Eileen “AJ” Connelly is a writer for PEN America. She worked as a journalist for decades to explain events and policies and help generate positive change. One of her earliest scoops, for a weekly newspaper, helped bring awareness to dangerous erosion at Montauk Lighthouse. As word spread, a Long Island-wide effort commenced to save the landmark. Later reporting, for the Staten Island Advance, helped to eliminate the Staten Island Ferry fare, and for The Associated Press, helped push Congress to enact tighter regulations on predatory lenders, particularly credit card companies. Most recently, she covered breaking news, including providing crucial information during the Covid-19 pandemic, as a reporter and editor for the New York Post, while also teaching journalism at Baruch College, City University of New York.
Eileen AJ Connelly
Articles by Eileen AJ Connelly
Federal Government’s Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship
A growing list of words and materials are being scrubbed from government websites and documents in an attempt by the Trump administration to remove all references not only to diversity, equity and inclusion, but also to climate change, vaccines, and a host of other topics.
Head Start Programs Are Latest Target in Trump’s War on Words
Court papers related to a suit brought against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show that a Head Start program director was sent a “complete list of words to make sure are not in your applications.”
November is the Month to Celebrate Native American Culture, but the Stories That Do So Are Getting Banned
The list below includes a portion of the books written by or about Indigenous people removed from school libraries and classrooms since 2021.
