PEN America

Over 300 Floridians mobilized to Orlando for the 1st annual #unifiedvoices Summit this weekend. They came together in joint action and purpose - to protect Florida’s public education system and democracy. And the Summit momentum continues. Please join the many Unified Voices Summit attendees in signing this joint letter asking Governor DeSantis to change his tactics of censorship and discrimination: https://lnkd.in/eRb3gxYc

In our debut interview series on disinformation, Mina Haq talks to author and researcher Nina Jankowicz about restoring trust in the media and the consequences of disinformation leading up to the presidential election. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ezPCMBvR

PEN America condemns Russia’s conviction of writer Masha Gessen. The Russian government is sending a message that it will continue to impose its repressive authority unchecked, punishing any critics who speak against it, no matter where they are. We urge the Russian government to overturn Gessen’s conviction and release all those convicted of similar charges. We also call on the international community to recognize the vital role writers play in the open exchange of knowledge and information. https://lnkd.in/evtqZ_Nk

Tyler Perry presented the 2024 PEN/Benenson Courage Award to mother-daughter Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss, whose lives were upended in 2020 by relentless threats ignited by President Trump and his allies, who falsely accused the women of passing fraudulent ballots. (In fact, Freeman passed her daughter a mint.) The women were officially cleared by Georgia authorities after a yearslong investigation. Despite facing relentless harassment, they testified before the U.S. House Jan. 6 committee in 2022 and successfully sued to vindicate their reputations. In accepting the award, Moss said, “I took enormous pride in making sure everybody’s vote was counted. It pains me that so many still don’t seem to understand how our elections work, or that the 2020 election was not ‘stolen.’ But here tonight, with all of you, I’m filled with hope again."

Congratulations to Laura Zommer, CEO of Factchequeado (a PEN America grantee), for earning a #CabotPrizes Special Citation from the Columbia Journalism School! https://lnkd.in/grhrF2Rv

Congratulations to Conecta Arizona (a PEN America grantee) for being awarded a grant for community engagement work from American Press Institute!

Shahzia Sikander’s sculpture at the University of Houston was reportedly vandalized this week. "An appalling act of vandalism and an assault on artistic expression,” said Kristen Shahverdian, campus free speech program director at PEN America. https://lnkd.in/eq_bXus9

A federal judge’s ruling that rap artist B.G. must turn over his written lyrics to probation officials before they are released is a “slap in the face” to the basic right to free expression, says PEN America. https://lnkd.in/eZYZWk5m

"A blatant attack on artistic freedom by Russian authorities," says Polina Sadovskaya, Ph.D. "Labeling these artists as terrorists or extremists is a grave injustice," says Julie Trébault. Read the full statement from PEN America and the Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) In response to today’s sentencing by a Moscow court of theater director Zhenya Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk to six years in a maximum-security penal colony on charges of “justifying terrorism”:

Producer and writer Abdul Aziz al-Muzaini was sentenced to 13 years in prison and a 13-year travel ban by the Saudi government for “promoting terrorism and homosexuality” in his animated series Masameer. Saudi Arabia is a top jailer of writers globally, with 19 writers in custody during 2023 according to the #FreedomToWrite Index. When writers are released, many of their rights are restricted by bans on speaking publicly or traveling. We urge the court to overturn al-Muzaini’s conviction. https://lnkd.in/eERtkWk6