is pen america a reliable source

PEN America: A Journal for Writers and Readers is an annual literary journal that features fiction, poetry, conversation, criticism, and memoir. Now many are targeting higher education with some of the most censorious language to date. While governments have greater leeway to determine what is taught in K12 schools, that does not mean that prohibitions on promotion are wise. If these teachers work in a state with an inclusion ban, presenting such ideas in the classroom would put them at risk of violating the law. Greensboro, NC, Member When? In all of 2021, only one bill (Louisianas HB 564) sought to regulate speech in such institutions. The most striking development to date in 2022 has been the sheer volume of bills introduced. It prohibits public universities and K12 schools from subject[ing] any student or employee to training or instruction that espouses, promotes, advances, [or] inculcates . And Tennessees HB 2666, which became law, created a government commission that will have final say over which books a school district may ban from its library in cases where district-level decisions are appealed. At least one attendee had a different fear of artificial intelligence. By contrast, 13 bills have done so in 2022, though most have been unsuccessful. Kentuckys HB 706, the most extreme private right of action bill, would have given any resident of the state a right to sue, including a domestic business entity residing in the [state] or a foreign business entity that is registered and in good standing with the Secretary of State.98Kentucky HB 706, https://legiscan.com/KY/text/HB706/id/2532276/Kentucky-2022-HB706-Introduced.pdf. . But for an educator in todays climate, to be accused of compulsion even if such charges are spurious could lead to public uproar, an investigation, stigmatization, and other career-disrupting consequences. In addition, students must be instructed that if any of these political systems were to replace the current form of government, the government of the United States would be overthrown and existing freedoms under the Constitution of the United States would no longer exist. Thats why were engaging PEN America Members and allies across the country to lead efforts to promote informed debate, defend press freedom, engage in literary advocacy, and facilitate dialogue across barriers of all kinds. Program Coordinator, PEN Across America. The original model for most educational gag orders, President Trumps September 2020 Executive Order 13950 on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping, focused primarily on trainings in federal agencies and military academies, but not in other K12 or higher education institutions.33Executive Order 13950, Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping, September 22, 2020, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/09/28/2020-21534/combating-race-and-sex-stereotyping. We disagree. They call these the reliability and bias scores. Meanwhile, supporters of educational gag orders have filed complaints of their own in a bid to persuade courts and regulatory bodies to stake out a maximal interpretation of what these laws prohibitand more such actions will likely appear in the coming months. PEN America: A Journal for Writers and Readers The vast majority of the 2022 civil suit bills would create a private right of action that would permit students, parents, or even unrelated members of the public to sue an educational institution and recover damages in civil court. An Iowa bill, HF 2177, would have live-streamed instruction over the internet so parents could monitor their childrens classroom in real time. Pasadena, CA, Censored by China: Defending Creative Expression in a Global Market, PEN Denver Presents: The [margins.] PEN America works to ensure that people everywhere have the freedom to create literature, to convey information and ideas, to express their views, and to access the views, ideas, and literatures of others. "The science-based Fitness Index . The bill would have prohibited public K12 schools from including in their curricula certain ideas related to race, religion, ethnicity, sex, and US history. Miami, FL, The Counter Narrative Project: Messaging, Media & Monkeypox, [VIRTUAL] Dare to Speak: Suzanne Nossel with Joe Crespino In the current political climate, lawmakers and activists are primed to interpret many pedagogical practices, from biased instruction to true/false exams, as forms of compulsion. By contrast, 13 bills have done so in 2022, though most have been unsuccessful.32The full list of such bills includes: Alaska HB 391, https://legiscan.com/AK/text/HB391/id/2525369/Alaska-2021-HB391-Introduced.pdf; Florida HB 7, https://legiscan.com/FL/bill/H0007/2022; Georgia SB 613, https://legiscan.com/GA/text/SB613/id/2542860/Georgia-2021-SB613-Introduced.pdf; Indiana HB 1134, https://legiscan.com/IN/text/HB1134/id/2464216/Indiana-2022-HB1134-Introduced.pdf; Indiana HB 1231, https://legiscan.com/IN/text/HB1231/id/2465267/Indiana-2022-HB1231-Introduced.pdf; Iowa