CBLDF’s 2019 Annual Report Shows How Critical Your Help Is!

Free expression withstood a wide range of attacks in 2019 and through it all, thanks to the support of donors like you, CBLDF stood proudly at the front lines and fought to protect the voices of our community this year. From providing legal aid and expertise to protecting access to important books and programming, CBLDF fought for free expression and for every voice to be heard. To see what we’ve been up, and how your critical donations have helped us achieve real-world results, check out our 2019 Annual Report below.

CBLDF’s legal team remains available at a moment’s notice, and their rapid response often helps defuse cases before they wind up going to court. This year our direct legal aid supported artists facing civil actions against their First Amendment-protected work, providing advice to retailers and publishers about how the law affects their rights as well as referrals in civil and criminal cases. The Fund also supported a successful effort encouraging the California Supreme Court to hear an appeal on the anti-SLAPP issues in Rall v. Tribune 365, LLC.

CBLDF actively fought a wave of anti-education bills in Florida and Vermont which were poised to dilute the education system and devastate students’ intellectual freedom. Each piece of anti-education legislation CBLDF advocated against failed to pass.

Beyond these cases, CBLDF has been actively involved in 10 challenges to books in schools and libraries this year, including cases involving The Walking Dead, Assassination Classroom, The Handmaid’s Tale: A Graphic Novel Adaptation, and Love Is Love. CBLDF also executed an important Comics in Education Survey which demonstrated real evidence of the value of comics in classrooms, including the Top 10 Comics in the Classroom, which you can find in our 2019 Annual Report below!

CBLDF created brand new resources with the help of donations like yours, like Selling Comics a first of its kind set of essays designed to help new and experienced retailers with developing critical best practices. This year also saw the creation of CBLDF’s Free Webinars featuring top comics creators like Gene Luen Yang, Lilah Sturges, and many more, plus a whole gaggle of experts offering free tools and resources to participants. These webinars will continue in 2020, so keep your eyes peeled for what’s next from CBLDF, but check out more in the Annual Report below.

Last but not least, 2019 wouldn’t have been so successful if it wasn’t for your help every day. Whether it was stopping by the booth at your favorite comic convention, getting one of the many Humble Bundles that help us fundraise, retweeting a call to action, or picking up signed and personalized comics for our Spirit of Giving campaign – absolutely none of this is possible without your support. Please keep speaking up, and fighting for free expression with us at CBLDF! Every level of support helps protect crucial First Amendment Rights in the comics community and beyond!

 

Help us continue this important work by making a donation today! From now until December 9th, you can get signed and personalized comics when you donate to CBLDF through our Spirit of Giving campaign or choose from a huge selection of signed comics with our annual Gift Guide!

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