PEN America

PEN America urges the school board not to pass Resolution No. 21-12, “Resolution Opposing the Teaching of Critical Race Theory.”

In the month since the release of PEN America’s report on the topic, state lawmakers introduced 12 new bills, bringing the total to a staggering 66 educational gag orders for the year in 26 states, 12 of which have passed into law.

Between January and September 2021, 24 legislatures across the United States introduced 54 separate bills intended to restrict teaching and training in K-12 schools, higher education, and state agencies and institutions. The majority of these bills target discussions of race, racism, gender, and American history.

The PEN Children’s and Young Adult Books Committee is responding to recent efforts to ban books and intimidate teachers and librarians with a new conversation series called “PEN Pals.” This series of articles gives voice to the challenged creators of books for children and young adults through an exchange of nuanced conversations that illuminate today’s issues.

PEN America is publishing a series of pieces about the harm online abuse poses to free speech – but also what Facebook, Twitter, and other social media companies can do to blunt its worst effects.

Months after the Leander Independent School District in Texas made headlines for banning a slate of books and graphic novels from its secondary school curriculum, the Austin-area district released its decisions on an additional set of titles. Thirteen books are to be removed from schools, with an additional six titles suspended until further notice.

Governments across the globe are arguing for new powers to regulate the internet within their countries’ borders for national security, economic health, and other fundamental reasons. Much of this new negotiation for control is occurring between governments and the technology corporations that host and arbitrate online public discourse. Still other aspects of this renegotiation involve who controls how the global internet functions at a basic level.

The international community must speak with a unified voice against Lukashenka’s attacks on civil society by condemning these disturbing raids, calling for the release of journalists and activists, and holding accountable the Belarusian politicians and security forces who are responsible for these abuses.