This week, CBLDF took a leadership role in a coalition of anti-censorship advocates — including the National Coalition Against Censorship, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, and the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom —…
Category: Education
A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl Stays in NC Library
In September, CBLDF joined the CBLDF-sponsored Kids’ Right to Read Project to send a letter to the Currituck County High School Board of Education in defense of A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl, a critically-acclaimed novel by…
More Details Emerge in Neverwhere Challenge
Last week, CBLDF learned that Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere was under attack at Alamogordo High School in New Mexico. A parent filed a complaint over the book, claiming the content was “rated R” and inappropriate for her 15-year-old daughter. The book…
Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere Banned in New Mexico School District
Yesterday, the Alamogordo High School removed Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere from shelves after parent Nancy Wilmott complained over content she deemed innapropriate for her 15-year-old daughter. The book has been on district required reading lists since 2004, but it has not…
The Real Panels That Inspired Wertham’s Attacks on Comics
Designer Michael Dooley recently reexamined some of the comics titles attacked by Fredric Wertham in his 1954 “expose” on comics, Seduction of the Innocent. Wertham’s condemnation of comics led to decades of self-censorship by the comics industry. In examining the…
Barefoot Gen Translator Disinvited from Speaking at Japanese School
A little more than a month after Keiji Nakazawa’s manga classic Barefoot Gen was restored to school libraries in the Japanese city of Matsue, an English-language translator of the series has been abruptly disinvited from speaking at a junior high…
Understanding Your Rights FAQ – What Do Obscenity & Related Laws Mean?
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund frequently receives questions from our community about one’s rights relating to comics, so we have created this column – “Understanding Your Rights” as a series of FAQs to help clearly explain these concepts. Today’s column…
Obscenity Case Files: Jenkins v. Georgia
In 1972, a movie theater manager in Albany, Georgia, was convicted under a Georgia statute for the crime of distributing obscene material for showing the film Carnal Knowledge. The conviction took place during an odd limbo period between the decisions…
NYCC, The Panels: Secret Origins of Comics Censorship! Raising a Reader!
New York Comic-Con starts this Thursday, and CBLDF will be along for the ride, first with our NYCC Welcome Party, and then with our panels — CBLDF will reveal the secret origins of comics censorship and how you can use…
Webinar Focuses on the Use of Graphic Novels in Classrooms
Dr. Meryl Jaffe has graciously donated her time to write our ongoing series Using Graphic Novels in Education. So far, she has provided teaching tips and Common Core State Standards correlations for Persepolis, American Born Chinese, The Silence of Our…