/ch...

Public threats by the Government to punish free speech is all the more dangerous in a moment when the administration is using speech as a pretext to crackdown on political dissent. The only remedy is for people to stand up to the censors. This isn’t a partisan issue; it’s an American issue.

Ever feel like your voice is being hidden online? 🕵️‍♀️

Join @folcs.bsky.social @92ndstreety.bsky.social @ncacensorship.bsky.social Sept 30 at 7 PM ET for "Shadowbanned & Shutdown: Censorship in the Digital Public Square" a Conversation on the future of free speech.
www.92ny.org/event/shadow...

Political violence is a poison to our democracy. The National Coalition Against Censorship unequivocally condemns the shooting of political activist Charlie Kirk. Using violence as a political tactic isn't just criminal, it's profoundly un-American.

Comment | Trump's 100 days should remind us to be brave—because in an autocracy there is no safety The Trump administration has taken aim at numerous arts bodies. Elizabeth Larison, the director of the Arts and Culture Advocacy Program at the National Coalition Against Censorship, argues they need ...

“In an autocracy there is no safety: deals struck with power undermine credibility, only to be revoked at whim. Under such conditions, cultural leaders can stand by their principles, and the values that make an open culture (and democracy) possible in the first place.”

shorturl.at/Re5ns

Lori Beth Denberg reprised her All That librarian character to do a pro-library, anti-book banning reel and I love it so much??? www.instagram.com/reel/DIK0_bD...

No idea is illegal. It is breathtakingly absurd and outrageous to even suggest that ideas need to be policed. And that the promise of the First Amendment--the freedom to think freely--is the bedrock of American values. This post subverts everything our constitution stands for.

Social Media & Art Censorship - Lawyers for the Creative Arts If you’re an artist who wants to share your creations with a wider audience, you know how important it is to post your work on social media. Just as important

Join us for a powerful conversation on how social media platforms impact artistic expression! Hosted by Lawyers for the Creative Arts with Saper Law & @dontdeleteart.bsky.social

🗓 April 3
⏰ 12-1:30 PM CT

Register for free by visiting law-arts.org/event/social....

I'll be speaking alongside @ncacensorship.bsky.social and Lawyers for the Creative Arts at this event to discuss the legal rights artists *really* have when confronting social media and digital spaces -- join us (it's free!)

Honored to shepherd this these brilliant, original pieces on the impacts of censorship through the publication process. And Volume 2 will publish this fall.
@katywithwine.bsky.social
@ncte.org
@ncacensorship.bsky.social

We are in the editorial process on a forthcoming Special Issue of The Political Librarian, which will be devoted to discussions and analyses of what the results of the 2024 election may indicate for the future of library work. Stay posted for more information. journals.library.wustl.edu/pollib/

🚨 Today, @publicknowledge.bsky.social joined 17 other public interest, trade associations, & civil liberties groups in a letter urging Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr to defend free speech and media freedom, expressing “deep concern” regarding recent actions taken by the agency.

National Free Speech and Art Organizations Warn of a “Golden Age” of Propaganda and a “Starvation Age” for Culture Related Posts Free SpeechI didn't want just the students opinion on Free speech in School (Does it Exist?)… Free SpeechMy experimental film is about the students that try to make themselves known and ...

Today @dramatistsguild.bsky.social @ncacensorship.bsky.social
@artistsatrisk.bsky.social @penamerica.bsky.social and others expressed deep concern over the Trump Administration’s recent moves to impose ideological control over federally funded cultural programs:

#theatresky #artssky #advocacy

National Free Speech and Art Organizations Warn of a “Golden Age” of Propaganda and a “Starvation Age” for Culture Related Posts Free SpeechI didn't want just the students opinion on Free speech in School (Does it Exist?)… Free SpeechMy experimental film is about the students that try to make themselves known and ...

“A robust, free, independent cultural sphere is a hallmark of a democratic society, and the Trump Administration’s recent actions imply a desire to wrest control over culture.”

ncac.org/news/nationa...

National Free Speech and Art Organizations Warn of a “Golden Age” of Propaganda and a “Starvation Age” for Culture Related Posts Free SpeechI didn't want just the students opinion on Free speech in School (Does it Exist?)… Free SpeechMy experimental film is about the students that try to make themselves known and ...

“These efforts to make federally-funded arts programs the mouthpiece of the presidential administration should be concerning not just to artists, creatives, cultural organizations, and scholars, but to all Americans—regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum or their taste in art,”

NCAC Along With FIRE and ACLU-TX Demand Fort Worth Police Return Artwork Confiscated From Museum A trio of civil liberty organizations are speaking up today to demand the Fort Worth Police Department end its unconstitutional censorship and seizure of several pieces of art that were on display at ...

and serve only to chill the creative expressions of artists and cultural institutions by subjecting them to the threat of political prosecution and the unconstitutional seizure of artwork,”

ncac.org/news/ncac-al...

"Publicity stunts like this one—in which artworks that have been shown and discussed for over 30 years are suddenly the focus of an unfounded ‘investigation’—do nothing to protect victims of child abuse...

Free! Screening of Banned Together Documentary - Feb 13, 6:30 at Salt Lake City PL Celebrate the Freedom to Read by joining Let Utah Read for a special, free, pre-release screening of the new documentary film Banned Together. When: Thursday, February 13, 2024 at 6:30 PM Where: Salt...

We're almost completely full! Grab your seat for this free pre-release screening of the documentary, Banned Together: The Fight Against Censorship. This Thurs, Feb 13 at 6:30 at Salt Lake City PL. (Two hours free parking!) www.fightforthefirst.org/events/free-...

In Trump’s Washington, a War of Wordplay Takes Hold The previous administration’s progressive lexicon has been swept away, replaced by a new official language of a bureaucracy under fire from its own president.

“Forced patriotism is indoctrination, those words are synonyms,”

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/11/u...

Should the new NEA guidelines require artists and/or artwork to take a position that uncritically lionizes the US government and its founding, they might as well rebrand as the National Endowment for Propaganda.

Read NEA's full statement: www.arts.gov/news/press-r...

While a government agency can decide how to thematically focus their arts funding, they may not do so in a way that discriminates against art based on its viewpoint.

The use of the words “celebrate and honor” suggest that critical perspectives are not welcome, though of course it will depend on how that mandate is crafted, interpreted and applied.

As the National Endowment for the Arts recalibrates its granting guidelines, we’ll be watching to ensure that they do not discriminate against artists or projects that offer critical or complex perspectives about the Declaration of Independence, its history, and/or the Federal Government.

Yesterday, NCAC joined over 40 other organizations in condemning the Trump administration's Executive Order targeting transgender, intersex, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming Americans.

NCAC will always stand and fight tooth and nail for those who the government seeks to bully and silence.

A text-heavy graphic of a black football helmet with a brain superimposed on it. Header: HARD HITS, HIDDEN TRUTHS: How investigative journalism tackled the NFL's concussion problem THURSDAY, FEB. 6 1 P.M. ET/10 A.M. PT Newsroom to Classroom Free webinar for students and educators

🏈 Join us tomorrow at 1pm ET! We'll be chatting with Jeanne Marie Laskas, who wrote the groundbreaking investigative journalism story in 2009 about the connection between playing football & brain injuries.

Register for FREE: bit.ly/6Feb2025nlp

#NewsLiteracyWeek
#SuperBowl

Mayor Reed’s call to remove the work raises serious First Amendment concerns.

While for some, the billboard may be “divisive,” others in the community may appreciate the parallels it draws between histories of segregation and the calls by the current presidential administration to outlaw initiatives focused on racial equality and inclusion.