SF 2043, https://legiscan.com/IA/text/SF2043/id/2478845/Iowa-2021-SF2043-Introduced.html; Kentucky HB 487, https://legiscan.com/KY/text/HB487/id/2513646/Kentucky-2022-HB487-Introduced.pdf; Maryland HB 1256, https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2022RS/bills/hb/hb1256F.pdf; Mississippi HB 1492, https://legiscan.com/MS/text/HB1492/id/2493751/Mississippi-2022-HB1492-Introduced.html; Mississippi HB 437, https://legiscan.com/MS/text/HB437/id/2465352/Mississippi-2022-HB437-Introduced.html; Ohio HB 616, https://legiscan.com/OH/text/HB616/id/2562626/Ohio-2021-HB616-Introduced.pdf; South Carolina H 4605, https://legiscan.com/SC/text/H4605/id/2450490/South_Carolina-2021-H4605-Introduced.html; and Tennessee HB 2313, https://legiscan.com/TN/text/HB2313/id/2500053/Tennessee-2021-HB2313-Draft.pdf. Other bills have taken a different approach to targeting private institutions: they have folded their gag order language into state civil rights statutes, thereby exposing private institutions to civil suits. This law requires public K12 schools to provide instruction that is consistent with ideas related to race, sex, US history and society, and human nature, including the idea that defining racial disparities solely on the legacy of [slavery] is destructive to the unification of our nation. Any instruction about current, controversial topics related to public policy or social affairs must be relevant, objective, nondiscriminatory, and respectful to the differing perspectives of students. No punishment is specified. Missouris SB 694 would have required teachers to teach controversial topics from both sides and without showing preference or deference to one perspective.49Missouri SB 694, https://legiscan.com/MO/text/SB694/id/2453615/Missouri-2022-SB694-Introduced.pdf. Atwood engaged in some salty, friendly needling of Eggers over whose dystopian novels were more prescient. For example, Rhode Islands H 7539 would have prohibited teachers from using any instructional material that suggests an individual is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously, solely by virtue of his or her race or sex, or that an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, [bears] responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex. All of this is copied more or less verbatim from Trumps executive order. Birmingham, AL, The Holy Days of Gregorio Pasos: A Book Launch/Summer Mixer, Meet Your Media: A Celebration of World Press Freedom Day, Reproductive Writes: A Night of Free Expression, Fun, and Body Autonomy, PEN Out Loud: Patricia Engel + Jean Chen Ho, PEN Americas Authors Evening With James Hannaham, PEN Americas Bay Area Free Expression Student Summit, PEN Presents: Reyna Grande and Hctor Tobar These trends continue in 2022. Sara Gentzler, Bill Would Restrict How Nebraska Schools, Government Discuss Race and Sex,. We conduct, to hold technology companies accountable for online harms; and work in. https://www.governor.virginia.gov/media/governorvirginiagov/governor-of-virginia/pdf/74eo/74eo/EO-1ENDING-THE-USE-OF-INHERENTLY-DIVISIVE-CONCEPTS,-INCLUDING-CRITICAL-RACE-THEORY,-AND-RESTORING-EXCELLEN.pdf. School book bans surged this year, per PEN America report - Los Angeles May 18, 2023 Salman Rushdie walked onstage at PEN America's annual gala on Thursday night, his first public appearance since he was stabbed and gravely wounded in an attack last August at a. TMZ was the first to report the news, with sources telling the outlet Kelly was "out for a while" after collapsing and that she is "in and out of . School libraries have emerged this year as especially tempting targets for lawmakers. Bills introduced in 2022 have tended to be more punitive, to target a greater number of educational institutions, and to restrict a wider array of speech. For instance, Texass SB 3, which became law in 2021, states that whenever public K12 school teachers broach a current event or widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs, they must strive to explore the topic from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective.48Texas SB 3, https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/872/billtext/pdf/SB00003E.pdf#navpanes=0. Compared to 2021, penalties have also tended to be more extreme, with higher monetary fines and more severe forms of professional discipline. It is also likely that we will continue to see the adoption of district-level educational gag orders that are not enshrined in state legislation. Find an event in your city below. This includes Floridas HB 1557the so-called Dont Say Gay billand 22 others. American Civil Liberties Union, Legislation Affecting LGBTQ Rights across the Country, July 1, 2022. October 30, 2020, [VIRTUAL] Stories of Endangered Language Activism A free speech group is suing a Florida school district over book bans - NPR There are currently 6400+ media sources and journalists listed in our database and growing every day. Mississippis HB 437 would have denied