In the modern popular imagination, the 1950s represent the height of repression, conformity, paranoia, and of course censorship. To be sure, the era did see the brief rise of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, the continued effects of the Hollywood blacklist (instituted…
Tag: illinois
IRONY ALERT: Downers Grove Council Approves Would-be Censor for Library Board
The village council of Downers Grove, Illinois, an affluent suburb of Chicago, on Tuesday approved the appointment of a would-be book banner to the town library’s board of trustees. Local attorney Arthur Jaros Jr. led a failed 1999 attempt to…
CBLDF will C U at C2E2!
This weekend the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is excited to arrive in the City of Broad Shoulders, to exhibit at C2E2! We will be in booth 309, with a ton of great stuff new for 2015, including the complimentary…
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…
EXCLUSIVE: CBLDF Talks to Persepolis Sleuth Jarrett Dapier!
Following the recent revelation of new details regarding the Chicago Public Schools’ 2013 classroom ban of Persepolis, CBLDF got in touch with Library & Information Science graduate student Jarrett Dapier, who used the Freedom of Information Act to secure the…
Grad Student Uncovers Truth About Persepolis Ban in Chicago Public Schools
A graduate student’s research is throwing new light on Chicago Public Schools officials’ 2013 effort to remove Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis from libraries and classrooms throughout the district. Emails released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request and first…
VICTORY: Illinois Challenge to Persepolis Fails by Unanimous Decision
Yesterday, just hours before a school board meeting to decide the fate of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, CBLDF joined a coalition led by CBLDF-sponsored Kids’ Right to Read Project in sending a letter to defend the book. Last night, the Ball-Chatham…
Persepolis Suspended from Curriculum in Another Illinois High School
Over the weekend, CBLDF and other member organizations in the National Coalition Against Censorship became aware of yet another challenge to Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, this time at Glenwood High School in Chatham, Illinois. There is no news coverage of the…
Chicago Public Schools Reassign Librarians, Endanger Freedom to Read
When Chicago Public Schools administrators abruptly decided last year that Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis was not appropriate for some students, the directive to ban it initially went to school librarians. But instead of following the order, some of the librarians quickly…
Institutions Quick to Censor Public Art They Commissioned
Everyone knows that art is not always pretty or positive. Its purpose often is to comment on the surrounding world, causing viewers to reflect on society and their own preconceived notions. But particularly in the United States it seems, disruptive…