American Civil Liberties Union
American Library Association/Office of Intellectual
Freedom
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Arts Wire
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Electronic Privacy Information Center
FAIR
Feminists for Free Expression
Index on Censorship
Institute for First Amendment Studies
JAMPAC
Media Coalition
Mother Jones
The Nation
National Campaign for Freedom of Expression
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Writers Union
Parents for Rock and Rap
People for the American Way
Political Research Associates
Rock Out Censorship
Voters Telecommunications Watch
Z Magazine
Join The National Campaign for Freedom of Expression (NCFE).
The NCFE is an educational and advocacy network of groups and individuals formed in 1989 to "protect the First Amendment rights of artists and audiences in every community." According to its current mission statement, the NCFE "works to empower artists in the political process at every level of public enterprise, and to promote a progressive agenda in the arts and culture community and to promote arts and culture as part of the progressive agenda." David Mendoza, former head of Seattle's Artist Trust, serves as Executive Director. NCFE projects have included a lawsuit filed in conjunction with the ACLU on behalf of performance artists Karen Finley, John Fleck, Holly Hughes and Tim Miller - the "NEA Four" - against the NEA. The NCFE has helped these artists obtain panel-approved grants that had been vetoed for political reasons, and is supporting their ongoing efforts to challenge the "decency" language inserted into the NEA's reauthorizing legislation in 1990. The organization has provided legal, financial, and moral support to beleaguered artists across the country; one of its recent successes was a court victory on behalf of Texas artist David Swim, whose work had been censored by the city of Austin. While the NCFE involves itself in a wide range of issues, its principal areas of interest and expertise are the visual and performing arts. Membership, which includes a subscription to the informative NCFE Bulletin, produced quarterly, costs $25.00 for individuals and $50.00 for organizations. There are loose affiliates in a number of cities; the Boston Coalition for Freedom of Expression (tel. 617/497-7193) is among the longest-lived and most active. Contact Washington, DC Office Manager Jennifer Woods or Seattle Office Manager Jean Fallows for information.
Write: National Campaign for Freedom of
Expression
POB 50245
F Street Station
Washington DC 20004
-or-
1402 Third Avenue #421
Seattle, WA 98101
Call: 202/393-ARTS
FAX: 202/393-2787
-or, for the Seattle Office-
Call: 206/340-9301
FAX: 206/340-4303
Join Arts Wire (AW).
The NCFE describes Arts Wire as "the first online communications network designed to enable artists, individuals and arts organizations to better communicate, share ideas and information, and coordinate their activities. AW provides access to news, information, and dialogue on the arts and has dozens of links to arts organizations and funders at the local, state and national level including the National Endowment for the Arts." Through a long series of debacles involving the NEA, Arts Wire has been a constant - and at times the only - source of reliable, detailed information. Weekly bulletins are accessible through the Arts Wire homepage (http://www.artswire.org/Artswire/www/awfront.html); full access to AW's resources are available to subscribers who set their own rates over and above a $15.00 monthly base fee paid to AW's host system.
Write: Arts Wire Front Desk Coordinator
2140 Shattuck Suite 2340
Berkeley. CA 94704-1210
email: artswire@artswire.org
Subscribe to The Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom
Published bimonthly by the American Library Association (ALA), the Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom covers censorship incidents nationwide, summarizes recent First Amendment rulings in U.S. courts, and offers up-to-date information about pro- and anti-censorship activities. Assembled under the dynamic and exacting leadership of Editor/Director Judith Krug (who also heads the Freedom to Read Foundation), this is an indispensable reference work for anyone seriously interested in working to stop censorship in America. Subscriptions are $40.00 per year.
Write: American Library Association
50 East Huron Street
Chicago IL 60611
Call: 312/944-6780
FAX: 312/440-9374
Join The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC).
"The National Coalition Against Censorship is an alliance of national organizations, including religious, educational, professional, artistic, labor, and civil rights groups. United by a conviction that freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression must be defended, they work to educate their own members against the dangers of censorship and how to oppose it." Executive Director Leanne Katz is a person of fierce integrity who provides anti-censorship activists with an unbeatable role model. Ask for the NCAC's booklet "Freedom is Not a Dirty Word." Basic membership, which includes a subscription to Censorship News, costs $25.00.