state funds (e.g. Nov. 12, 2020 "The groups have found ways to put pressure on school boards, and they were really not prepared for this," said Jonathan Friedman, the report's author and director of free expression. The majority of this years bills have sought to regulate how educators discuss racism and sexism, though many have targeted systemic discrimination and issues of identity more generally. Typically, this has taken the form of a proposed telephone or email hotline. . In higher education, educational gag orders are just one of the ways lawmakers are increasingly seeking to undermine academic freedom, shared governance, and faculty tenure. Many 2022 bills aimed at nonpublic educational institutions have embraced three alternative levers of enforcement: loss of state accreditation, loss of tax-exempt status, and loss of access to state funding. For the purposes of this law, training includes seminars, workshops, trainings, and orientations, which under some interpretations could include classroom instruction. The new law prohibits public and private employers alike from subjecting any individual to training or instruction that promotes, espouses, or in any way advances certain ideas related to race, sex, color, or national origin. Bills that have become law in 2022, as well as executive orders enacted this year, are singled out for special analysis in Section I.2Note: To avoid confusion regarding bills introduced in 2022 and those introduced in 2021 but considered in both years of a legislative session, we have omitted dates from the bills referenced in footnotes. Every other gag order bill introduced in 2022 across the country has been written and sponsored exclusively by Republican legislators. Additionally, works of fiction from the magazine were selected for the Pushcart Prize in 2009 and 2010. Masha Gessen Resigns in Protest From PEN America Board . Some unsuccessful bills have even proposed criminal penalties. The likely consequence is that school districts will avoid stocking controversial material. February 23, 2020 The only exceptions were Arkansas, which had already passed a gag order the previous year, and states whose legislatures do not meet in 2022.8Arkansas SB 627, https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2021R%2FPublic%2F&file=1100.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2021%2F2021R. For example, Floridas HB 1467, which became law in 2022, contains two important provisions relevant for school librarians. Through collaboration with partners, ARC provides localized emergency support to artists at risk, builds cross-regional coalitions to raise awareness of artistic freedom issues, and advocates for policy reforms. Could A.I. The 100 Best Pens, As Tested by Strategist Editors - New York Magazine PEN America conducts original research, publishes reports, and convenes public programming around this issue, engaging prominent literary voices, newsroom leaders, local journalists, community activists, election officials, and others to defend against the threat disinformation poses to our democratic process. Slowly, luminaries from the worldsof literature and entertainment Susan Choi, Jennifer Finney Boylan, Lorne Michaels, Diane Sawyer arrived. Advocates who believe that educational gag orders are narrowly focused instruments to fight indoctrination of students should recognize that these laws, in practice, create broad and unspecific new government restrictions on speech that are difficult to interpret and easy to overenforce. In the event that a local school board finds that a school board employee has persistently, knowingly, and intentionally violated any provision of this act, the parent of any student affected by such violations may request and the local school board shall provide a voucher in an amount equal to all sums from any source that the local school board received for the education of such student, and the parent shall use such voucher to provide for the education of his child. Literary luminaries gathered in Manhattan to celebrate the organization at a moment when many see support for free speech eroding across the political spectrum. Birmingham Reads: A City-Wide Read Kickoff Event, PEN Out Loud: Julissa Arce with Aida Rodriguez, PEN Presents: Reyna Grande and Hctor Tobar, January 26, February 10, February 17, March 10, 2018, with journalism, documentary, and photojournalism Fellows, in partnership with Crescent City Media, Our Stories, Our News: A Conversation With Local Journalists And Community Members, American Overdose: Reporting On The Opioid Tragedy, PEN America v. Escambia County School District, 2023 PEN America Literary Awards Ceremony, Banned Books and Body Autonomy in Birmingham, Entangled Histories: Free Speech & Civil Rights from the 1960s to Today, Linda Villarosa in Conversation Montgomery, [VIRTUAL] Nature In Poetry: A Poetry Workshop with Camille Dungy, [VIRTUAL] A Conversation with Monique L. Jones and Dr. DeMaris B. Hill, Reading for Justice: Confronting Mass