Victory by default in Brunswick County, NC! About a week after local resident Frankie Wood challenged Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian at the second school in as many years, the principal informed her that the…
Author: Maren Williams
Texas ACLU Uncovers Multiple Challenges to Comics in 2013-2014
While recently looking into the cases that landed three comics on the Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books for 2014, we came across a veritable treasure trove of challenges that had flown under our radar: the Texas ACLU’s Annual…
CBLDF Joins Protest of Waterloo Ban on Absolutely True Diary
In advance of a school board meeting in Waterloo, Iowa this evening, CBLDF has joined with five other organizational members of the National Coalition Against Censorship to send a letter urging that the board follow district policy regarding a challenge…
North Carolina Woman Challenges Absolutely True Diary for Second Time
The Brunswick County, North Carolina woman who last year waged a fruitless months-long battle to have Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian banned from a local middle school has resurfaced this week to challenge the same…
Jefferson Center Muzzle Awards Bestow Dishonor For Free Speech Violations
It’s time once again for the Muzzle Awards, presented annually by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression to “recognize” individuals or organizations that have committed egregious violations against free speech in the past year. This year the undignified winners…
Zunar Remains Defiant Before Trial
Facing trial next month on nine counts of sedition which could carry a sentence of up to 43 years, Malaysian cartoonist Zunar has been making the English-language media rounds with a profile from news agency AFP and an interview with…
What Do We Know About the Frequently Challenged Comics of 2014?
Following the news that comics made up almost a third of the books on the American Library Association’s Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books for 2014, we did a bit of investigating for more information on the challenges that…
Award-Winning Indian Cartoons Celebrate Freedom of Expression
Political cartoonists from India and around the world received some well-deserved recognition last week with the announcement of the winners in this year’s Maya Kamath Memorial Awards from the Indian Institute of Cartooning. While all of the designees reflect a…
Iowa Teachers Fight Ban of Absolutely True Diary
School district administrators and teachers in Waterloo, Iowa are currently locked in a debate as to whether Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is appropriate for middle school classrooms. The district’s curriculum director sent an email…
New Mexico TV Station Continues Vendetta Against Palomar
As we told you last week, the parent who wants Gilbert Hernadez’s Palomar removed from a high school library in Rio Rancho, New Mexico is appealing the decision of a review committee that voted to retain the book on shelves.…