Write: National Coalition Against Censorship
275 7th Avenue
New York NY 10001
Call: 212/807-6222
FAX: 212/807/6245
Join People for the American Way.
Television producer Norman Lear founded People for the American Way early in the Reagan administration, in response to the growing power of Jerry Falwell, the Moral Majority, and the theocratic right. The organization conducts lobbying efforts, archives records of attacks on free expression, and conducts an annual survey, artsave, of censorship incidents in the visual and performing arts. Its message, essentially, is that freedom of expression is the American Way. The BCFE has occasionally differed with People For's positions on the NEA and other matters, but we admire the dedication, expertise, and resourcefulness of this indispensable group. People For's valuable services include the artsave project, which tracks arts censorship incidents and reports on them annually; the Freedom to Learn project, which monitors attacks on public education; highly sophisticated monitoring of right-wing activity; and networks for parents, lawyers, clergy, and grassroots activists. Basic membership, including a newsletter subscription, costs $25.
Write: Tom Andrews
President
People for the American Way
2000 M Street NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
Call: 202/467-4999
FAX: 202/293-2672
Join the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Founded in 1920 by Roger Baldwin, the American Civil Liberties Union is a staunch defender of Constitutional freedoms. The integrity with which the ACLU upholds the absolutist stand on the First Amendment has commanded respect for decades. One fee covers membership in both the ACLU and your local chapter. Individual memberships are $20.00, joint memberships for couples are $30.00, and limited-income memberships are available for $5.00. Benefits include a subscription to the ACLU's quarterly publication Civil Liberties.
Write: Ira Glasser
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union
132 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036
Call: 212/944-9800
You should also be aware of the ACLU's Arts Censorship Project headed by Marjorie Heins. (Members of the BCFE should note that Ms. Heins is a member of the Massachusetts bar who is especially attentive to censorship issues in New England.) She can be reached at the ACLU's New York Office. The Arts Censorship Project's quarterly newsletter is available for a donation. Marjorie Heins's book on the culture wars, Sex, Sin and Blasphemy (New York: The New Press, 1993; $11.00 paper) is highly recommended.
Join Feminists for Free Expression (FFE).
Marjorie Heins is also on the Board of Directors of this essential organization, which describes itself as "a group of diverse feminists working to preserve the individual's right to read, hear, view and produce materials of her choice without the intervention of the state 'for her own good.'" FFE, founded in 1992, is headed by Marcia Pally, author of the excellent Sex and Sensibility: Reflections on Forbidden Mirrors and the Will to Censor (Hopewell, NJ: The Ecco Press, 1994; $11.00 paper), and Executive Director Rachel Hickerson, a former National Writers Union activist. Its mission statement holds that "freedom of expression is especially important for women's rights. While messages reflecting sexism pervade our culture in many forms, sexual and nonsexual. suppression of such material will neither reduce harm to women nor further women's goals. Censorship traditionally has been used to silence women and stifle feminist social change." FFE supports legal challenges to censorship laws, gives aid to embattled artists, and maintains an impressive network of speakers including Barbara Ehrenreich, Pat Califia, and ACLU President Nadine Strossen. Basic membership is $35.00.
Write: Rachel Hickerson
Executive Director
Feminists for Free Expression
2525 Times Square Station
New York, NY 10108-2525
Call: 212/702-6292
FAX: 212/702-6277
Support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF).
Incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1990, the CBLDF actually dates back to the defense of "Friendly Frank," a Lansing, Illinois comics dealer subjected to an obscenity bust in 1986. (An initial conviction was overturned on appeal.) Leftover funds from this effort were used to establish the CBLDF, which provides legal aid and money for legal expenses to comic book artists, publishers and dealers under attack. Its stated mission is "to fight for and defend the First Amendment rights of comic book professionals throughout the United States." Denis Kitchen, CBLDF President and founder, is also the President of Kitchen Sink Press. Day-to-day operations are in the dedicated hands of Executive Director Susan Alston, who manages the Northampton, Massachusetts office. The organization's fundraising efforts encompass sales of signed prints, T-shirts, and other merchandise; a newsletter, Busted, is available on request.