Incarceration in the South, Magic City Poetry Festival Kickoff: MLK Day of Remembrance, 50 Years Post-MLK: Media, The Magic City, And How The South Was Won, Joys of Queerness and the Word: An Indigiqueer Reading, Presentation of Digna with Audience Talkback, PEN Out Loud: Cheon Myeong-Kwan + Chi Young Kim, Hollywood Screenwriters: From the Blacklist to Todays WGA Strike, PEN Americas Freedom to Learn Student Summit Southern California, PEN America at the 2023 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, PEN Presents | The Peoples Tongue: Americans and The English Language, PEN Out Loud: Alexandra Petri + Megan Amram, PEN Out Loud: Mahogany L. Browne + Alyesha Wise, PEN Americas Freedom to Learn Student Summit North California, Reading Between the Lines: Race, Equity, and Book Publishing, PEN Out Loud: Celeste Ng with Gabrielle Zevin, PEN Presents: Cleyvis Natera and Steph Cha, PEN America: Fact v. Fiction: Journalism Confronts Disinformation, PEN Presents: A Screening of WRITING WITH FIRE, PEN Presents: Jos Olivarez & Jennine Cap Crucet, Banned Books Week 2019: From Trauma to Transformation, PEN West End of Year Party & World Press Freedom Day Celebration, [VIRTUAL] Media Engagement at the Buell Public Media Center: An Open House, Local News in Colorado: Big Picture Solutions, Banned Books Week 2019: Banned Books Week Open Mic, Reporting, Homelessness, and the Public Sphere: An Interactive Community Discussion, Media Engagement: Engaging Underrepresented Communities in Denvers New Media Conversation, Banned Together: A Censorship CabaretDenver, CO, Closing Ceremony: Colorado Journalism Week, Miami Book Fair: Four Poets Confront Atrocity, On the Page and On the Stage (Storytelling Workshop), Miami Performs: A Living Memorial For the Victims of the Zong Massacre, Representations of Haiti in Literature & Popular Culture, Kaiama Glover: Analysis of Media Representation of Haiti and Africa, Local News And Citizen Journalism in Miami, Speak Freely, Write Boldly: A First Amendment Seminar, [VIRTUAL] Dare to Speak: Suzanne Nossel with Joe Crespino, Paint It Black: Combating Gentrification Through the Arts, PEN America at the 2019 AJC-Decatur Book Festival, Emory/PEN America-Decatur Book Festival Keynote, Poetry Reading: Richard Blanco and Natalie Scenters-Zapico, Poetry Reading: Rigoberto Gonzlez and Kate Daniels, Searching for Community and Home Amid Displacement, After the Fall: Stories Amid the Echoes of Collapse, Defending Against Online HarassmentAtlanta, Banned Together: A Censorship CabaretAtlanta, GA, PEN America at the Fall 2022 Augustana Symposium Day, Spirit and Place Festival: The World We Live(d) In, Undocumented: Great Lakes Poets Laureate on Social Justice, Break Out: Voices from the InsideIndianapolis, In the Balance: Press Freedom & The Public Good in The USA Gymnastics Investigation, Our East Kentucky Home: A Community Conversation, Ethical Appalachian Reporting: A Community Conversation, A Community Conversation: Real News, Real Issues, Fake News, Fraudulent News, [VIRTUAL] A Conversation with Jarvis DeBerry and Kelly Harris-DeBerry, Words & Music Festival: NOJO performs Vengeance, Words & Music Festival: Journalism and Justice, 8 Years of Accountability: Supporting The Lens Birthday, Banned Together: A Censorship CabaretBaltimore, MD, Race In the Public Dialogue: Understanding Criminal Justice Reform, Race In the Public Dialogue: Hate Speech and Free Speech In America Today, Race in the Public Dialogue: The Power and Presence of Women in the Civil War, Banned Together: A Censorship CabaretBoston, MA, Hotter Than July Book Festival: Remembering Essex Hemphill, Celebrating Black Gay Literature Amidst a Wave of Book Bans, [VIRTUAL] COVID-19 and Incarceration in Michigan, [VIRTUAL] Literary Organizations in the Time of COVID-19, [WEBINAR] Untangling Misinformation in Detroit BIPOC Communities, [VIRTUAL] Poets Gather to Celebrate Nandi Comers Book Release, Knowing the News: An Interactive Media Literacy Workshop Detroit, Local News in Detroit: Race, Distrust, and Disconnection, The Impact of Immigration Reform on Our Community, Be the Facts You Wish to Read: A Press Freedom Discussion. The bill goes on to state. Instead of prohibiting the inclusion of certain concepts, they would require that instruction be consistent with those concepts ideological opposites. Amanda Becker, Republicans See Schools as 2022 Political Battleground, 19th (website), March 23, 2022. Charity Navigator - Rating for PEN American Center This law prohibits public colleges and universities from conducting any mandatory student or employee training that includes ideas from a list of divisive concepts related to race, sex, religion, creed, nonviolent political affiliation, social class, or any other class of people, or that promotes resentment of any such group. Juergen Boos And as early as 2016, PEN America had warned of a trend now coming into greater relief in the United States in which books targeted for bannings frequently have to do with racial and ethnic