DARE: McConnell Defends Blocking Election Security Bill, Rejects Criticism He Is Aiding Russia
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell rejects criticism of his decision to block an election security bill that supporters say could have helped protect... More
DARE: Press Secretary Sarah Sanders to Leave the White House
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, known to have repeated and propagated numerous falsehoods on behalf of President Trump and for having... More
DARE: Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter Struggle to Deal with New Zealand Shooting Video
Social media platforms struggle with managing spread of gruesome video of New Zealand shooting, while police urge people to stop sharing the video. More
Disappearance of Photographer Lu Guang a Troubling Attack on Artistic Freedom in China
"Unfortunately, Lu’s case is not unique. The Chinese government has a history of disappearing artists who use their practices as a platform to challenge and critique the regime’s policies.… More
DARE: Jamal Khashoggi: “What the Arab World Needs Most Is Free Expression”
Khashoggi issues an impassioned defense of free expression and a forceful call for the free press that the people of the Middle East—and the world—deserve. We hope that these… More
Open Letter to Google: Our Concerns Over “Project Dragonfly”
We write this letter in order to voice these concerns in the hope that you will reconsider any plans that would further exacerbate the already grave climate for expression… More
Intimidation of Muslim Poet an Effort to Silence Writers’ Engagement on Xinjiang
“An Ran, a poet, is speaking out on one of the most important human rights issues of our day. Instead of attempting to shut him down, authorities should be… More
Xinjiang: The Free Expression Catastrophe You Probably Haven’t Heard Of
The Chinese government’s “anti-extremism” policies in Xinjiang are a large-scale attack on freedom of expression, and human rights more broadly. More
DARE: Seeking Revenge for Alex Jones, Far-right Trolls Unleash Harassment on Verified Twitter Users
Right-wing trolls embark on campaign of online harassment against verified users, many of whom are journalists, on Twitter (if you or someone you know is affected by online harassment,… More
China: Uyghur pop musician and lyric writer detained, concerns for his well-being
PEN is seriously concerned for the well-being of Uyghur pop musician and lyric writer, Ablajan Awut Ayup (popularly known as Ablajan), who was taken into custody by state security… More
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PEN America On 
Start your weekend with our reading list. History has proven that interest in Black literature surges during periods of social unrest. But the canon of Black literature did not suddenly appear in these moments. Black literature is American literature: https://bit.ly/3cFs310
To be free. To find liberation. To demand justice. All hot words. All still within our reach. But the articulation of the anger is the belly of my poems. The refusal to sit silent is the fuel. I aim to burn the whole thang down. With righteous anger & righteous love. & joy.
The @penworldvoices team curated this week's reading list of classic and contemporary novels, essay collections, and poetry collections by Black writers with titles that inform one another, build off of one another, and celebrate one another: https://bit.ly/2XB2cDl.