Write: Susan Alston
Executive Director
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
Box 693
Northampton, MA 01061
Call: 800/992-2533
email: cbldf@insv.com
Join Parents for Rock and Rap (PFRR).
This organization defending free expression for rock and rap artists and fans was founded in 1990 by Mary Morello, mother of musician Tom Morello, lead guitarist of Rage Against the Machine. PFRR, consciously intended as an antidote to Tipper Gore's Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), first gained notoreity upholding the First Amendment rights of the rap group 2 Live Crew during right-wing efforts in Florida to convict its members of obscenity. Morello, a deceptively grandmotherly retired teacher, is a fiercely intelligent and sophisticated woman who has lived and worked in Germany, Spain, Japan and Kenya. She strongly believes that parents, not pressure groups like PMRC, should be responsible for deciding what is appropriate for their children to see, read, and hear. You don't have to be a parent to be a member of PFRR; dues are $3.00.
Write: Mary Morello
Parents for Rock and Rap
P.O. Box 53
Libertyville, IL 60048
Call: 847/362-1434
This Ohio-based grassroots network of rock fans and musicians monitors instances of censorship both in and out of the music industry nationwide. Its scruffy tabloid-style newsletter The ROC is packed with reliable information and is far superior to many slicker publications. The effectiveness and durability of this organization can be attributed to the tireless dedication of co-founders John Woods and Randy Lee Payton, and the loyal support of members nationwide. Membership, including a one-year subscription to The ROC, is $15. Not to be confused with Rock the Vote.
Write: John Woods
Rock Out Censorship
POB 147
Jewett, OH 43986
Call or FAX: 614/946-6535
The project of former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic and Seattle-based music promoter Richard White, JAMPAC (Joint Artists and Music Promotions Political Action Committee) "is committed to representing fans, artists, record labels, concert promoters, and all facilitators of music in the United States." The organization lobbies against record labeling, fights pro-censorship legislation, promotes involvement in the political process, and fosters the development of grassroots activist organizations from coast to coast. (Novoselic and White have, for example, helped with the formation of the Washington (State) Music Industry Coalition and the Massachusetts Music Industry Coalition.)
Write: JAMPAC
P.O. Box 4135
Seattle, WA 98104-0135
Call: 800/8800-JAM
email: wmic@uspan.com
Join Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Founded in 1947, Americans United held its 48th National Conference on Church and State in October 1995. "A national organization with a grassroots presence, Americans United brings together individuals and congregations of varying religious beliefs (or no particular belief) to publicly guard the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion. Our primary goal is to educate the American public regarding the importance of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. Americans United also works to preserve public education by opposing efforts that would introduce sectarian worship practices into public schools or divert tax aid to religiously affiliated private schools." Such an organization may be needed more now than at any other time in living memory. A $25.00 annual membership includes a subscription to Church & State magazine.
Write: Barry W. Lynn
Executive Director
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
1816 Jefferson Place, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Call: 202/466-3234
FAX: 202/466-2587
email: auchapters@aol.com
Join The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
EFF is a "non-profit civil liberties organization working in the public interest to protect privacy, free expression, and access to online resources and information." It offers users of online technologies useful advice, informative bulletins, and action alerts. EFF has been in the forefront of opposition to government efforts to impose on cyberspace repressive measures ranging from the "Clipper Chip" to the Communications Decency Act. Members of EFF receive access to a biweekly electronic newsletter, EFFector Online. Send a donation.
Write: Electronic Frontier Foundation
1550 Bryant Street
Suite 725
San Francisco, CA 94103
Call: 415/436-9333
FAX: 415/436-9993
email: ask@eff.org
If you write, join
The National Writers Union
(NWU).