diversity, in their authors as well as topics. State lawmakers will begin pre-filing their bills in the run-up to the November 2022 midterm elections, especially in states where Republicans failed to pass an educational gag order despite controlling both legislative chambers and the governors mansionstates such as Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, West Virginia, and Wyoming, all of which came close to passing gag order bills during their 2022 legislative sessions but ultimately failed to do so. While state governments and school boards do have leeway to set curricular standards, it has also been recognized by the Supreme Court that in doing so they should reflect democratic principles and retain space for dissent. Among those who have been recognized through PEN Americas Literary Awards or brought forward to new audiences at our public events are Hermione Hoby, Morgan Jerkins, Crystal Hana Kim, Alice Sola Kim, Lisa Ko, Layli Long Soldier, Carmen Maria Machado, Darnell L. Moore, Ottessa Moshfegh, Alexis Okeowo, Tommy Orange, Helen Oyeyemi, Tommy Pico, Jenny Zhang, and Ibi Zoboi. Another notable development to date in 2022 has been the growing number of bills targeting higher education. A reliable source is one that provides a thorough, well-reasoned theory, argument, discussion, etc. The centenary falls at a complicated moment for PEN America, and the increasingly embattled principle of free speech it defends. Moreover, those punishments have tended to be more extreme, including private rights of action, large monetary fines, faculty termination, and loss of institutional accreditation. But this bill was filed only two days before the end of the Arizona legislative session and never had any chance of passage. Of the 137 legislative gag order bills introduced in 2022, seven have become law. : A Community Retelling of Downtown Durham Other bills would achieve a similar effect via a different route. Heterodox Academy, an organization deeply concerned about . Such requirements may seem harmless, but in practical terms their vague, nonspecific language offers limitless opportunities for activists or administrators to claim teachers are in violation of such provisions.55PEN America, For Educational Gag Orders, the Vagueness Is the Point, April 28, 2022, https://pen.org/for-educational-gag-orders-the-vagueness-is-the-point/. Punishments in this category have included everything from temporary suspension to dismissal, and even in some cases loss of teaching license. )87Glossary of Terms: Transgender, GLAAD Media Reference Guide, 11th Edition, https://www.glaad.org/reference/trans-terms. Found in GALILEO's academic databases and Google Scholar. The Wyoming State Senate attempted to defund the gender studies program at the University of Wyoming. (Note: the word transgenderism is generally considered offensive by the transgender community. With the help of our Members and supporters, PEN America carries out campaigns to win their release, ensure their safety, and enable them to write and publish freely. Finally, lawmakers in 2022 seem to have lost their appetite for regulating speech and conduct in nonschool settings. America's Censored Classrooms - PEN America Heterodox Academy, an organization deeply concerned about . Tina Fey was honored with the PEN/Mike Nichols Writing for Performance Award. Similarly designed bills were introduced in Kentucky and Indiana in 2022. My argument is that we can tell our own stories better., Adichie said that, as a person from a continent that was often misrepresented, she largely agreed. The teaching of history, civics, and American identity has never been neutral or uncontested, and reasonable people can disagree over how and when educators should teach children about racism, sexism, and other facets of American history and society. Advocates who believe that educational gag orders are narrowly focused instruments to fight indoctrination of students should recognize that these laws, in practice, create broad and unspecific new government restrictions on speech that are difficult to interpret and easy to overenforce. Liz McCormick and Suzanne Higgins, Anti-Racism Act Fails in Final Moments of 2022 Legislative Session, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, March 13, 2022. Our Newest Report: Why Reporting Abuse to Social Media Platforms Is So Hard and How to Fix It, Read the latest report from the Artists at Risk Connection, Introducing the 2023 Emerging Voices Fellows and Mentors. Our PEN Across America initiative provides resources to mobilize PEN America communities nationwide to carry forward our mission to defend and celebrate free expression. And in a case of a regulatory body offering its own maximal interpretation of a gag order without the need of litigation, the Oklahoma Board of Education disciplined two school districts for supposed violations of the states law, in both cases handing down harsher penalties than called for by the law.

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