PEN America’s new list of the 52 most banned books in U.S. schools reveals a coordinated campaign against literature addressing race, gender, sexuality, and state violence. With over 22,000 documented bans since 2021 across 45 states, educational censorship is becoming normalized. Award-winning classics and YA titles alike are being removed, undermining artistic freedom, cultural rights, and young people’s access to diverse stories.
When 97 books were pulled from school libraries in Beaufort County, SC, three high school students—Isabella Troy Brazoban, Elizabeth Foster, and Millie Bennett—refused to stay silent. Their bold response to censorship launched a youth-led movement that reversed bans, inspired a national documentary, and redefined what student activism looks like in the fight for intellectual freedom.
A cohort of national free speech and arts organizations expressed outrage at the Trump Administration’s recent efforts to establish ideological control over federally-funded cultural initiatives in the United States
Art museums lack policies, leaving them vulnerable to rising censorship threats and external pressures, according to a new report made by PEN America, the Association of Art Museum Directors, and Artists at Risk Connection.