"You are eligible for membership if you have published a
book, play, three articles, five poems, one short story, or
an equivalent amount of newsletter, publicity, technical,
commercial, government or institutional copy. You are also
eligible if you have written an equal amount of unpublished
material and you are actively writing and attempting to
publish your work." This professional union founded in the
early 1980s takes a strong stand on First Amendment issues;
it was in the forefront, for example, of those defending
Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses when attempts were
first made to suppress it. During the 1990 Mapplethorpe
controversy, the NWU's Boston Local was a principal
supporter of local anti-censorship efforts. NWU dues are
scaled according to income and range from $80.00 to $180.00.
In 1992 the NWU became affiliated with United Auto Workers
as UAW Local 1981.
Write: Jonathan Tasini
Call: 212/254-0279
email:
nwu@nwu.org
President
National Writers Union
873 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
FAX: 212/254-0673
Join FAIR
FAIR-Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting-is a watchdog organization that responds to bias, imbalance and censorship in the media with carefully documented criticism. "FAIR seeks to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater media pluralism and the inclusion of public interest voices in national debates." Membership includes a subscription to Extra!, the FAIR newsletter, and costs $19.00 a year.
Write: FAIR/Extra!
175 Fifth Avenue
Suite 2245
New York NY 10010
Call: 212/633-6700
Know how to obtain information.
Get a copy of 50 Ways to Fight Censorship.
50 Ways to Fight Censorship and Important Facts to Know About the Censors, a handbook compiled under the editorship of music journalist Dave Marsh, is incomplete, needs an update, and contains a few errors. (James Dobson, for example, may indeed be a kingpin of the theocratic right, but there's no record of his supporting Holocaust revisionism.) Nevertheless this is still the best, most comprehensive primer on the censors and how to defeat their agenda. It was published in 1991 as a trade paperback by Thunder's Mouth Press, 54 Greene Street, Suite 4S, New York, NY 10013, at a list price of $5.95. Contributors include John Waters, Allen Ginsberg, George Plimpton, and members of PEN, the ACLU, the National Writers Union, the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression, the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, and arts activists across the country. The book is widely available; if your local bookstore doesn't stock it, ask the management to order you a copy.
Some informational resources:
"VTW is a volunteer organization concentrating on legislation as it relates to telecommunications and civil liberties. We do our best to alert the public at crucial times during the life of legislation, such that you, the citizen, can act appropriately without having to be a full-time activist." (This is not to say that VTW disagrees with the BCFE's position that everyone must be at least a part-time activist.) To receive action alerts, news flashes, and a weekly bulletin called BillWatch, join VTW's online mailing list. This is an indispensable service for those whose have Internet access.
EPIC, a public interest research center, was established in the District of Columbia in 1994 "to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues relating to the National Information Infrastructure." Its concerns include wiretaps, encryption, the Clipper Chip, the Digital Telephony proposal, national ID cards, confidentiality of medical and credit records, sale of consumer data, and, in general, all areas where citizens' privacy is subject to invasion. To its online subscribers, this organization offers a biweekly electronic newsletter, EPIC Alert.
120 Beacon Street
3rd Floor
Somerville, MA 02143
Call: 617/661-9313
FAX: 617/661-0059
email: publiceye@igc.apc.org
PRA is an independent non-profit research institute that monitors and analyzes right-wing authoritarian movements, both secular and religious. It maintains archival resources, issues publications, provides speakers, and offers classes on the American right. As its current brochure points out, "While we actively collaborate with many other organizations that oppose the right, PRA is unique in two important ways. First, we monitor the full spectrum of the right, from the right wing within the electoral sphere to paramilitary organizations such as the armed citizens' militias. Second, we are nationally known for our analysis of the history and composition of the right in the US and significance of unfolding events as they occur." This urgently necessary resource was founded by Executive Director Jean Hardisty. Senior Analyst Chip Berlet presides over PRA's research operations. The library maintained by PRA is open to the public by appointment. Public Eye, PRA's first-rate quarterly newsletter, is edited by Surina Khan. Subscriptions are $29.00 for individuals and non-profit organizations, $39.00 for other organizations, and $19.00 for students and low-income individuals.
P.O. Box 589
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Call: 413/274-3786 -or- 800/370-3329
FAX: 413/528-4466
email: ifas@berkshire.net
IFAS President Skipp Porteous, a former fundamentalist minister and one of the nation's foremost experts on the theocratic right, co-founded this non-profit educational clearinghouse with his wife, attorney Barbara Simon, in 1984. Porteous and Simon head a formidable team that includes journalist Frederick Clarkson, researcher Ruth Shepard, and others. The Institute collects and catalogues thousands of right-wing publications, and maintains an extensive informational database on right-wing organizations and individuals. Membership in IFAS is $25.00 a year and includes a subscription to Freedom Writer, an outstanding newsletter.
c/o Writers & Scholars International Ltd.
Lancaster House
33 Islington High Street
London N1 9LH
United Kingdom
Call: 0171-278 2313
FAX: 0171-278 1878
email: Indexoncenso@gn.apc.org
Published six times a year in trade paperback format by Writers & Scholars International of London, Index on Censorship is now available in bookstores across the United States. Each issue presents an enlightening (and depressing) overview of censorship issues around the world, with contributions from writers ranging from Mumia Abu-Jamal to Alexander Solzhenitsyn and country-by-country summaries of censorship incidents. Ursula Owen is currently the editor and chief executive. A one-year subscription is $48.00 in the U.S., with a $35.00 student rate available. The U.K. rate is L32, or L25 for students; the overseas rate is L38, or L25 for students.
P.O. Box 469024
Escondido, CA 92046-9024
Call: 800/334-8152
email:
subscriber@mojones.com
-or-
backtalk@mojones.com
Mother Jones is a bimonthly publication of the Foundation for National Progress (FNP), a non-profit organization founded in 1975 "to educate and empower people to work toward progressive change." The FNP also administers the Mother Jones Investigative Fund and the Mother Jones International Fund for Documentary Photography, conducts programs that train investigative journalists, and maintains MoJo Wire, an online resource file and archive. While we wish Mother Jones gave free speech concerns higher priority, it remains an excellent source of information about partisan politics, the theocratic right, environmental issues, and corporate greed in action. Subscriptions to Mother Jones are $18.00 a year.
72 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
Call: 212/242-8400
This progressive journal, published 47 times a year, has existed since 1865. For many on the non-psychotic left, this publication is a lifeline. Writers and editors include Edward Said, Molly Ivins, Alexander Cockburn, Arthur C. Danto, Frances Fitzgerald, Christopher Hitchens, Calvin Trillin, Katha Pollitt, Gore Vidal, and other sane people. Subscriptions are $48 a year, with reduced rates for students and teachers. (Subscription inquiries and orders should be directed to The Nation, P.O. Box 10763, Des Moines, IA 10763.)
150 West Canton Street
Boston MA 02118
Call: 617/236-5878
Z, "an independent political magazine of critical thinking on... life in the United States," is particularly strong on press censorship; its coverage of censorship issues arising from the Gulf War was outstanding. Subscriptions are $25.00 a year, but an $18.00 student and low income rate is available. Headed by Eric Sargent, Lydia Sargent, and Michael Albert, the magazine is a project of the Institute for Social and Cultural Communications, which in turn is part of:
116 St. Botolph Street
Boston MA 02115
Call: 617/266-0953
900 Third Avenue
Suite 1600
New York NY 10022
Call: 212/891-2070
FAX: 212/587-2436
Founded in 1973, the Media Coalition encompasses the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Magazine Publishers of America, and other representatives of the print media. It issues regular advisories to members, legislators, and government officials, files legal challenges to pro-censorship laws (including a major suit against the Communications Decency Act), and files amicus curiae briefs in First Amendment cases where sexual content is at issue. The Media Coalition distributes an outstanding booklet by Marcia Pally, Sense and Censorship: The Vanity of Bonfires, published by Americans for Constitutional Freedom. Send $1.50 per copy, or $.75 per copy for orders of ten or more.
Vote! Know who your state and national representatives are and what they stand for. Be aware of pending legislation. Be politically active! To reach Thomas, the Web page of the United States Congress, click here.
Some useful telephone numbers:
Above all, by whatever means, let your voice be heard!
Written and compiled by James D'Entremont. As this list of resources continues to evolve, we welcome your comments, corrections, and suggestions. Send email to kyp@ultranet.com.